sbra27 Posted December 31, 2004 Share Posted December 31, 2004 I recently purchased a new Hard Chromed STI Edge .40 from Dawson Precision, with 4 tuned mags (also from DP). When cycled by hand, the gun works flawlessly. But when fired, the rounds either nose dive into the feed ramp, or they just don't go into battery. I have played with my over all length from 1.113 to 1.140, and this does not seem to have any effect either way. I then did a search and found a suggestion to modify the mag spring by bending the third coil down. This seemed to help a little, (the nose diving is not as constant), but it is still nose diving. The main problem is that this is not consistent, it seems to happen only every fifty or so rounds, which is making it real hard to diagnois. The rounds pulled out after each malfunction have an imprint similar to a half moon with a line under it, as if it slammed into the bottom of my feed ramp. When cycled though, my rounds hit the top of the feed ramp, nowhere near the bottom. It does not seem to matter if I shoot factory ammo or reloads, I still have the problem. I have shot approximately 1000 rounds through this gun trying to figure out what the problem could be. Today I tried a friends set of mags which had grams followers and springs with dawson base pads. While using these mags, I could not reproduce the problem. I then tried my mags, thinking that they were the problem, but of course no malfunction. Has anyone ever had problems with tuned mags from DP? I am really getting frustrated, but I really don't know who to blame or where to start. If any of you that have experienced similar problems, (and yes I have done a search and know there are some of you), and have found a solution, please help a me out. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bulm540 Posted December 31, 2004 Share Posted December 31, 2004 Try increasing your lenght to 1.200 OAL . if it is still a problem i would call Dawson and send the gun back to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shred Posted December 31, 2004 Share Posted December 31, 2004 Ditto on the 1.200" OAL suggestion. If that doesn't help, I'd call Dawson and ask them what they think. If they built it and tuned it, they will know what works. Something else you can try is as soon as there's a malfunction, mark the mag, and then count how many rounds are left in it. If the problem follows one or two of the mags only, then you have a suspect. If it's consistent across all your mags, I'd start to look at something else-- ammo or gun. If it happens mostly near the end of the mags, it might be that the recoil spring is too heavy for your loads, or you've got too many shok-buffs in there, which is causing a just slightly too-short slide cycle every once in a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Putty Posted December 31, 2004 Share Posted December 31, 2004 I would give Benny Hill a call, or go to www.triangleshootingsports.com for his contact information. He is a great guy and has helped alot of people out and might have a quick fix for you that might alleviate you sending your gun back. I bought a fat free from him with the similar problem (although not exact) as I had a feed problem where the slide would not return fully due to ammo stickage. Turns out I was lame in the way I reloaded (I subsequently blew up that gun, but thats a different story) where I was not crimping the bullet to his specs. I changed the crimp in .40 to a .418 and it ran flawlessly. My OAL was 1.17 in a STI frame, caspian skeletonized slide, Schueman 6" barrel and tuned mags. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mistral404 Posted December 31, 2004 Share Posted December 31, 2004 Dawson's guns typically run on factory ammo. It sounds like the gun was not modified to accept factory ammo. My STI does not run on factory ammo. I have to load it long and use a Lee FCD to ensure reliability. Call Dave, Benny or Virgil Tripp. Dave always makes gun on his stuff! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chp5 Posted December 31, 2004 Share Posted December 31, 2004 Dawson's guns typically run on factory ammo. It sounds like the gun was not modified to accept factory ammo. My STI does not run on factory ammo. I have to load it long and use a Lee FCD to ensure reliability. Call Dave, Benny or Virgil Tripp. Dave always makes gun on his stuff! My Dawson Edge shoots factory length ammo 100%. I'd just send it back to them if you want it to run the shorter rounds - or just load long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErikW Posted December 31, 2004 Share Posted December 31, 2004 What recoil spring is in it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benny hill Posted December 31, 2004 Share Posted December 31, 2004 Replace the wolf mag springs with IMSI springs & it will run. Your springs have taken a quick set & need to be replaced. If it will not feed ALL ammo then send it back to dave & tell him to return it asap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbra27 Posted December 31, 2004 Author Share Posted December 31, 2004 Thanks for the input guys. I talked with Dave today and he said to send it back to him and he would make it right. But if not, I will definetly be contacting Benny... In response to some of your input, I tried the oal of 1.195, but it seemed like my chamber is to short because my slide would not fully go into battery. It hung open 1/8th of an inch. I am still running the factory recoil master (heavy). Thanks again, you all are great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.40AET Posted January 1, 2005 Share Posted January 1, 2005 As long as it's going back to Dawson. Ask him to check the chamber. Tell him you want to run 1.200" oal and he'll know what to do to get that to work as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbra27 Posted January 14, 2005 Author Share Posted January 14, 2005 Update... I just received my sti back from Dave at Dawson. To be honest I can't beleive this is the same gun, this thing runs great.. He said that it just needed to be tuned, there were some rough spots from the factory. If you plan on purchasing a gun from Dawson, I highly recommend the "Enhanced Package". Yes this is a extra $100.00, but it saves you alot of aggravation. Thanks again to all of you who had input. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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