1911 Help!

birtch3

birtch3

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I have a 9mm 1911, and clearly am having an issue.

When I load up a magazine, and chamber a round, if I remove the magazine while it is still relatively full, the magazine drops out along with a round that seems to have "fallen" out of the magazine.

This only seems to happen when the magazine has 7 + rounds in it, and doesn't happen all the time. However, this is annoying as it should not be doing this.

If anyone has any ideas or know's why this is happening, assistance would be much appreciated.

P.S. I have tried multiple magazines and 3 different brands to make sure it's the gun. I also tried the same magazines in another 9mm 1911 and they don't do it, so it has to be something with the gun.
 
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From your description, the slide is forward, a round in the chamber & you release the loaded mag
and there is a loose round.
To me it sounds as if the top round in the mag is being pulled out of the mag due
to the mag lips not holding the round very securely . If it was my gun I would
tap in the lips a bit to hold the rounds more securely. Make sure though not
too much to interfere with feeding.
My opinion only. Trying another mag first might be easier though.
 
The man just told us that it isn't a magazine problem.
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I stand corrected. I did not see the bottom of the post. My bad.

What I would try then is to take the slide off & put a loaded mag into the frame
& then release it. Maybe you will see something catching the top round.
 
It is not unusual that the top round in the mag got pushed forward when the round over it is chambered, so when you remove the mag, the bullet may touch the ramp and is pulled out of the mag. Have you tried with different bullet shapes ? (147GR vs 124GR)

When I load with 10+1, I often have to push back the top round of the mag before topping it back to 10 rounds.
 
When the top round is being chambered, the next round in the stack is being dragged forward to the point where there is little if any feed lip contact left. With the nose of the bullet sitting against the feed ramp, it is levered the rest of the way out of the feed lips when you pull the mag out. The round then round falls out.

Some questions:

Do your magazines have spacers in them?
Is your brass bulged at all?
Are your feed lips at proper spec?
Are your magazines dirty inside?
How old are your mag springs? Plenty of lift?
How is the presentation angle on the follower?
And most importantly, have you checked to make sure you have the correct oal for that set up? This would be the one that will have the greatest affect.
 
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I have no idea if mine does this, I've never dropped a near full mag with one in the chamber before... Maybe this is a flaw with the design... I will check mine Friday when I'm at the range again.
 
condomboy said:
I have no idea if mine does this, I've never dropped a near full mag with one in the chamber before... Maybe this is a flaw with the design... I will check mine Friday when I'm at the range again.
Click to expand...

1911's are originally designed for the .45 length cartridge. 9mm is a shorter round so there are compromises that have to be made to get them to feed and function reliably.
 
colinjw said:
I stand corrected. I did not see the bottom of the post. My bad.

What I would try then is to take the slide off & put a loaded mag into the frame
& then release it. Maybe you will see something catching the top round.
Click to expand...

Good idea! I will try that.


Thanks for the feedback guys, if you've got anything else to suggest let me know!
 
I think I have established that it's something on the slide. Took the slide off and inserted the magazine, and there is clearly nothing interfering.

I have got an issue a couple times now trying repeatedly that something is holding onto the round in the magazine, as I've had mags not drop freely, and when I put a little pressure to remove the magazine, the top round POPs out, the mag comes out, and right behind it a round.
 
birtch3 said:
I think I have established that it's something on the slide. Took the slide off and inserted the magazine, and there is clearly nothing interfering.

I have got an issue a couple times now trying repeatedly that something is holding onto the round in the magazine, as I've had mags not drop freely, and when I put a little pressure to remove the magazine, the top round POPs out, the mag comes out, and right behind it a round.
Click to expand...

It's not the slide. The thing that is preventing the mag from dropping free is the round itself. It's being carried forward in the feed cycle by the round above it that is being fed into the chamber and then being wedged against the bottom of the feed ramp with the back end of the case still just within the feed lips. It is essentially spanning the gap between the feed lips and the feed ramp and when you manually pull the mag out, the offending round is then pried the rest of the way out of the mag by the nose and falls clear.

As well, since 9mm is a tapered case, they tend to fan out in the magazine instead of stacking cleanly. The more rounds in the mag, the greater the spread. This spreading can result in a problem called rim-lock, which can then exacerbate the problem described above. With rim-lock, the rim of the top case locks into the extractor groove on the one below it. When the slide pushes the round forward, the rim acts as a pivot and steers the nose of the feeding bullet downwards to bump into the ramp (it may feed and it may not), and also carries the next round along with it.

I hope this clarifies the situation somewhat....

Getting 9mm to run reliably in a 1911 can be a bit of a black art and if you're not up on the peccadilloes of the platform, it can drive you insane trying to figure it out for yourself. You might want to get someone who can work on these guns to look at it.
 
relliott said:
It's not the slide. The thing that is preventing the mag from dropping free is the round itself. It's being carried forward in the feed cycle by the round above it that is being fed into the chamber and then being wedged against the bottom of the feed ramp with the back end of the case still just within the feed lips. It is essentially spanning the gap between the feed lips and the feed ramp and when you manually pull the mag out, the offending round is then pried the rest of the way out of the mag by the nose and falls clear.

As well, since 9mm is a tapered case, they tend to fan out in the magazine instead of stacking cleanly. The more rounds in the mag, the greater the spread. This spreading can result in a problem called rim-lock, which can then exacerbate the problem described above. With rim-lock, the rim of the top case locks into the extractor groove on the one below it. When the slide pushes the round forward, the rim acts as a pivot and steers the nose of the feeding bullet downwards to bump into the ramp (it may feed and it may not), and also carries the next round along with it.

I hope this clarifies the situation somewhat....

Getting 9mm to run reliably in a 1911 can be a bit of a black art and if you're not up on the peccadilloes of the platform, it can drive you insane trying to figure it out for yourself. You might want to get someone who can work on these guns to look at it.
Click to expand...

Yea I know when the mag is stuck it's cause of the round, however most of the time the mag still drops free.

Thanks for the explanation! You clarified what I figured was going on. Much appreciated






tazik said:
I have the answer to your issue, sell it to me for 200$ !!! :p)
Click to expand...

Ha, I'll pass! Losing way too much on such a tiny issue! Thanks anyways ;)
 
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