I wrote this some time ago for another forum and the members found it useful. Theres also a FTF and FTE troubleshooting guide at the end.
Reliability and the 1911
There is a common misconception among the gun buying public that the 1911 platform is unreliable. If there were any truth to this rumor one would wonder why it was the dedicated military sidearm for so many decades. Its popularity continues to grow among shooters and manufacturers with each passing year. While no design is without its own failings, the 1911 has forever left an indelible mark on the world and the firearms industry
First we will take a brief look at how the 1911 works to better understand what is going on inside. The 1911 is a single action, magazine fed, recoil operated system. Sounds simple right? Ill not get into the operation of the trigger and safety systems that will be saved for another time. We will concentrate on the feeding and ejection portion of the cycle. So what happens after the hammer drops and the firing pin makes contact with the primer?
Energy in the form of recoil pushes the slide and barrel rearward which are locked together by the upper barrel lugs and the matching lug recesses in the slide. At which time the bullet exits the muzzle and chamber pressure drops. The barrel link pivots on the slide stop ending the rearward movement of the barrel. The barrel begins to link down unlocking it from the slide and the slide is allowed to continue rearward extracting the fired casing from the chamber until it makes contact with the ejector which causes the case to be thrown from the ejection port. The slide continues rearward compressing the recoil spring and cocking the hammer. The slide then begins forward powered by the energy that was stored in the compressed recoil spring. A new round is then stripped from the magazine pushing it up the feed ramp, seating the round under the extractor and into the chamber. With the slide returned fully forward the barrel is once again locked in to the slide with the bottom barrel lugs resting on the slide stop pin, hammer cocked and the pistol ready to fire once again. So what are some causes that can affect reliability?
Defects in manufacturing
Manufacturing defects are flaws that were introduced into the product at the time of manufacture. The majority of these defects are found at the time of manufacture and corrected. There are also design defects which are not referring to the 1911 design itself. This could be a material issue, heat treating processes etc. Design defects are the hardest to catch at the time of manufacturing and normally only become apparent after the products are in the consumers hands and begin to fail. This is not exclusive to just firearms manufacturing it can be found in any manufacturing process. And inevitably some will make there way to the consumer regardless of the quality system they have in place. With that being said when you do go to purchase a firearm stay with a company who has a reputation of quality and that is willing to correct there mistakes. The internet has proven to be an invaluable tool for research of this nature. Where else could you hear both sides of the story on a global scale? But ultimately the decision will be yours so choose wisely young grasshopper for all 1911s were not created equal.
Ammunition
The 1911 was originally designed to be used with round nose bullets and unless modifications have been made it will usually not reliably feed other types of ammunition. Even after a smith performs a basic reliability package bullets that keep to a rounded shape will feed better than those with an aggressive profile. The farther you get away from the original design of ammunition your reliability percentage will suffer. Not to say that it cant and hasnt been done. But when your firearm is for defense this is no time to take chances I for one go for maximum reliability. I like it to go bang and keep going bang until the magazine runs dry. It comes down to a numbers game playing the percentages I have carry guns that have went through thousands of rounds of JHP without failing. Even knowing this I still prefer to use hardball ammo for carry. The only way to find out what your gun will or will not feed reliably is testing. You must find a round that will reliably feed all the time. You can carry the best penetrating, expanding new super bullet in the world but if it is only reliable 95 percent of the time are you willing to stake your life on it? For those of you who like to load your own do not exceed the designed specifications of your round. Consult your reloading manual and double check your work. If you begin having feeding or ejection problems dont assume the problem is gun related without first rechecking your work and trying it with factory ammo. You can then move on through the troubleshooting process if the solution was not found and the problem persists.
Magazines
Magazines are directly responsible for more failures to feed than any other part of an auto loading handgun. This is common knowledge and despite this fact it is still one of the most over looked components when it comes to firearm maintenance. First off start by buying quality magazines and stay away from the bargain or no name brand, gun shows are famous for selling cheap worthless magazines. Good magazines are worth their weight in gold and now more than ever there is an abundance of quality magazines manufactured. Buying cheap will cost you more in the long run and you will eventually end up buying the good ones if you ever hope to have a reliable weapon. Even the best magazines will require periodic maintenance. They need to be cleaned and inspected for damage do not wait until you start to experience malfunctions before you pay them the attention they deserve. You will be amazed at the lint and dirt they can collect. Magazines with a stainless body are not maintenance free either. Most will still contain carbon steel springs, followers or base plates that need to be cleaned and oiled to prevent rust.
Improper Gunsmithing
Improper fitting and tuning of parts can lead you to having the fanciest paper weight on the block. While the 1911 was designed with simplicity in mind that does not mean anyone with a Dremel and a Kuhnhausen manual is a qualified pistolsmith.There is a certain Zen to properly doing this work. This is not to say I am against gun owners who want to learn more and work on there own firearms. At one time every great pistolsmith had the same desire. But you must be aware of your limitations and if you get in over your head dont be afraid to ask for help. Most pistolsmiths I know do not care to answer any questions you may have. And remember to be safe and do the necessary safety checks at the bench and on the range. Also there is no shame in having your worked checked by an experienced pistolsmith. Be smart and stay safe. If you plan on sending your gun to a smith to have work completed, shop around find out what other customers experiences have been. Do your homework no one wants to pay a premium price for sub standard work.
Reliability Packages
Most if not all gunsmiths offer a basic reliability package for the 1911. So what is included in a basic reliability package? The extractor face is polished, the bottom of the hook is rounded and polished and it is tensioned to exert the proper amount of force to the case rim. The breechface is trued and polished of tooling marks. Barrels with the standard hardball ramp are opened up (the ramp is cut wider) to feed hollowpoint ammunition. Most models now come from the factory with the barrel ramped for hollowpoints. But they have a habit of leaving sharp edges behind that snag the feeding round. Polishing the feed ramp is usually included in most reliability packages. However this will offer little improvement in feeding unless the ramp has very rough tooling marks. The mirror polished ramps that are seen in most customs is really nothing more than a cosmetic feature. Some may argue that this reduces friction but to me if its not broke dont fix it. However customers have come to expect this feature in high end customs and in my opinion this is why it continues to be done. The ejector can be tuned to direct the fired brass away from the shooter. Being hit in the face with brass was a common problem among guns with the high ejection port. Lowering of the ejection port will give the ejected brass a larger area to escape. The extractor and ejector can then be tuned to throw the spent brass at an angle much less than that of the original. In affect greatly reducing the chances of spent brass hitting you in the face or neck area. The use of extended ejectors will increase the force at which the brass is ejected. Extended ejectors will require lowering of the ejection port to get the best results. If the port is not lowered brass may get caught and not fully eject. Chances are the brass will be damaged if it does manage to fully eject which is only of value if you reload. Some reliability packages will also include replacement springs from a quality manufacturer.
This is just a brief overview of some things that can affect reliability. Hopefully you will find the information useful.
Failure to Feed (FTF)
Ammunition
Are you using factory loads or reloads?
Is the shell casing damaged? (dents, dings, rough spots)
If using lead bullets are they deformed? out of spec? rough casting?
Bullet length?
Primer seated?
Case diameter in spec?
Are you using hollow points in an un-throated barrel?
Is it the correct caliber ammo? (hard to believe but it happens)
Magazines
Spring underpowered, rusted, broken?
Magazine dirty?
Follower damaged? broken, bent, cracked?
Feed lips bent?
Are the magazines fully seated?
Slide
Breech face rough, pitted, burred, out of spec?
Burr on the slide rails? (This is sometimes hard to diagnose especially with the slide assembled. Disassemble the slide install it on the frame and slowly work it back and forth. Do you feel a rough spot? If so stone or file the rough spot just enough to smooth up.)
Extractor tension too tight? (not allowing the round to snap in place and seat itself)
Is the recoil spring correct weight for the ammo you are shooting? Is it weak?
Broken? Binding?
Barrel & Frame
Do you have the required 1/32 gap between the feed ramp and the barrel ramp?
Is the feed ramp rough?
Is the chamber dirty? Rusted? Pitted?
Has the contour of the feed ramped been changed? (Excessive polishing)
Failure to Extract (FTE)
Extractor tension weak?
Extractor claw broken? Rounded off?
Is the chamber tight? pitted? rusted?
Is the ejector damaged? too short or broken?
Is the ejector too long?
Has the extractor been properly tuned?
A lot of the things mentioned in the FTF section apply to the failures to extract and eject. This is not everything that can cause these problems but it is somewhere to start. If you find the problem but are unaware of the solution you can drop me an email or do a search on the forum for a more specific problem.
