Failure to feed, weird cycling, round stuck in chamber

[EastCoastChris]

Hello,

 

Recently, I sent a brand new Tanfo Stock II over to Patriot Defense for their patented tuneup and barrel reaming.  They also installed the extended firing pin, titan hammer, bolo, one piece sear, and Xtreme trigger.  Out of the box the trigger was PHENOMENAL, both in DA and SA. 

 

Unfortunately, the first range trip was plagued with failure to feeds, and a weird "ca chunk" whenever the slide cycled.    After perusing the forums here, it seemed I needed to chamfer off the breechface edge and polish the breechface.  I got in contact with PD and they confirmed it was probably the breechface  edge issue and gave the go ahead to chamfer the edge while also telling me Tanfo's need a 1000 rounds to break in.  They even stated there were no issues when it was test fired at their facility? 

 

 I chamfered off the edge and breechface little by little like everyone suggested until the failure to feed issue stopped, but the "ca chunk" continued.  

 

Thinking this issue stemmed from the wolff 8lb standard recoil spring, I tossed in a wollf 10lb standard spring to no avail and a factory 14lb spring which yielded the same result. 

 

After noticing weak ejection with softer ammo and sometimes rounds getting stuck with the slide out of battery, I bought a new extractor with the (9) stamp and an XP extractor spring to cross this off the list (the original had a bunch of machining marks and no (9) stamp). 

 

Next range trip, the "ca chunk" continues and within 100 rounds two were somehow stuck in the chamber while the slide was 1/8"- 1/4" out of battery.  I had to take the gun apart to get the rounds out since the slide was stuck.   This makes me think there is something wrong with the barrel after it was reamed, maybe.  

 

The mags I am using are brand new K9s.  The issue happens with all mags (12) and all ammo.     

 

Everyone that has seen it in slow mo and shot it agrees it's not cycling right.  Any thoughts??   

 

                 

Edited October 25, 2019 by EastCoastChris

[Agent #1911]

Have you tried the regular power extractor spring? 

[EastCoastChris]

No, I've only used the regular power extractor spring with the old extractor.  I will try the regular spring with the new extractor and see if it helps.  

Edited October 25, 2019 by EastCoastChris

[HesedTech]

I have two questions which I think might clear the mystery up. 

 

1. Is this your first Tanfoglio?

2. What kind of ammo are you using? Is it factory or your personal loads? If it's your loads please let us know what kind/brand of bullet and the OAL.

 

I personally have 6 Tanfoglio pistols all polished, and tuned up. PD has done multiple work for me, from reaming to slide lightening and prepping for CO, so based on the above two questions and your post I think I have an answer for you.

 

TFs are really picky about ammo even after reaming the barrel. While the chamber is somewhat loose it is by no means as loose as many normal production 9mms. If you are coming from a brand name like Glock it is highly likely your issues are in the ammo you're running.

 

The bullet profile, even after reaming, have to be tapered if you expect to get an OAL much longer than 1.10. Blues tend to have an OAL around 1.08. You also have to make sure your crimp is correct and that your bullets "plunk" (see the multiple threads here on BEF to see how it's done). Additionally if your loading 147s it's highly likely many of your cases have "bulged" where the longer bullet has pushed deep into the case.

 

To me it seems like most of the problems you are describing, including the "clunk," are ammo related. Why would the "clunk" be ammo related? Because a tight fitting cartridge will hang a bit as the slide is moving backwards, slowing it down and causing the odd "clunk" rather than a smooth return to battery.

 

My TFs run like clock work and after tens of thousands of rounds I can count the number of failures on one hand. 

 

Send me a note if you want more info.

 

Good luck, it really is a great gun.

[EastCoastChris]

Yes, this is my first Tanfo coming from a Glock 34.  The learning curve has been steep to say the least.  

 

I have been testing with factory ammo.  115 RN FMJ OAL ~1.160" and 150gr Syntech FN ~1.109"  After looking around at everyone's reloading suggestions, it appears these may be too long for their bullet profile.  Is there any factory ammo that will run without issue?  I did not plan to reload anytime in the near future due to living constraints.  I have rn blue bullet dummy rounds with OAL ~ 1.115 that cycle well by hand.      

Edited October 29, 2019 by EastCoastChris

[Agent #1911]

Drop the rounds in your barrel and find out. I never had clearance problems with factory 115 and 124 gr FMJ with stock barrel. Most of the load issues are from reloads with different shape bullets and .356” + diameter. 

[johnbu]

14 hours ago, EastCoastChris said:

Yes, this is my first Tanfo coming from a Glock 34.  The learning curve has been steep to say the least.  

 

I have been testing with factory ammo.  115 RN FMJ OAL ~1.160" and 150gr Syntech FN ~1.109" 

 

The syntech 150 is a great soft shooting load...but it has a "fat shouldered ogive" profile.

 

Joe reams to SAAMI spec, but (in my experience) the syntech 150 is still too fat.

 

Always plunk test. And when in doubt, use as pointy a round as possible. 

[EastCoastChris]

I picked up some 115 RN FMJ OAL ~ 1.105 and 115 RN Blue Bullets OAL ~ 1.130 to try.  Each round was plunk tested twice as suggested. They all passed, but the "ca-chunk" issue still persisted with all magazines at random.  Any thoughts?    

Edited November 20, 2019 by EastCoastChris

[Agent #1911]

I used to have FTF and kachunks with 8 lb wolff recoil spring but works fine with 10 lb and up. I noticed there was a “step” on the left side of the breech face from machining where the rim of a case could hang up when pushed up so I leveled it out. I also clipped the magazine springs to reduce the tension at the feed lips for easier feeding. The factory magazine springs are super strong and probably spec’d for the heavy recoil spring. that tension is not needed with light recoil springs. Lastly, I tapered the magazine lips opening so the front is wider than the rear so the rounds slips out easily with minimal push from the slide. All this modifications fixed my kachunk and FTF issues. Feeds much smoother now. I also would like to note that the lighter the recoil spring, the more important you need to have a solid grip. If you let it flip, the slide will have less force to cycle. Check the rails for burs. Hope this helps.

Edited November 20, 2019 by Agent #1911

[EastCoastChris]

I feel it with all springs--8,9,10,14.  Obviously it less pronounced with the factory spring, but it is still there.  I will take another look at the breech face and see if anything stands out.  

 

How many coils did you clip?  It being a magazine issue seems more and more likely.    

 

Edited November 21, 2019 by EastCoastChris

[lstange]

When I bought my second Stock II, the first one had about 15k rounds through it. I run all my reloads through case gauge and use rejects only in training. The old Stock II had no problems with rejects, but the new Stock II would consistently fail to go to battery. After about 10k rounds the difference disappeared. Now both feed rejects just fine.

[Agent #1911]

4 hours ago, EastCoastChris said:

I feel it with all springs--8,9,10,14.  Obviously it less pronounced with the factory spring, but it is still there.  I will take another look at the breach face and see if anything stands out.  

 

How many coils did you clip?  It being a magazine issue seems more and more likely.    

 

If you can still feel it with a 14lb spring, it’s probably not a magazine issue. I’d check the breech face again and the extractor. 

[EastCoastChris]

I checked the breechface again and found a small "step" opposite of the extractor like you said above. I polished it down until it was smooth.  Hopefully, this will fix the issue.  

[Agent #1911]

Did you try sliding a round up and down the extractor to see if its smooth?

[EastCoastChris]

Sorry for the long hiatus. The weird feeding and cycling issue is resolved! Thank you for your help. It seems polishing out the small step across from the extractor solved the issue.

What is everyone’s thoughts on weak ejection? I am running an 11lb recoil spring currently and experience a weird stovepipe once every 150-200 rounds. The brass is half ejected and caught by slide parallel to the round below it. Is that an extractor issue? I have the stock extractor spring in it currently.


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[Hi-Power Jack]

Have you cleaned out the extractor tunnel ?

[HesedTech]

7 hours ago, EastCoastChris said:

What is everyone’s thoughts on weak ejection?

Remeber “ejection” is a mechanical function of the gun.  There has to enough charge to operate the slide, the cartridge has to hit the ejector, the extractor holds the rim and allows the cartridge to pivot out and flip out of the gun, all while another round is pressing up against it ready to feed on the return of the slide. 
 

What then can effect and cause it to “stove pipe?”
 

I’ve had a total of two (out of around 20k rounds) stove pipes, both BTW during competitive stages, so my only guesses are, worn rim grooves on reloaded ammo, too low of a powder charge, dirty breech face and extractor claw or possibly a slightly oversized case slowing down the slide. My cases were probably well used brass. I also found none of my TF needed the “extra power” extractor spring.

 

I run an 8lb recoil spring on all of them.

 

As many have and will post, does all your ammo “plunk?”  To run reliably it has to be able to drop freely out of the barrel. 

[zombywoof]

Change to extra power extractor spring.

[N7VY]

On my stock 2 I’m running an extra power extractor spring along with a 9lb recoil spring. All of my reloads are coated round nose loaded at 1.06” I know it’s a bit short but I’ve had zero cycling issues. Just my 2 cents.