Norc 1911 .45 failure to battery.

[greg11]

Okay, I'm experiencing a failure to battery in my 1911 reloads. I'm not sure what is causing it. The reloads will drop into the chamber no problem, but I'd say 50% of the time the gun will not cycle fully, jamming the cart into the chamber, but not fully into battery. I then need to smack the back of the slide into battery (which rarely works), or press the muzzle on a piece of wood to force the slide back (and eject the round). When I put such a round back into the gun (manually chamber it), most times it will fire (sometimes it will not battery, sometimes it will battery but won't fire.) when I drop the slide onto it after I place it into the chamber. This has me thinking it's a gun malfunction and not my reloads.

I'm using 4.0 Grains bullseye, which I think is low, so I'm wondering if the failure to battery is due to low pressure forcing the slide back. But often, when I insert a fresh mag and drop the slide on it, the first round will fail to battery so, this has me suspicious that it isn't the round, but the gun...

I know this is sort of confusing, and since this is my first time shooting these reloads, I wasn't meticulous in analyzing each instance, but I've measured the rounds and they aren't too long. They are on average 1.262" or so, which I understand is acceptable, especially with my low powder weight. In anycase, I don't believe (correct me if I'm wrong) that a "short case" would cause a miss feed of this nature.

This was a long winded, stream of consciousness sort of post, but I hope someone can help me!!

 

[tjhaile]

When you say that the rounds drop freely into the chamber, do you mean that the back of the case rim is flush with the barrel hood?

What sort of bullets are you using? Oversized lead bullets could be the culprit.

 

[TACTICAL111]

This was a long winded, stream of consciousness sort of post, but I hope someone can help me!!

I have a Para 14-45 Limited that will not chamber a handload unless it is run through a post sizer/crimper.

No matter what the bullet they will all jam before chambering.

When those rounds are run through the die, no problem.
Hollow points, Round nose, Flat, all of them all of the time.

All I can tell you.

Quote from Lee crimp & post size die:

"The case is sized as it enters the die and again as it is pulled out of the die"

 

[colinjw]

If the rounds are going into the chamber when the barrel is out of the gun, then I would suspect that when in the gun, they are getting caught by the ramp or the top of the chamber.
What kind of head are you using ?? Semi wad cutter ??
Try a different mag that might feed the rounds up at a slightly different angle . Also try round nose heads.

 

[CanuckWR]

I have a Para 14-45 Limited that will not chamber a handload unless it is run through a post sizer/crimper.

No matter what the bullet they will all jam before chambering.

When those rounds are run through the die, no problem.
Hollow points, Round nose, Flat, all of them all of the time.

All I can tell you.

Quote from Lee crimp & post size die:

"The case is sized as it enters the die and again as it is pulled out of the die"

My Norc 1911A1 is the same.... Lee crimp die fixed it, along with some ramp polish and a wee bit more belling of the mouth of the case.

 

[scout]

Sounds like a recoil spring - try a couple pounds lighter. This is from the Brownells website:

TYPE A - For Target (Softball) Loads were originally *recommended to us by Major F. B. Conway, U.S.A. - M.T.U. *Whenever lighter than standard bullets or powder charges are being used, a lighter recoil spring is a must for correct functioning; however, they MUST NOT BE USED WITH STANDARD (HARDBALL) LOADS. The 10 lb. Type A spring is the old *favorite (for reduced loads) and for that reason we also make it available as a single item (without the extra power firing pin spring).

 

[greg11]

When you say that the rounds drop freely into the chamber, do you mean that the back of the case rim is flush with the barrel hood?

What sort of bullets are you using? Oversized lead bullets could be the culprit.

You have me kind of excited because I think I might have found the issue.

I've been seating my Wolf LRN bullets keeping in mind the Hornady max OAL of 1.270"

Most of my rounds are 1.266" or so and they sit in the chamber like image #4: with the bullet seated too far out. Most of my rounds are exactly as pictured in that last image.

I took about 7 rounds and squat them down to 1.250" and they look perfect. I don't think going too short is a big risk at 4.0 grains bullseye, at least, not as much of a risk as if I were running 5gr+

I'm hoping this is the solution to my problems.

Here is why I think the fail to battery carts are so difficult to manually extract: the LRN is jammed into the barrel by the slide. Since lead is so soft, it just conforms to the contours of the barrel making extraction of a failed feed very, very difficult.

I'll keep you updated. I think I'm hitting the range tomorrow morning to check this stuff out.

Am I the only one who loses sleep when something stupid like this is bugging them?

 

[Skyhawk]

You should be able to insert a finished round into your barrel's chamber and press it in as hard as you can with your thumb. Then turn your barrel upside-down and the round should still just drop right out on its own from gravity.

 

[greg11]

You should be able to insert a finished round into your barrel's chamber and press it in as hard as you can with your thumb. Then turn your barrel upside-down and the round should still just drop right out on its own from gravity.

Yep that's what they're doing now. I just reseated 400 rounds to the new 1.240" OAL. They sit a little below flush with the barrel lug now.

The reason it was so tough to manually eject the failed battery ones was indeed because the lead was smashing into the barrel and making it difficult to extract. The cart. was also headspacing on the projectile because LRN's are fatter, I guess. This is why the slide wasn't getting into full battery.

I'm going to try out 60 or so rounds tomorrow morn just to confirm.

 

[tigrr]

Been there done that, seated the rn bullets to 1.095 and haven't looked back. Norinco have a short chamber throat. Then you have to dehorn it to save your leather holster if you have one. Have fun.