New barrel install...gun doesn't work at all anymore

[waktasz]

Bought a used 6" Limited Caspian last year...gun ran 100%. It was flawless. Would feed empty cases out of the mags. The problem is that someone went crazy polishing the ramp and it would bulge cases.

I sent it away to have a new barrel fitted and when it came back the first thing I noticed was that the ramp on the new barrel was not nearly as long, horizontally, as the original. The original practically sucked the next round out of the mag, now there is a gap between the mag and the ramp. Sent the gun in again to have the ramp angle adjusted, and now it's even further away from the mag.

The smith is becoming less than helpful so I'm looking for a solution from someone else. Can this be fixd? Welded up and re-cut? Or is a new barrel in order?

(new on left, old on right)

[XRe]

Yeah, the old barrel is definitely overly throated...

What's happening with the new barrel - how does it misfeed (ie, is it a "three point" hang up where the round is starting up into the barrel and gets hung up when it meets the extractor, or is it a nose down stall on the feed ramp, or...)???

Have you tried adjust ammo OAL (probably longer?) to see if it would help? Your ramp on the new barrel looks vaguely reminiscent of the infamous STI Trojan "feed wall" - I had to have mine welded up and recut to get a little more angle to it before my Trojan would work reliably. Yours doesn't look as severe as mine did, but it's definitely steep looking, to me...

[diehli]

That is a pair of well-screwed-up barrels.

I'd second what Dave said on OAL if it wasn't so apparent that the barrel was royally funked. Looks like you'd have to add quite a bit of OAL and it still likely wouldn't function reliably as there's not much of an angle to the ramp.

[waktasz]

It jams with the round going straight into the feed ramp, pretty much parallel with the barrel. Seems to only happen when the mags are full, because of the way the rounds seem to come out of the magazine in that case, but with the old barrel in it would run ANYTHING out of any of my mags at any point. I tried some new mag tubes and an EGW U-die but that didn't help.

[shooterbenedetto]

Here you go this would be a fix to that.

http://egw-guns.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=34_48&products_id=48

Pick another gunsmith If I were you.

[waktasz]

Is the consensus that the new barrel is fixable? I've heard of people sending guns back to have the "feed wall" fixed up...would that fix my problem? Who should I go to?

[Action Pistolero]

The first thing to do is what others have said and increase the OAL. Make them as long as the mag will allow. Take the barrel out and drop a loaded round in the chamber. Be sure the round sits flush or a little deeper that the barrel hood.

If you are still having problems then switch to a more pointed bullet. That will allow the round to slide up the ramp better.

The reason your old barrel looks like it does is because the previous owner had the same problem that you are having.

What kind of barrel is the new one? The ramp is shorter than the old one which in itself adds to the problem. I like the length on the old one better.

[waktasz]

New one is a Storm Lake, old one is Nowlin

[G-ManBart]

That SL ramp is way steeper than the factory barrel on my Trojan and doesn't come as far back towards the magazine...neither is good.

You could have the ramp welded up and recut, but you want someone who really knows what they're doing to handle it.

You can try an interim fix by going to a longer OAL. I'd start at 1.20" and go up in .10" increments to see if that helps (check that the longer lengths aren't hitting the rifling). You should be able to go out to 1.25" or so. R,

[benny hill]

Make sure the mag lips are at .385

[Aircooled6racer]

Hello: Listen to Benny The old man knows what he is talking about. I use 45acp mags. The mags feed just fine in every pistol I've tried them on including 45's. Thanks,Eric

[EEH]

Make sure the mag lips are at .385

Put your old gun and new barelllll in a box and send it to BENNY,tell him to fix it,,gun will work ,,done

[kgunz11]

Yeah, the old barrel is definitely overly throated...

Throated? The "throat" would be the area on the muzzle end of the chamber instead of the feed ramp would it not?

While everyone is telling you to load longer, what is your current OAL? If the nose of the bullet is hitting the feed ramp before it can clock in the feed lips of the magazine, you might want to try something loaded to factory OAL.

[waktasz]

My loads are at 1.18

[kgunz11]

What caliber? Hi-cap or single stack magazine?

[kgunz11]

BTW, your old bbl was smacking your extractor for a while now too.

[XRe]

Yeah, the old barrel is definitely overly throated...

Throated? The "throat" would be the area on the muzzle end of the chamber instead of the feed ramp would it not?

In 1911 gunsmithing terms, the word "throat" is frequently used to refer to the breech end of the chamber, too... I know, it's confusing... Widening, shaping, smoothing that area at the top of the ramp is frequently referred to as "throating" or a "throat job", usually as part of a "reliability package"... For instance:

http://www.sightm191...ity_secrets.htm (you can see it here on an unramped .45 barrel)

http://www.clarkcust...1911.htm#relpkg

Googling "1911 barrel throat" will turn up a lot of examples, too...

Edit to add... I guess you could say the OPs original barrel had been "deep throated"... ???

Edited April 2, 2010 by XRe

[waktasz]

It's a 40 highcap

[kgunz11]

Thanks Dave. Never heard it called "throating", just chamfering. Learned something new.

[Too_Slow]

I know that Doug Jones of Accu-Rail fame also does a very good job at welding and re-cutting these. He did this on my open gun when he rebuilt it.

Brian

[philg80]

Did you send the barrel with the gun or did your gunsmith order and fit the new barrel for you? If he ordered the barrel then it looks like he ordered the wrong one. To me it looks like the original barrel was likely a Nowlin ramped, "gunsmith fit" barrel that was hand fitted to your gun. The Storm Lake looks like it might be a drop in barrel. Just my thoughts on the situation.....your gunsmith should make it right if he ordered the barrel.

[waktasz]

I sent the whole gun in and he ordered the parts and installed them. When I sent it back the second time I send both barrels with it

[CocoBolo]

My new barrel for my open just came in the mail. Now I'm thinking do I really want to do this. Wow if the new one is the one on the left that is just messed up. Most 6" guns are running bushing barrels and not bulls these days, its a weight thing, Benny puts them on a diet and trims all the fat off of them.

Get a Redding Grx and forget about the buldge, just shoot the snot out of it.

[kgunz11]

My 6" .40 Bull bbl weighs an ounce less than my 9mm 6" bushing bbl gun.

[Resjudicata]

Wow, this is the reason I learned how to do this stuff myself. I've gotten to the point that there are maybe three people I would even try to have fit a barrel for me.

To the OP, have you checked with EGW, Benny Hill or Matt Cheeley on the cost and feasability of fixing the ramp on that new Storm Lake and compared that to having one of these three fit a new Storm Lake? I have a Storm Lake in my 6" STI and really like the barrel. If the cost of fixing this barrel is anywhere close to just fitting a new Storm Lake or Schuemann I would just go with a new barrel.

BTW, if the "gunsmith" (I use this word loosely) isn't willing to foot the bill to have a real gunsmith fix this and they are in the same state as you I suggest filing a small claims suit against the "person."

Chris