Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns So who has a 1911 that doesn't work?

Just chiming in as a non-1911 guy. It sounds like your grip is affecting the gun in one way or other (engaging the safety or the safety grinding the slide with partial pressure).

I know on my plastic guns as the mag empties the recoil impulse changes and my grip has to adjust.

I don't know if it would be as dramatic with a steel (heavier) gun with only eight rounds as a plastic (lighter) gun with 20 rounds. But if you already know your grip may be a factor, that's were I'd start looking.

Agreed! Only 1911 mags I run are the Wilson Combat 8 rounders and the Chip McCormic Power Mag 8 rounders. IMO, most factory supplied 1911 mags are pretty crappy. A great 1911 mag sometimes makes all the difference in the world.

Bought a series 80 stainless in 40 S&W that just wouldn't feed anything.. The guy I bought it from was glad to see it go.. I paid him 400 for it. A little ramp pollish and it feeds fine.. Since I have been clear through and customized it. Ill bet that guy bought a glock.
That Is the only 1911 that gave me any trouble. All my 45s did just fine out of the box..or pawn shop or wherever .

I agree the grip has a lot to do with my troubles, trying to change it today induced more problems than I started with. The only thing sticking in my mind is it only does it on the last round whether it's an 8 round mag or a 10.

"I know on my plastic guns as the mag empties the recoil impulse changes and my grip has to adjust."

Blue, you may be on to something... Again!

The 1911 was designed for 7 rounds. I never use anything but 7 rounders.

In the military we had 20 round mags for the M-14. However, the M-14 operated better and more reliably when the 20 round mags were only loaded with 18 rounds. Had something do with spring tension.

Try 7 rounds in the 8 round mag.

I carried an old Winchester M14 in the trunk of my car for nearly 20 years. Always kept 17 round in the magazines.

It sure was comforting when things were getting sporty.

I'd give this a shot--Load the mag up and shoot four or five rounds. Set the gun down, dry off your hands, get a good fresh grip and fire one shot, then set the gun down and repeat one shot at a time until they're all fired. It might be that a fresh grip on the gun will make a difference on that last shot. It'd be worth trying anyway.

I'm always prone to look at software issues (stuff I'm doing) before hardware issues (stuff the gun is doing). And I've gotten to where I hyper-analyze everything about myself. But it works for me.

I'll try to take and PM you some pics of a grip that might help. I'm not about to start a "how to hold your gun" war here, lol.

Only loaded 7 rds in the 8 rd mags, my buddy thinks the same way as you and that was his first piece of advice.

He swung by and picked the gun up just now, we really think it's a problem with the safety. It just doesn't have a positive click on or off and likes to stay in the middle. We stretched the detent spring but that didn't help so he's gonna swap it out and get that fixed first.

Still need to work on me but I'm glad he saw something that needs fixing.

I agree on the mags you listed above. But as Topcat said earlier, The Colt 7 round (not eight) made by Checkmate with the dimple on the follower is the Gold standard for .45 ACP. They have the capital "C" stamped on the baseplate. If your using new (not damaged, dropped)Colt 7 rounder's and getting FTF's, then it is time to look at the gun, the gun setup,the ammo and the shooter. In checking:

After the gun has had 3-4 hundred rounds through it at minimum.
Gun should be cleaned and lubed.
Use a solid two handed grip.
Quality of Ammo. Correct taper crimp. Correct OAL, Correct case length,primer seating etc. In testing try not to use "light per caliber bullets". IE: 185gr for 45 ACP.
Spring weight 16-18 lbs. should be used in testing.
Check for any defects/burrs on the breach face. Smoothness of the firing pin opening.
Check the breach face/extractor clearance.
Check for any binding of the spring, guide rod, slide and frame.

Feed ramp:
A lot of good guns are ruined by a novice trying to "polish" the feed ramp. You see a lot of used guns with highly polished feed ramps. Well, that might be why they are for sale. Polish means polish. No metal removal should be done. If you have a rough feed ramp, just hit the high points. 600,1000 grit wet/dry,or better yet, some fine crocus cloth should only be used.

One possible problem to look at closer.
OAL of loaded ammo. Using OAL specs out of the loading manuals and using the truncated type bullets, I have run into problems of the loaded rounds being too long. They will load in the magazine fine, but if you strip the rounds out one at a time using your thumb on the case where the slide would strip the round, as the stack rises, the rounds will hang up in the magazine. Try seating a little deeper. sometimes even .003" is enough. Sometimes, on some bullet styles, you won't be even be close to the OAL listed in some manuals. Adjust your load accordingly. Pressures increase with deeper seated bullets.

Have not been following all the dialog on your issues, but was scanning the thread and noticed the above. I believe your problem is clear. If a vetted 1911 shooter can run your pistol without issue, yet you have issues, and he immediatley noticed bad form with your technique, which would cause your problems....then it is you, not the pistol.

I've carried a 1911 professionally, have shot a 1911 competitively, and have recieved a great deal of training along the way. All the great shooters in my circles shoot "straight thumbs". When shooting straight thumbs on a 1911, one of the fundemental rules are for your thumb to stay over the safety, except for the moment you either re-engage the safety, or you exchange magazines. Without question, the straight thumb technique is superior to all other techniques, past or present, in use today. There is an exception, however, in that it is often a difficult technique to master for a 1911 novice. The same pros who instruct, train, and utilize straight thumbs on a 1911, will routinely push "thumb over thumb" on a novice with the 1911.

Based on your words above, especially if I correctly understand that your pistol has a poorly fitted safety, I recommend you start with an old school "thumb over thumb" technique, and stick with (7) seven rounds in proven magazines while vetting and learning the pistol. I'd also recommend you get some trigger time with someone who has mastered straight thumbs on a 1911 and who is a capable instructer, to run you and your pistol through the proper paces. In addition, you may need to have someone correct your poorly fit safety, so that it is crisp and positive in the on and off postitions while readily operated with your thumb.

Best of luck!

Gibby, the mags with the capital C on the bottom are make by Checkmate. They are the current supplier of Colts 1911 mags.

Those are the next ones you should try, TWR. Colt knows a thing or two about feeding a 1911.

Da! I know that. Brain fart way too early this morning. Thanks for alerting me to my mistake. I fixed it. I hate getting old. Should have proof read.

Must of had spices on my mind.

Thanks again

Figured as much. Kind of like me typing "make" when I meant "made".

Yea, I remind myself every day about getting older.

I have quite a few of the mags. Every so often, I need a couple of Colt "Aces and eights" T-shirts for me or gifts for others. I always throw in a few of the mags on the order from Colt. It is nice to get the best mags for around $20.00 each.

Buddy took the pistol home last night, looked it over and took a few burrs off the barrel where the link was sticking and a few other areas. Swapped the safety with one of his and fixed that up, I need to order a new detent and will. Everything looked good to him, nothing done by the previous owner and it has a low round count according to the wear.

He shot 35 or so rounds without issue and called me to come down and try it out. Using his known good 7 rd magazine and S&B ball ammo, I fired the first mag with my thumb on top of the safety with him watching and it failed to feed on the last round. He shot 4 rounds till it emptied and handed it back to me shaking his head. I shot another mag and again, FTF on the last round. He noticed my left thumb was riding on the slide stop. He said try rotating your hand underneath just a little so my left thumb is not touching the slide or controls, the right thumb was under the safety but not touching it. I shot almost another 50 rounds without issue.

So while the pistol had a few minor issues, the problem is definitely me. And he said if anyone says I'm limp wristing it to pistol whip em, Ive got a solid hold. LOL.

So it looks like learning to shoot it is gonna be the answer.

On a positive note, my Kimber 1911-22 ran flawlessly.

TWR, something else you might try is removing the buffer and running a 16 lb recoil spring. Base on the limited info, it seems your gun may be over sensitive to anything that restricts the slide from fully retracting and allowing enough time for that last round to come up all the way while the mag spring isat it's weakest state. I might be wrong, but its a cheap experiment. If it runs that way, there is no reason not to leave it thus.

I have Colt, Kimber, Sig. Had Springers. Never had any of them cause problems. But then I never ran over 600 rounds through
any of them. I don't reload, and am on a limited income. I just love the platform. I've had one crappy Sig magazine, and don't care for the 10 round magazines just because. Actually I've
had pretty good luck with all semi auto's in general.

That's how you do it. Just shoot them and enjoy.

I am hooked on 1911's. May have gone overboard some would say. The hell with them.

I have ordered enough parts and pieces that I have to figure the platform out now.

Only thing left now is more ammo and range time.