GregJ

The first thing I would do is take the roller off the Lyman gauge and slide the shaft through the extractor gauge and put the nut back on, this will give you a better and more honest reading. I thought about that, but instead a picked up a metric bolt that would fit, and fashioned a hook on the end of it. This way the gauge would pull straight down, rather than pulling at an angle as with the arm that comes with it.

I tried Unique once. Metered like mud, and was about as clean shooting, and that was the newer version. I'll pass.

Thanks to those that suggested WST. I also wanted to thank CocoBolo for recommending his load of 4.7gr of WST with the Precision 200gr bullets. I tried that load today with some SWC and RNF today, and they worked quite well, and the barrel seemed clean of any moly fouling. As soon as I burn up all my W231 moly/lead loads, I will start using WST only for lead/moly. Cheers guys

I've shot a few of the Precision 200gr RNF in my Kimber, an OAL of 1.220 seems to work quite well in mine. I have a case of them waiting for their turn when the SWC are gone. I'm also playing with different powders to see which one will foul the least moly. W231 is my fav powder, but it seems to be really hot burning and leaves a lot of moly in the barrel. I have some rounds to test loaded with WST, hopefully will be able to see today how they fare. I like the clean holes left by the SWC over the RNF, but it seems the RNF feeds better, at least in mine. To me and out of my gun, they seem to be the same accuracy wise. I've had to do a LOT of tweaking on my gun and loading process to get to where I felt I could rely on the SWC in a match. You may be lucky and the SWC runs just fine.

I just got my Weigand extractor adjustment tool and gauges from Midway. I planned on using them along with my Lymann digital trigger pull gauge to dial in my Kimber 1911 extractor tension. I liked the idea of having some real number to work from. However the problem I'm having is varying numbers. I put a small loop of wire in the end of the 45 gauge as the Lyman gauge has a roller for measuring trigger pull. Using this setup, I get anywhere from 11oz to 24oz. I have the slide sitting on the bench with the front part of the slide hanging over the edge of the bench, and trying to be consistent in my pulls straight down. The gauge is lined up correctly, per instructions. I have polished my extractor, not sure if that will make a difference. I've made sure the breechface does not have any oily residue on it. Suggestions welcome..... Edit: I checked again, and the readings are consistent 11-14oz. Could the extractor not be taking the adjustment and relaxing back? It should be a stock Kimber extractor.

This is what I dont understand. According to Hogdon's burn rate chart, W231 is #29 and N320 #24 - faster burning than W231, yet it seems to foul less? I may pick some up and see.

I'm so confused !!! I've been researching this till I'm about ready to lose it I've been using 5.4gr of W231 for lead (MB) and moly (Precision) bullets (200gr SWC in my Kimbers), and while I really like this load (very accurate), I would like to get less fouling. Common feedback seems to be to switch to a slower burning powder. Since I'm currently using W231, this would mean maybe WSL, Clays (Hogdon Universal), or WSF. Yet, it seems so many folks here use a much faster burning powder than W231 for lead/poly, like N320, Solo 1K, and Titegroup - these seem to be the most common powders.

For me it's my CZ 75 SA Target in 9mm. Fits my hand better than my S-A XDm. It's probably more accurate than my XDm was too. It cost more but it's all steel and a great shooter. I might be tempted with the new 5.25 XDm, but the grip just didnt do anything for me. I really like my 1911s, and the SA Target is very close to feeling like a 1911. YEMV

What solvent do you use? I've tried Hoppes' #9, Break Free CLP, and Shooter's Choice Lead Remover - all with the same disappointing result. I havent slugged it yet, on my list of things to get from Midway. Both Kimbers (Gold Match II and Custom Classic Target) see range time every weekend, and matches once a month, so no safe time for them.

I've seen a few older posts on the subject but no solutions. I'm loading Precison Bullets 200gr SWC and RNFP black moly bullets in my Kimbers using a Hornady LNL press. The load is 5.4gr of W231 with 1.245 OAL and crimp of .470. The bell/flare is generous, and there never is any moly shavings on the shell plate. I'm also seating and crimping in seperate stages (seat die is Hornady die, crimp is RCBS taper crimp die). I've pulled bullets and the coating has not been cut. I've tried lower loads of W231, but they seemed to foul the barrel just as badly and the accuracy wasnt as good. I really like the current load. I've also tried Power Pistol, which is slower than W231, and didnt care for it much at all, and it still seemed to leave moly fouling. The fouling appears to be mostly moly, but I do see some small flakes of lead that come out as well. I'm pretty OCD when it comes to cleaning my firearms, so it takes me 10-20 min + with a brass chore boy wrapped bore brush trying to get the crap out. Even then I'm not able to get the barrel completely clean (I know, it will still shoot just fine). A lot of folks here seem to do well with the Precison bullets and W231. I might have to try some N320 and see how it fares.

Powder Finger: Attached pic is of the little bit of cleaning up and polishing I did on my extractor. Not a great pic, but hopefully it will be clear enough. I had a two FTE and one FTF today. I'll continue to tweak the extractor until I find the sweet spot.

Thanks so much for the info. I will have to digest it tonight. I'll be out of town next week, so I wont have the opportunity to do much until I get back. However, I did make it to the range today, and I believe adjusting the extractor (loosening it up) did help quite a bit. I ran about 20 mags (approx 150 rnds) of varying OALs and powder charges, and didnt have one feed jam. 1.245 @ 4.8gr W231 1.240 @ 5.7gr W231 1.245 @ 5.4gr W231 <<< Worked quite nicely, will be using this for future matches 1.250 @ 4.8gr W231 Then I started on the 1.240 again and had 3 feed jams, then ran about 2-3 mags with no problems. Had one jam with 1.245. The pistol may have been getting a little dry at this point. I put a couple of drps of oil on the feed ramp, then shot 4 more mags with no problems. I'll take a closer look at your pics tonight. Thanks again for the assist!!

CocoBolo: Thanks for the info. I loaded up three dummy rounds of Precision 200gr SWC at 1.260", and put them at the top of a Wilson ETM mag loaded with 5 rounds of the same load but at varying OALs. The 1.260 dummy rounds would hang up on the slide like the attached pic show. Even if very aggressively manally cycling them through, they would hang up almost every time in the Gold Match, and occassionally in the Kimber Target. The OALs I tried manually cycling through were 1.250, 1.245, and .1240. The latter was the only one that I could get to reliably eject when manually cycling the GM. The Target seemed to be looser and could probably tolerate 1.245, but since this is my son's gun I'm not going to chance it. I know this sounds like I'm going too far with this, but not only am I trying to get the best feeding (and performing) load for my GM and my 17yr old son's Target, but I also want us to be able to safely show clear at the end of a stage. So it looks like 1.240 OAL is optimum for us using Precision 200gr SWC.

That would be most benficial. ThanksAlso, the round I had in the pic was NOT an empty case, it was a 200gr SWC, that's probably the reason for the tilt. An empty case did NOT tilt like that.

SWC longer than 1.250 hangs up on the barrel hood when manually ejecting a round, as in showing clear at the end of a stage. This can be very aggrevating, and potentially dangerous. 1.245 is about the longest I can run in my Kimber that will cleanly eject a loaded round. However, I did notice last night when cycling rounds through after adjusting the extractor the rounds were being ejected straight out to the right, perpendicular to the gun. Whereas previously I think they were ejecting at higher angle. Maybe the tweaking of the extractor will allow a longer AOL round to miss interfering with the barrel hood? Something else to try tonight.

Powder Finger: - I did the test sans the extractor, loaded 2 mags of SWC @ 1.240", and both mags worth (same mag) loaded just fine. - I adjusted the extractor. It seemed to be a little tight (see pic-prior to any adjustment), so I loosened it up some so that a 230gr round would fall off with a light amount of jiggling. The 200gr SWC would fall off with just a little more aggressive jiggling, but still a lot less agressive that it was prior to adjustment. I used the barrel out of battery to make sure the round was in the appropriate position. Also, I noticed a groove in the extractor, that I havent seen in other pics. I suppose it's purpose to aid in getting the extractor onto the case rim. I hope to be able to make to the range sat and test the extractor, as well as some load variations. Thanks for your suggestions!

The FTF, no, but I was getting some FTE, and had adjusted the extractor to resolve the FTE. Are you sure about using an empty case? Everything I've read researching adjusting the extractor said to use a loaded cartridge. http://www.m1911.org/technic2.htm I'll try the test sans extractor this evening. IIRC, the pic was of a full mag that I had dropped the slide on. Another thought, if the extractor was too tight, wouldnt this effect any bullet type? When I had the jam problem, I changed to rounds I had loaded with Precison 200gr RNF, and it ran like a champ. The quest continues ......

RE extractor tension, it was very loose - would not keep a 230g FMJ cartridge in place when moving the slide around. I had tightened it up a little, where I couldnt get a 230g round to fall off after moving the slide around a bit. Possibly I got it too tight? I'll check it again tonight, and loosen it up a smidge if need be. The extractor claw has not been polished, but I believe it has the appropriate angles. I believe the pic of the round I had is, or just beginning, under the extractor. I believe this is commonly called a "3 point jam", where the round is jammed at the bullet nose top of the chamber, ramp/throat, and breachface. One time I noticed for the round to feed and slide to go into battery, a simple bump to the bottom of the mag was all it took. If it wasnt under the extractor, would bumping the mag have worked? I am very anal about making sure my firearms are clean and well lubed, though I havent put anything specifically on the ramp or extractor. I'll try that next time. In the mean time, I've also looked at the following: - Still in the process of testing different OALs - Looked very closely at the mags, feed lips, etc. Will number them and note in the future if they occur with a particular mag. - Polished some the top of the chamber, part where the bullet nose hits when slide goes into battery. - Begun sorting out brass from the loading process; Speer, Winchester, PMC, etc go in the "match" bucket, R-P, CBC, and a few others go into the "range' bucket. It's possible some of the feed issues I've experienced was due to using marginal brass at a match. Thanks for the continued suggestions. Hopefully I will be able to post a resolution soon.

You can also get Berrys here , and they're cheaper too.

Was at the range today and tried different loads, crimps, etc. Two things I did notice, no feed jams (3 point jam) with a Chip Mcormick mag, and when I did have a feed jam with one of the Wilson ETM, I would tap the bottom of the mag with my hand and the slide went to battery. The first round in the Wilson mag is definately pointing higher more than the McCormick mag, and I'm wondering if this is part of the issue with my GM not liking SWC. However, everything I've been reading says the ETMs were made to fix a lot of feeding issues with SWC. At this point, I'm thinking I either change out my ETM mags for Chip Mccormick mags, or just run RNF bullets in it.

I've used the barrel, and they all drop in fine. I have a Wilson's on the way.

Bob, I have the Hornady seating/crimp die in my LNL set to only seat, and use an RCBS taper crimp die. Should I go tighter on the die? Someone on another forum suggesting going to .470-.471 Going to a looser crimp didnt make much sense to me. My thought is the chamber on my GM might be a little tight, so going to a tighter crimp like .468 makes more sense.

I'm about ready to come to the conclusion my Gold Match just has too tight a chamber to reliably feed SWC bullets. I tried about 25 rnds at each of the following OALs, and still had some feed jams (releasing slide on full mag to chamber first round). 1.240 - feed jam 1.235 - no feed jam 1.230 - no feed jam 1.225 - feed jam 1.220 - no feed jam When I got home from the range I polished the top of the chamber, maybe this will help some, but the GM runs fine with RNFP, so it looks like that's what I'll be loading for it.

CocoBolo, good point, the gun is a Kimber Gold Match II, stock barrel. I'll try down loading the powder (maybe 5.0gr) and see if this helps. I have a nice flare and no molly is being shaved off when setting the bullet. I'm loading on a LNL with a Powder Funnel through expander for flaring the case, and a Hornady die adjusted to just seat the bullet and an RCBS taper crimp die.

Yeah, I've read that on several posts here and on their web site. I'm using 5.4gr of W231, so it shouldnt be too hot/fast.