Dirty guns and bad magazines - A 1911 story

[itchytriggerfinger]

The cliff notes from my little write up here:

 

 - Don't give up on a gun.  It can be adjusted.

 - Don't be afraid to take things apart.

 - Always thoroughly clean your gun.

 - Always test your magazines with each gun.

 

First off let me say I'm not a gunsmith but I'm not afraid to take things apart.  Being an engineer I think I have quite a knack for understanding how things work.  And as a long time shooter, I know  how much crud can accumulate in the cracks and crevices of our guns.  So I've always been quite OCD about cleaning my guns after every trip to the range or competition. 
 

With that said, I had one that was stumping me.  I picked up a Para Black Ops 1911 from a fellow TGO'er earlier this year and love the feel of this gun.  It's definitely in the keeper pile.  I took it to the range a few times and loved how it shot.  Being a "match grade" pistol it performed as it should.  Tight tolerances proved tight groups.
 

Fast forward a few months and I decide to make the change from shooting IDPA ESP to IDPA CDP, and the gun to do it would be the Para.  That's when things started going downhill.  From the start I was plagued with failure to feed (FTF) issues. I was stumped.  I never had this issues on the previous range trips.  So I went back to review the videos and I didn't see any limp-wristing.  Well after a few matches, and yesterday's match in particular, I'd had enough.  After three stages I declared a bad gun and used my Sig 1911 for the final two stages without a hiccup.  Hmm, doesn't seem like it's me causing the issue.

 

The overall problem I experience is a FTF where the live round is jammed with the base of the bullet barely in the extractor and the bullet jammed into the top of the battery.  I changed mags, changed ammo, and thought about shooting upside down, but nothing made a difference.  This was happening on the first round, last round, and everything in between.

 

 - Note, not my photo.

 

 

When I got home I visually compared the Para against the Sig.  Obviously these two pistols are quite unique in their own ways.  But I looked at dimensions, how it feeds on the barrel ramp (Para) vs frame ramp (Sig), and how the extractor and ejectors worked.  All about the same but one thing I did notice was the extractor tension was noticeably more on the Para than the Sig.  The Sig was "loose". 

 

I was scouring the net last night and I looked up extractor tuning, finding all kinds of things.  The biggest take away was extractors should be removed and checked every 500-700 rounds for tension and dirt.  Several places also talked about extractor tension; if your extractor is too loose you will experience stove pipes and if the extractor is too tight you will experience failure to feed. 

Ahh, a light goes off.  If my extractor is too tight, when the bullet is released from the magazine it can't slide up under the extractor far enough, and by the time it hits the ramp, the nose of the bullet jams into the top of the battery.

The next step was to perform some simple shake tests and then remove the extractor to adjust.  When using an empty case, the extractor definitely held the case tight, and when moving the case to the lower point of the slide to simulate initial feeding, I couldn't shake the case out.  The tests show you should be able to do this.  So the extractor must be too tight.  I also did the same test with the Sig and it dropped the loose round at the bottom test as it should.

Not knowing much about the Para, I set out to remove the extractor.  That was easy enough, just like every other 1911, but rather than extracting your typical flat spring type ejector, out comes this crazy looking contraption with a spring, tube, and hinged extractor.  A little research and this is known as the Para Power Extractor.  New to me.  Anyways, there is obviously no way to adjust the tension on this thing.  However, I started to inspect and wipe it down and there must have been a pound of crud all over the extractor unit as a whole, and lots of junk in the claw.

 

I cleaned it well, reassembled the slide, and started my feed tests again.  I filled a magazine, and very safely began racking.  I would quickly pull the slide all the way back and release it to simulate, as best I could, an actual power stroke.   Immediately I could tell a difference.  For one it didn't fail.  I fed an entire magazine through with no failures.  I did this test three or four times and not once did I have a failure.  So then on the next few magazines I performed the cycle slowly so I could watch the round feed from the magazine into battery.  Smooth as silk.  I couldn't believe it.  Every time I would do this test prior to cleaning it would jam.  I mean every time.

While I was excited about the results, my tests didn't stop there.  If I'm going to use this for competition I knew I needed to test my magazines.  During all of my prior tests I was using a Sig magazine that had been working the "best" with the the Para.  Wilson magazines performed horribly.  So I began testing the Wilson mags in the same fashion as the Sig mag.  To make a long story a bit shorter, fast or slow cycle, the 8rd Wilson magazines would feed fine until the last round.  The last round would ALWAYS jam in the same way it had before.  The spring tension, follower, or release point or something is different once it gets to the last round.  It is important to note the 7rd Wilson magazine does not have this problem.

To wrap up, I still have to get the Para back out to the range to put everything to the test.  But I'm feeling quite a bit more confident in putting this gun back into my competition bag.  Moral of the story, always be religious about cleaning your gun down to the smallest crack, check your magazines, and don't give up.

[AMSting]

Thanks for posting.  I have been having similar issues (not as frequent, but the same type) with a Glock.  I tried different magazines with no effect.  I'll take a look at the extractor.  Do you have a link to the testing you referenced?  I'm not clear on where the case needs to be for the shake test.

[itchytriggerfinger]

Here you go:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENFoZPF2-FM

[Garufa]

You are greasing the rails, right?

[Joe357]

Yes a clean well oiled and greased gun is a happy gun

[itchytriggerfinger]

Nah, I like 'em tight and dry.






Of course I use lube.

[timcalhoun]

Never mind.

Edited October 9, 2013 by timcalhoun

[itchytriggerfinger]

Yeah, I should probably change out that picture because it's not accurate.  That casing isn't even in the extractor in that pic.  Mine was actually hanging about a 1/3 under the extractor.

 

The real plan may be to sell every 1911 I have and just have you build me one.  :)

[trevorst]

One of my 1911's had some FTF issues and a magazine catch was the quick easy fix.   EGW mag catch had more tension and held the mag up tighter.  Have fired literally thousands upon thousands of rounds through it with no issues since.

 

Just picked up a MetroArms American Classic II 1911 to goof around with and that is a known issue with it also, havent shot it much yet but probably will go ahead and get an EGW mag catch for it before I get serious about messing with it.

[chances R]

As far as the Wilson mags, I heard from a reliable source that the mag springs in the 7 and 8 round mags are the same.  I also have been experiencing problems with my Wilson mags.  I just ordered some new Wolfe springs for replacement.  Will see if this solves the problem of not locking back on empty mag.