Troubleshooting FTF on a new STI Edge .40

[Espresso]

I have a new Edge in .40, 126mm mags with Grams Spring/Follower Kit 11 Coil and Arrendondo +1 international pads, everything is new.

The problem: Won't feed Federal 155gr JHP, which I have a lot of. It does feed if I rack the slide manually, but I need to do this every round.

It also FTFs 180gr FMJ about 40% of the time.

What happens is that the nose of the cartridge gets hung up on the bottom of the feed ramp.

What I've tried: I lightly polished the feed ramp with 600 grit sandpaper (pushing with an eraser), it feels and looks smoother but not much else, I didn't go too long so maybe I should try a bit more? I don't want to mess up the ramp's geometry though.

Should I try bending the follower up a bit? I've read about this too.

I know this gun prefers ammo loaded long, but I can't reload right now and it's tough to find long loaded ammo. I'd like to get this running 100% on factory ammo.

Thanks for any suggestions, I've been all over the forums and feel like I've read everything. I guess the bottom line is, should I try bending a spring/follower up? Should I polish the ramp more? I guess I'm more comfortable with bending a spring than damaging a feedramp.

Thanks

[lukec44]

I'm having the exact same problems with my eagle. I just finished sending STI a message about sending it into them if my local gunsmith can fix the problem. I am getting a FTF on every factory round and 1 out of 10 reloaded rounds. Like you i've polished the ramp as well.

[Espresso]

Ya, I'll probably try modding a spring to bend a follower up a bit, later this evening and will report back.

[Poppa Bear]

Does it do this with all mags? Are you feed lips properly spaced? If the lips are to close together it can drive the nose of the bullet into the feed ramp before it can rise enough to feed.

Try reading this: http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=141880

Edited March 4, 2013 by Poppa Bear

[assaulter]

Mine would choke on factory ammo for the first thousand rounds or so. It would feed my longer reloads without problems. Check the dimensions on your feed lips. It may need to let the nose up just a little higher. I've got over 12k on my Edge now and it will feed the short 180 grain Speer Lawman stuff without fail now. I haven't tried any HP for a while. I may have to.

[Noah my boy]

I have to put an extra crimp on any factory round i shoot out of my Edge.. It took me a long time of shooting and adjusting mags and so on before i found out that some just dont like factory ammo.. I load long and feeds like a champ now.. If i buy factory I put an extra crimp on it and it seems to feed fine now.

[Espresso]

Does it do this with all mags? Are you feed lips properly spaced? If the lips are to close together it can drive the nose of the bullet into the feed ramp before it can rise enough to feed.

Try reading this: http://www.brianenos...howtopic=141880

Thanks, I may have to try that. There is some variation in how my mags feed (I have 4) but none is perfect.

[benny hill]

Try installing a ISMI mag spring and see the dirrerence in holding the nose up. make sure the lips are at about .385

[Frankl03]

Sorry you're having trouble with your Edge! Both of my Edges have fed great. I have been using flat point bullets with no problems

at all. I don't load long either. I know you have allot of hps but if you can trade for bullets that are friendlier that may feed better. Short story, try a different bullet!

I did have some commercial fmjs (UMC 250 pack) that had a little nub on the end, they didn't feed at all.

Hope you get it figured out.

[Espresso]

So I popped in a 140mm STI spring, STI follower and stock flat base pad and got some improvement. If I slowly operate the slide the round will slow down on the feed ramp, but if I apply some gentle pressure it will go up and into the chamber. If I rack the slide like normal then it chambers normally. I'll have to try it at the range to be sure.

And interestingly enough, the last round feeds flawlessly. That has me baffled, but I think the nose is slightly higher on the last round.

I want it to chamber a round when moving the slide as slow as possible, like the rest of my highly reliable pistols.

edit: I just did a little comparison between the mag that feeds great with the STI internals and only one round, compared to the mags with Grams springs/followers. There's a clear difference in how the round is positioned relative to the feed lips. Since this is consistent between all mags with Grams internals, I'm thinking it's more of a follower issue. I'll have to do more investigating.

Edited March 5, 2013 by Espresso

[Forgetful]

Feed lips spaced and consider beveling the bottom of your extractor claw.

Long ammo too if possible.

[bonglee0507]

have your barrel throated and reamed. had the same problem with my edge. using a 126mm with grams 11 and extended basepad(18 rds)

before the throating

after the throating and reaming

the last round failed to feed bec the grams follower was so thick that i had to cut it. gun works fine now.. after a couple of weeks i decided to change the barrel to KKM and sold the sti barrel

Edited March 11, 2013 by bonglee0507

[40S&W]

40 S&W rounds sit higher in the mag if the mags are setup properly and the round is almost on the same plane as the barrel mouth. That is why an unramped barrel can be used. Sounds like you have a mag problem (round sits too low or is slightly nose diving). Some factory ammo especially the cheap stuff has a short OAL and causes feeding problems (round slightly nose diving). For my 2011 Limited I use Brazo tuned mags and unramped barrel and don't use rounds that have an OAL less than 1.120. My reloads are 1.138 OAL. Use the same ammo in my 40 S&W 1911 L-10 with a unramped barrel and CMC 40 S&W or Tripp 10mm mags. Both guns run flawlessly. If I run the 1911 for SS I use 8 round Mec-Gar mags.

[Espresso]

Thanks for the advice. I ruled out the extractor being a problem, definitely not that. I'm certain it's the mags, hopefully I'll have time to mess with them soon.

[Poppa Bear]

Rule #1 here is to number your mags. Test them all and if consistent numbers are the problem, try to figure out what is different.

A friend picked up some new Wilson mags to add to his supply of McCormick mags. Found out his gun does not like the Wilson's When checked against the McCormick's we realized that the Wilson's kept the bullets nose down compared to the McCormick's He is trying some new followers to see if he can match the angle that seems to work in his SS gun .

[Espresso]

Finally an update! All of my mags work great after I tuned them using calipers and channel locks.

I measured the width of the feed lips in three places, the front, middle, and back. Below are pics.

First, mag placed in channel locks and bend slightly, then measure:

The front section measures about .457

The middle section measures about .41

The back section measures about .39

The four mags I did are all within a few thousandths in these measurements and run smooth. It seems like the front and middle measurements are most important, I had one mag where the middle and back were fine, but the front was too narrow by one hundredth and it did not cycle well. I'm using factory FMJ and HP ammo, all works well.

I did not do anything else, no polishing the insides or anything like that. Before these modifications almost every round would nosedive into the feed ramp and stick, now they don't. I hope this helps anyone else looking for help on this.

[wangelc]

DQ, unsafe gun handling