Do 40 SW 2011 limited guns run factory ammo reliably?

[Sandbagger123]

i have 2 40 cal limited guns.  non of them have even seen standard factory 40 cal ammo.  always been fed ammo at 1.18 .  i am converting one to shoot LO and want to use 140 grain 40 in them.  looking at the bullet, it seems like its going to need to be loaded short .     

 

So how well do 40 cal limited guns run on short ammo?   

[deerslayer]

I have an STI Edge that reliably feeds standard length .40 (~1.125).  Others have said their .40 2011s required long ammo.  

[BJB]

I loaded for a M&P 40 cal before I had a 2011 built. Loaded to OAL of 1.13".  When I started running the 2011 I had lots of the 1.13" ammo to use up before going to the new OAL of 1.18".  The 1.13" ammo never caused a problem in the 2011 over about 3500 rds. 

[Kilrb]

Mine runs it with no problem

[Joe4d]

Ran my Para 1640, SS 1911 40 and STI eagle 6" on quite a bit of American Eagle 165's all I shot for about 2 years while in Hi

 

[davsco]

1 hour ago, deerslayer said:

I have an STI Edge that reliably feeds standard length .40 (~1.125).  Others have said their .40 2011s required long ammo.  

Ditto here

[392heminut]

Depends on the gun, they are all different. Mine will run anything I put in it and will feed empty cases from the magazine.

[raz-0]

Mine does, but I also told my smith that it needed to be able to share ammo with my other .40 guns that can’t loaded ammo. 

[Jmob50]

I normally run 1.180 barely major power factor through an Akai 5" stroked sight tracker as well as a bone stock STI Edge and have run 1.135's also. Both run fine through each gun

[zzt]

My Edge ran 1.126" through 1.180" OALs fine.  That was with a combination of STI gen 1 mags, SVI gen 1 and MBX mags.  Shot factory fine with a recoil spring change.  Unfortunately, the Win WB 165gr ammo only chrono'd 164 PF in my gun.

[Matt1911]

Just like others, my old Edge ran it just fine. 

[Midwest3Gunner]

Both my STI Eagle and Benny Hill 6in ran factory Speer 40 just fine.

[Racinready300ex]

Mine ran fine with factory. 

 

Similarly my 9mm can run ammo loaded CZ short. IMO guns shouldn't need crazy long OAL to work. 

[JayDee]

I have had 3 2011s that run 1.13” and 1.18”, and they aren’t so picky. I also have 2 .40 1911s and they actually run best with 1.13-1.14” 
 

Whether or not a particular gun feeds a certain OAL or not depends on several factors: feed ramp, bullet profile & magazine feed lips. 

If the tip of the bullet contacts the feed ramp in a consistent manner, feeding tends to be reliable. But, the feed lips or bullet profile variables (or the barrel fit is wonky) create a narrative that “2011s only feed long .40” or “.40 1911s are unreliable”. 
 

Loading longer than factory OAL can be a remedy to feeding issues but it has to be tuned in combination with proper magazine feed lip dimensions and proper contact with the feed ramp. 

[Dr Mitch]

In spite of the conventional “wisdom” that Limited guns need long-loaded 40 when I first started shooting, mine always ran factory ammo just fine.  Similar to the falsehood that Gen 1 STI mags need tuning.  Fake news.  Regular length 40 is just fine.

[Joe4d]

Gen one mags didn in fact need tuning, espicially back during the ban years.. Quite a few tubes werent square..  With factory set ups though most worked, they just didnt smoothly drop.. The tuning usually came in play when trying to load more rounds.

Far as OAL.. probably had something to do with people trying not to blow themselves up trying to make 180 pf with super fast powders like Clays. in a 40 case.

[sharko]

Mine do, Staccato XL and DVC-L.

[jt1207]

We don't reload and used factory ammo for ours and had no issue. Over the years: 2 SV, 2 Atlas, 1 Bul

[Slalom45]

It's going to depend on bullet profile as well. My Atlas will reliably run some at 1.130. Others have to out to 1.150.

[shred]

On 6/28/2024 at 12:09 PM, Joe4d said:

Gen one mags didn in fact need tuning, espicially back during the ban years.. Quite a few tubes werent square..  With factory set ups though most worked, they just didnt smoothly drop.. The tuning usually came in play when trying to load more rounds.

Far as OAL.. probably had something to do with people trying not to blow themselves up trying to make 180 pf with super fast powders like Clays. in a 40 case.

This.  Mags are a lot less hand-made now.  Especially with factory followers they mostly work fine with factory ammo.  They were all test-fired with factory .40.   Loading long dropped pressures which were often spiky in factory OAL .40 and also gave rounds less room to rattle forward and backwards in a mag.

 

 

[jrguar]

My STI will eat anything, that said I usually load to 1.185 but it runs factory as well.

 

 

Joe