FTF and FTE

[Alan Adamson]

Ok, I'm no expert, but need to know what to look for or potentially fix.

I've got a new 1911, with Nolan ramped barrel in .40SW.

It will hand feed the first round on load pretty easily for the first and second load, but on the third and from then forward, it won't... The bullet doesn't nose dive, and I've tried both a Tripp and a Wilson 47NX mag, the bullet simply runs into the ramp and stops, all tilted up as it should be from the magazines, etc.

Makes for tough unloaded starts. I've take one shot at polishing the ramp, and perhaps I need to take another... I got the middle out about 30% polished, but the outsides where still a little rough from the EDM marks.

Second and somewhat related, the gun ejects spent rounds just fine, but having to hand cycle it to clean a problem or unload it, the round that comes out of the barrel, comes back, hits the ejector and then gets trapped by the barrel hood and sometimes won't come out. In fact on each Unload, show clear, I have to fiddle with the gun to get that round out after the mag is dropped.... I'm certainly not going to hard eject it as it's begging for an ejector strike.

I obviously need to talk to the smith that built it, but just figured, I'd educate myself first one what might be causing either of these problems?

Thanks in advance, I'll share any and all info about this as required.

Oh, and I'm using, for now anyway, 180gr Ranier TC plated bullets, so perhaps this is helping cause some of the problem, they are as well loaded to 1.195 OAL.

Alan

Edited May 16, 2010 by Alan Adamson

[diehli]

1) Try polishing it again, but in the direction that the round moves. The ramp angle might be bad and would need some more metal removed (though there've been threads where "gunsmiths" have butchered barrels. Will it feed factory ammo?

2) Ejector's too long. Factory .45 measures out from 1.256"-1.266", so, at least from the mechanical physical ability of the gun to handle the OAL you're loading at, it's not a problem, unlike, say Glocks that were made for shorter OALs. Will it eject unfired factory ammo?

[CenTX]

SS 40 S&W can be finicky on the shape/angle of the ramp. A lot of people have sent their SS .40 to Virgil Tripp to fix feeding problems, he seems to be able to make them run.

[Paul Burtchell]

SS 40 S&W can be finicky on the shape/angle of the ramp. A lot of people have sent their SS .40 to Virgil Tripp to fix feeding problems, he seems to be able to make them run.

+1

One trip to Virgil Tripp and your 40S&W will sing

[Merlin Orr]

Is the gun new or a redo from someone? Did a gunsmith build it or is it a homegrown gunsmith job.

If a gunsmith built the gun chances are good that the work required to make it run will be relatively simple. Homegrown ... puts a lot more variables in the mix...

[Pat Miles]

Does the gun feed when you shoot it or are you having the same feed issues during normal cycling?

Polish the feed ramp until it is good and shiny, just don't remove any metal. Polish the breech face also so the back of the case can slide up easily. Is the round making it out of the magazine feed lips? Measure the feed lips. Are the feed lips smooth inside where the rounds sit. No burrs or rough spots? What OAL are the rounds? As Diehli asked. Will it feed factory ammo? An additional thought...are you letting the slide slam forward on the hand cycling or pussy footing it?

As far as the fiddle farting around when clearing the gun, the ejector is probably too long. Again, what is your OAL. If it is long you might try shortening the OAL a bit. If you decide to do that be sure to make adjustments in the powder charge so the pressures don't go through the roof. If the OAL is reasonable the ejector needs to be shortened a bit. Pay attention to the profile of the nose of the ejector and make it the same after you are finished. Shorten the ejector about .010" at a time and then try to eject a round. Might put together some dummy rounds for this part. Never can be too safe!

Let us know what you find.

CYa,

Pat

[superdude]

i might as well add my 2 cents worth. your OAL is long for a 40 S&W and this contributes to your ejection problem since the gunsmith might have designed it around the standard OAL for this cartridge.

plated bullets, such as the Rainier, can sometimes produce feeding problems. they're soft and the copper plating might not be a slippery as we assume. try true jacketed bullets and see if that cures the feeding problem.

and by all means, tell us what works and what doesn't because we're all curious whether our advice helps or not.

[jaredr]

Will it feed factory ammo?

that's a great question. first thing i would do is trial the gun with plain jane fmj 180 factory ammo and see what happens. ideally, if you find a load that works, then you can start working towards that COL, bullet profile, etc. If you can't find a load that works, then you'll be better informed when you have to contact the person who built this. It's one thing to contact a gunsmith claiming that his pistol won't feed your reloads, it's another to contact a smith letting them know that their gun won't run with factory ball ammo. Please let us know what you find, and best o' luck.

Jared

[Alan Adamson]

Will it feed factory ammo?

that's a great question. first thing i would do is trial the gun with plain jane fmj 180 factory ammo and see what happens. ideally, if you find a load that works, then you can start working towards that COL, bullet profile, etc. If you can't find a load that works, then you'll be better informed when you have to contact the person who built this. It's one thing to contact a gunsmith claiming that his pistol won't feed your reloads, it's another to contact a smith letting them know that their gun won't run with factory ball ammo. Please let us know what you find, and best o' luck.

Jared

Thanks to all.

To clarify a few points

a) the gun run 100% when it's shooting, it simply the first round that your use to load the gun that doesn't want to feed after the ramp gets a little dirty

and it's the last round that your try to eject when you unload the gun. It has never had a problem with FTE or FTF when it's actually firing a round.

c) the OAL that I load to is 1.195 (well longer than .40 S&W SAAMI, and well shorter than .45 SAAMI). These are the same rounds that feed just fine in my 2011, but won't feed the first one, on a make ready or unloaded start after the ramp gets a little dirty

[Alan Adamson]

Is the gun new or a redo from someone? Did a gunsmith build it or is it a homegrown gunsmith job.

If a gunsmith built the gun chances are good that the work required to make it run will be relatively simple. Homegrown ... puts a lot more variables in the mix...

It's new by a very knowledgeable 1911 gunsmith. I'll be talking to him tomorrow before I do anything drastic

Alan

[Alan Adamson]

i might as well add my 2 cents worth. your OAL is long for a 40 S&W and this contributes to your ejection problem since the gunsmith might have designed it around the standard OAL for this cartridge.

plated bullets, such as the Rainier, can sometimes produce feeding problems. they're soft and the copper plating might not be a slippery as we assume. try true jacketed bullets and see if that cures the feeding problem.

and by all means, tell us what works and what doesn't because we're all curious whether our advice helps or not.

On the FTF issue on load, my thoughts exactly... I'm just about out of these bullets, and as soon as I am, everything else I have will be jacketed. So, I'm hoping that will make an impact. As for the FTE on unload, I suspect it's also too long of ejector and will have to have that tweaked.

Thanks to all for the info... Sounds like I was on the right path.

Alan