Failures To Chamber?

[Truegent2004]

At my most recent match my gun(STI Edge custom) started to fail to chamber rounds, requiring me to thumb the slide all the way forward or just hard rack the slide to get the next one in. Ok you gunny's out there........what are the most likely causes/solutions for this problem? Mag springs? Followers? Extractor? Recoil Spring? Other?

Edited October 30, 2005 by Truegent2004

[Sean Gaines]

could be your recoil spring, try a heavier spring and see if that helps

[John Dunn]

Check the ammo first.

[GuildSF4]

Most common causes in no particular order for running OK then problems, ammo, recoil spring, extractor, magazine feed lips, magazine springs, buildup in chamber or dirty gun, lack of lubrication.

Less common are feedramp, grip frame... This is a quick list others may have other suggestions...

[wide45]

shock buff

[Action Pistolero]

It's more than likely the ammo. Check the overall length for consistancy. If you are using a 650 or 550 set the seating die to seat a few thousandths deeper. When crimping be sure that you crimp each round atleast .002. Before I would start blaming the extractor I would be sure the chamber is clean. If it has an STI barrel I would polish the feedramp until it looks like a mirror. I had one that was stripping copper off of the bullet.

Kevin

[Truegent2004]

Thanks for the feedback. My ammo checks ok. None flunked the case guage test and when dropped in the barrell the rim was just a smidge below the hood (OAL 1.13) and dropped right out when the barrell was turned upside down. I was also thinking why would the same ammo work fine at some matches but fail to chamber at this one. I'm going to change mag springs and followers (Won some grams at the last match) and see if that does the trick.

[Harmon]

the extractor is too tight

it might help to load the ammo a touch longer

[Radical Precision Designs]

There are always more than one item. Sometimes acombination of a few.

With an empty gun, rack it over a few times and check for "slide bind" nearing battery position. Very often there is a slight lateral bind/rub between the ejector and the slide, enough to bind the slide at the moment when "residual/battery" spring tension is not enough. If this is your problem, re fit your ejector.

Now try it again with some snap caps or dummies, remembering to pull the slide all the way to the rear (lock-up position) and just let go of the slide. If your ammo is properly sized and there are no "headspacing" issues, then the culprit again, and most likely would be a fatgued/worn recoil spring, or a recoil spring that is lacking "residual/battery" tension. Very often a recoil spring that coils were cut-off from and has lost overrall length and taken a "set" with not enough residual tension. Not always do you need to change to a higher weight spring. Sometimes a new spring of the same brand, or a different brand will do the trick.

If the above doesn't cure it, by all means try a heavier spring, and adjust your loads if needed.

[TMC]

I bought a used gun that was reported to have had many trouble free rounds shot through it. When I got it I had multiple failures to feed. After trying everything from new brass, bullets, extra pressure on seating primers to the extractors and springs but nothing cured it. On a whim I measured the chamber depth which came up a bit shallow, so only rounds at the min tolerance of case length would chamber. I touch with the reamer and the thing has been flawless since.

Edited November 2, 2005 by TMC