1911 mil-spec out of battery issue

[captfrank66]

I purchased a couple years back a 1911 mil-spec for my son to use with me at wild bunch matches and have been having an issue with feed jams/out of battery and real hard to clear even. The last jam this weekend at the NJ state match had to remove barrel bushing and spring to unlock it. I purchased a spring field 1911 as I have a 1911-A1 already from a few years back and it has worked flawlessly and have very been happy with it. But this mil-spec using the same ammo has been having issues since day one. Honestly have not shot more than say a couple hundred rounds out of it given the issues. Using 200gr lead round. I double check the rounds with a chamber checker and they are fine. It’s like it feeds wrong as last round when removed lead had a pretty decent gouge out of it that likely caused the jam. Tracking usually it should be copper jacketed but wild bunch is lead only and the other Springfield works great. Any ideas?

 

[Old_Me]

could be feed ramp needs a bit of polishing

could be the recoil spring is too weak

could be the magazine spring is weak

could be not enough lube on the rails?

might be those lead bullets are "too soft"..???

i was going to mention the extractor might need to be adjusted a bit

and maybe the ejector may be a bit loose in the frame

one last thought...the ammo......try a few different brands

that's all i got for now.

 

[Annihilator]

The factory weight recoil spring should be 16#, I use a variable rate 18 1/2# on all my 1911’s, also have you tried a different bullet weight and brand, if you haven’t shot it much, it may need some breaking in, also try different mags

 

[az4783054]

SA does under spring some of their 1911 pistols. I'd start looking there, springs are inespensive.

 

[10mmLife]

Contact SA and they will make it right.

You can reach Springfield Armory customer service at 800-680-6866

 

[Talyn]

I always have my gunsmith do a "throat & polish" job on any 1911 I buy or build.

Medium-level manufacturers often don't do a thorough job of putting together 1911's, and if you go the build route parts often need TLC to function together properly.

 

[Shibadog]

As per the ammo-isn’t a lot of the ammo used in those matches loaded light? If so, springs may be the issue.

 

[HayesGreener]

You got it used. Has someone tinkered with the internals, like the disconnector?

You may have several things working together against you. If not already done I would clean the heck out of it, fog the internals with Remoil, and grease the rails with a high quality gun grease like TW25, shoot some jacketed factory ammo through it and see how it performs. These guns are designed to run with full power service ammo. If it won't run with good lube and factory ammo I would be on the phone with Springfield Armory customer service. New recoil springs and different ammo may be all it needs.

 

[captfrank66]

Thanks for all the help. Had me look around and followed what this guy said: https://www.ktgunsmith.com/45chamber.htm and that seems to be the issue. Recall above ammo works just fine in my other Springfield using same mags

 

[Condition1]

If you don’t want to take your 1911 to a gunsmith you need to go at this systemically.

Change ammo it sounds like the ammo you are using is pretty soft. I shot cast bullets in my 1911 chambered in 10mm with a 26 pound recoil spring with no bullet damage but my bullets are hard cast. That I cast myself.

Try a different magazine. I have 8-10 MecGar magazines with 100% reliably out of all of them and they are very reasonably priced compared to other magazines. MecGar makes a lot of major firearm companies magazines.

Re spring the whole firearm.

Check the extractor. With the slide removed slip a loaded round into the extractor. It should go into the extractor with zero resistance. Also the extractor should hold the cartridge in place on its own without you holding it there. Is your 1911 a series 70 or 80? You will need to know this if you are going to change the extractor. A series 80 will have a firing pin block. A series 80 extractor will work for either series. The new extractor will also need to be tuned. All that means is it needs to be bent to apply the right tension on a cartridge.

I only use Superlube grease on my 1911. You can find it on Amazon. It’s a synthetic grease with ptfe also. It has a freeze point of -40 and a drop point of 400 degrees. I apply it with a small brush liberally. I have found this grease also makes it easier to clean my firearms. And it’s food safe.

What does the feed ramp look like? Since it a mil-spec the feed ramp is on the frame and barrel. It can be easily polished with a drimel and flitz polish.

Try one thing at a time and see if any of these fixes your issue. You’re not having an out of battery issue. An out of battery issue is where the gun fires without the bolt or in this case slide isn’t fully closed causing the brass to rupture.
Hope this helps.