STI Spartan - hates .45 200gn SWC

4570

4570

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ex NWT'er now Bantario
My Sistema Colt eats them all day long without a hiccup and I've got several thousand of these 200gn SWC's. The Spartan FTFeed at least every third shot. I've tried different seating depths and powders and found that factory 230gn hardball is no problem. Would any Spartan shooters out there please let me know what they are having the best luck with when firing hanloads, especially the SWC's. This is getting frustrating - am I gonna have to send it back to Armco as a trade-in on a Trojan or something else :( My Spartan is a Gunnar tuned pistol. thx

Bill
 
also happens to me, glad to see people in the same boat.
I was going to try to crimp them but I have no money right now (if I do buy a lee factory crimp I want another press too, and If I do buy reloading stuff I want to make every penny worth so order big and next on my order is a RCBS chargemaster combo!!)

but I will move onto 200gr FMJ if crimping doesn't work


are your FTF just for the last few milimeters? Mine cycles but stops jjjjjjust before closign the slide, pretty annoying
 
sometimes mine will do that but it also will jam with the unfired cartridge sticking out of the ejection port and preventing the slide from moving - this may be what they call stove piping but I'm not sure.

Bill
 
Many 1911 have issues with the SWC, play with the OAL till they work, it varies between guns as each one is different, once you get the right OAL it will work fine.
 
I have pretty much switched to LRN or Round Ball type bullets for all my 1911's.... Less hassel this way.....

But since you asked.......
I found that if I REALLY POLISH up the feed ramp (with the dremel) and set the OAL so that the shoulder of the wadcutter is like a mm (or less) off the case it works a bunch better. There is a fine line with this tho, if the case sticks out even a little bit it will FTF most of the time. Basically you will have to fiddle with it.....

I only had to do this with the 1911 I didn't get from Armco...... The 2 I got from Gunnar feed anything..... and I mean anything, I have yet to find a round they will not chamber.

The part where you said the brass was stove pipeing...... That sounds like it may be an extractor problem......

How old is your STI, if its under a year old I would take advantage of Gunnars 1yr warrenty. He (I have been told) will tune the extractor and polish up the ramp to feed anything under his warrenty.

If it's over a year old, worst case senario you may have to pay for the tune up.....

Or you could switch the type of ammo you are using........
 
Try some different mags. The mag lips can determine when & at what angle the cartridge feeds into the chamber & can make the difference between FTF or not.
 
the STI is only about 4 months old. I've tried different seating depths - my Sistema likes to have the lead shoulder about 1 mm above the brass mouth but the STI acts up regardless. I like the idea about trying different mags. I've been using the one that came with the gun but it may be time for an e-mail to Gunnar and getting his recommendation on a different mag. thx guys you've given me something to go with.

Bill
 
Gibbs505 - how hot is hot? I've been using 6.5gns of unique at about 700fps(depending on which manual you use). A nice and accurate target load but when I stop and think about it possibly a little more ooomph might help. I already took the shock buffer out of it but that return spring is quite strong.
 
Wow, I feel lucky here. I am a recent convert to pistol calibre reloading, so my experience is less than most.
I own a regular stainless steel Colt 1991A1, and it feed/fires/ejects anything I've tried so far. Any issues so far have only been worn out magazines, and that's all.
Mine is problem free, with ball FMJ, and 200 grain SWC.
Seems I remember, my top end load was 5 grains of Red Dot under the 200.
 
My Spartan never failed with SWC lead bullets. (Actually with all the 1911's I have owned, and that's 10 or 12, I have never had a problem with LSWC bullets.)

I would tend to blame the reload rather than the gun. (Sight unseen, of course)

Are the loads a bit light ? Chamber check the cartridge also.

TJ
 
Talljoe said:
My Spartan never failed with SWC lead bullets. (Actually with all the 1911's I have owned, and that's 10 or 12, I have never had a problem with LSWC bullets.)

I would tend to blame the reload rather than the gun. (Sight unseen, of course)

Are the loads a bit light ? Chamber check the cartridge also.

TJ
Click to expand...

since I'm the new owner of your gun, give me the receipe of the reload, I think I have deleted your pm... I use 4,6gr of bullseye.
cartridges do fit, but rather tightly, that's why I wanted to crimp them.
 
4570 said:
Gibbs505 - how hot is hot? I've been using 6.5gns of unique at about 700fps(depending on which manual you use). A nice and accurate target load but when I stop and think about it possibly a little more ooomph might help. I already took the shock buffer out of it but that return spring is quite strong.
Click to expand...

I use a max load of 231 with my reloads.
 
If the round feeds but the slide doesn't quite go into battery, your OAL is likely to long. Take your barrel out and see if loaded rounds will drop freely all the way into the chamber.

My Norinco will feed SWCs flawlessly using the magazines that came with it, which have the old tapered GI style feed lips. If I use my two Wolff (aka ACT-Mag) magazines with SWCs, the flat of the bullet will occasionally hang up at the edge of the barrel feed ramp. The Norinco GI type magazines hold the round angled more upwards than the Wolff ones.

I have also found that Speer swaged lead SWCs don't feed well at all due to their stubby shape.
 
tjhaile said:
If the round feeds but the slide doesn't quite go into battery, your OAL is likely to long. Take your barrel out and see if loaded rounds will drop freely all the way into the chamber.

My Norinco will feed SWCs flawlessly using the magazines that came with it, which have the old tapered GI style feed lips. If I use my two Wolff (aka ACT-Mag) magazines with SWCs, the flat of the bullet will occasionally hang up at the edge of the barrel feed ramp. The Norinco GI type magazines hold the round angled more upwards than the Wolff ones.

I have also found that Speer swaged lead SWCs don't feed well at all due to their stubby shape.
Click to expand...

here's my problem, I have to push it in.
 
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