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Failure to feed and a stove pipe


anonymouscuban

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Hey guys. Hoping you can help me narrow things down a bit. I think this is an issue with recoil spring weight but let's see what you all think.
 
I've had quite a bit of problems the last couple of times at the range. SP-01 manual safety model. CGW Pro Kit installed. Several failures of a round chambering. At first I thought it was one mag but ruled that out. Happened with at least 3 different mags. Today, I had a stove pipe; case didn't eject all the way.
 
I'm currently running a CGW 13# recoil spring. I'm shooting my own loads. 135gr coated bullet with 3.7gr of Tightgroup with a 1.12 COAL.
 
Chrono yields about 1040 fps so about 140 PF. Rounds plunk and chamber fine so I don't think they're too long.
 
The odd thing is that I was shooting a lighter loads before without any of these problems and same internals.
 
Could it be that the spring is worn out; has lost tension? I've shot at least 10k rounds with it. Maybe more.
 
Or maybe it's something else. Really need to get this figured out before my next match.
 
Thanks for any help you can give.
 
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Are the failures to feed a double feed? Do you have to remove the mag to clear it? If so, you probably need to modify the breach face. On the bottom part of the breach face, where it will be next to a round in the magazine, it is a 90 degree angle. Take a small file and just break that edge, barely making it a 45 degree angle. The bottom of the breach face can drag on the round in the mag, slowing down the slide enough to get mis-feeds and such. Also polish the under side of the breach face, right in the center.

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Are the failures to feed a double feed? Do you have to remove the mag to clear it? If so, you probably need to modify the breach face. On the bottom part of the breach face, where it will be next to a round in the magazine, it is a 90 degree angle. Take a small file and just break that edge, barely making it a 45 degree angle. The bottom of the breach face can drag on the round in the mag, slowing down the slide enough to get mis-feeds and such. Also polish the under side of the breach face, right in the center.
Hey Grumpy.

Not a double feed. The round just doesn't chamber at all. When its happened, all I have to do is rack the slide and all is good. Round chambers. The slide is cycling enough to eject the spent casing except for once today, the last time it happened.

Further, it's happened at different round counts. What I mean is that it's not happening only when there are, say, 2 rounds left in the mag. It's happened with almost a full mag and with just one round left. And as I mentioned in the OP, with multiple mags. Doesn't seem like a mag issue.

This gun has been flawless since I bought it. Eats through everything I put it in. Never one issue. This happened in Monday and again today. Nothing is different.

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Still polish the underside of the breach face. Look at the rounds left in the mag. Does it (the brass) look like it is scratched where the bottom of the breach may have drug on it?
Hmm... I didn't inspect the rounds that closely so not sure. I will try polishing the underside of breach face like you suggest. Can't hurt. I think I'm also gonna order another 13# and an 11# spring just to try. Good to have some spares anyhow.



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No idea what the problem is, but if it were me, first thing I'd do is buy a box of factory ammo to see how it runs.

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I can try some factory ammo. Good idea so I can rule out my rounds.

I'm gonna polish the breach face like you guys are suggesting as well.


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Try a fresh mag spring...  
I'm gonna give my mags a good cleaning but I don't think this is the issue. I also have 2 brand new mags that I will use during my next range day to rule it out.

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I only say try a new mag spring, because I had the exact same issue, only in my case, it happened with one magazine only.  A new spring fixed my failures to feed with that magazine.  

 

If you think about it, it makes sense.  A weak mag spring might not lift a round quickly enough for the slide to pick it up before the slide tries to close. 

 

I also use an #11 recoil spring on all of my Shadows, but my loads are ~130 PF.  

 

One more thought - if you are running a buffer on the recoil spring guide, you might want to try shooting without it.  It limits the rearward travel of the slide.  

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUecHstU4QQ

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  • 2 weeks later...

Quick Update...

Changing out the recoil spring from the 13# to the 14# seems to have worked. I've had to training sessions with no issues with the new spring.

Thought I'd share in case others have the same problem and just to close this out.

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On 6/15/2019 at 10:45 PM, anonymouscuban said:

Quick Update...

Changing out the recoil spring from the 13# to the 14# seems to have worked. I've had to training sessions with no issues with the new spring.

Thought I'd share in case others have the same problem and just to close this out.

Sent from my SM-G930U using Tapatalk
 

 

I run 11# recoil springs with ~130PF loads in all three of my Shadows... no issues.  

 

 

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5 hours ago, Ken6PPC said:

 

I run 11# recoil springs with ~130PF loads in all three of my Shadows... no issues.  

 

 

I was running lighter loads before no problems. Problems started with my hotter loads. They run just shy over 140 PF. The heavier springs seems to have fixed it. Hitting the range again on thursday where I will shoot quite a bit so hopefully things hold the same. I have a match Sunday. 

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One more thing to look at: make sure your seater die is set to taper crimp enough.  If it isn't, the rounds will pass a plunk test because you're dropping them straight into the barrel but they will hang up on the feedramp every now and then.

 

Ask me how I know...…...

Edited by elguapo
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****UPDATE****

Shot a match yesterday with the new recoil spring. Happy to report zero problems. Well, with my gun at least. Wish I could say the same for memorizing my stage plan.

Also happy to say I had no issues with light strikes. I have had a few in recent practice session but adjust my primer depth and that fixed it.

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