I have a springfield 1911 in 9mm...and it jams on using a...

[mozeppa]

125 grain cone nose lead pc'd boolit.
sized to .356
mold by accurate molds.
the o.a.l. is 1.050 give or take .005 ...(which is as good as premium factory loads.)
3.1 grains of clays pushing it.

recoil feels light....that being said ...do you think it doesn't have enough poop to cycle hard enough to strip the next round?

[RobS]

Describe the jam a little more.

[mozeppa]

Describe the jam a little more.

the next round strips only partially ...shoves it forward only far enough to pin it up against the chamber roof.

[daniel lawecki]

I found when using Clays you have to load at or just under max loads. What your saying about light recoil your slide isn't going into battery. Not enough energy to push bullet up ram and close slide. I found this to be the case in my .45 the first time I used Clays. Be careful I will not post loads so read the Manual.

[mozeppa]

added to say that the finished round loads into the "plunk test" easily.
only enough crimp to hold the boolit and nothing more.

[mozeppa]

I found when using Clays you have to load at or just under max loads. What your saying about light recoil your slide isn't going into battery. Not enough energy to push bullet up ram and close slide. I found this to be the case in my .45 the first time I used Clays. Be careful I will not post loads so read the Manual.

this was my suspicion as well but since i don't have a ransom rest and a high speed slo-mo camera...i'm only guessing.

[str8wal]

I think ya need to step on it a little more.

[Boogieman]

Does it feed factory loads? It may be your load isn't heavy enough to fully compress the recoil spring. you may need to adjust the OAL most 1911s run best with the longest OAL that will chamber , still work in the mag.

[Love Life]

Is the nose of the bullet "pinned" against the chamber roof? Or is the round chambering 90% of the way with just a tad of the slide overhanging the frame in the rear?

Does it look like this:
157077

[runfiverun]

I see where your going there.

I had a different answer but then realized this was in 9mm not 45.

[Love Life]

I'm just not sure what he is describing. Hard to tell if he is describing a 3 point jam or if his boolit is hitting the throat.

[DougGuy]

Strip a round out of the magazine, maybe two rounds. Now push down on the boolit and push the stack down and let your thumb off. If it doesn't robustly spring back up against the magazine lips, there is part of the problem. In a 1911, the round UNDERNEATH the round being stripped from the magazine, has to push the case head/rim up under the extractor hook. If the magazine spring is weak and doesn't forcefully snap the stack upward when a round is stripped out of the magazine, well, it certainly won't do much to shove it up under the extractor. IF the extractor is too tight, and it's hard to push a rim upward and into the hook with your fingers, the magazine won't have much better luck either.

These two things have to work together or you will get the exact feed issues you are describing.

[Merick]

If a single round will lock the slide back then there is enough charge operate the gun.
If the gun operates on factory ammo then that 75% eliminates extractor issues.
OAL can cause feeding problems, start out as far as you can chamber and fit in the magazine (which should work), shorten to function if needed ***

*** seating deeper will rapidly increase pressures.

[35remington]

A gentle reminder is that we're not looking at a weak magazine spring issue here if it looks anything like the pictured round and the round has hit the chamber roof as the OP has stated. It got it up in plenty of time for the cocking rail to hit the top rear of the round in the correct place.

Magazine release timing and/or overall length are the most likely issues. Breakover may have occurred too late and likely did. How the round jams tells you what may have caused it. Absent a picture of the exact jam, several causes may be the actual issue. Since overall length affects breakover, it is the most easily adjusted thing to use as a remedy. That and switching magazines.

Most issues are cured by altering one or both of these things.

[GabbyM]

3.1 gains of Clays would be about 920fps with a 125 grain bullet. Which is low recoil.
Try as suggested above. Load several single rounds to check for slide lock back.
If it does not lock back. You could go to a lighter recoil spring or change your load. Just to state the obvious.

[OS OK]

My 1911 Colt .45 ACP did the same thing with 200g. L-SWC's…@ 950 FPS (so they had the slide following them into battery pretty enthusiastically)

(1) I polished the feed ramp with 600 grit paper till it mirrored and did the same to the bottom flanged out area of the barrel. But…with exposed lead noses running into the ramp they seem to deposit small smears of Pb and slow down the richochet of the next round heading into chamber progressively until they slow enough to jam just like the picture after enough little microscopic smears are laid down to the ramp. I wipe it clean and keep going as before.

(2) I taper crimp just enough to hold the round and always leave only a fingernail thickness of lead ahead of the brass rim, I am more concerned with getting my taper into the front band of the round than worrying about the COAL…sort of a radiused bumper for the next richochet of the round as it hits the top inside of the chamber and will go on into chamber and the slide following into battery. I can't prove it but I suspect the lead smearing happens there also (where the edge of the round hits just inside the top of the chamber…I polished there also and clean it when this sort of thing happens and all of the sudden I'm back into shooting without these incidents.

Try to post a picture of the jam.

[35remington]

"(1) I polished the feed ramp with 600 grit paper till it mirrored and did the same to the bottom flanged out area of the barrel."

OS, sometime we need to talk about that, and what the frame ramp and barrel ramp does. The barrel ramp is not a feedway, but rather a clearance, and polishing isn't what is needed there. Hopefully there is still a gap between barrel ramp and frame ramp and you didn't "blend" the two to match.

[OS OK]

"(1) I polished the feed ramp with 600 grit paper till it mirrored and did the same to the bottom flanged out area of the barrel."

OS, sometime we need to talk about that, and what the frame ramp and barrel ramp does. The barrel ramp is not a feedway, but rather a clearance, and polishing isn't what is needed there. Hopefully there is still a gap between barrel ramp and frame ramp and you didn't "blend" the two to match.

Uh…ooh? I polished them separately and only enough to take the horizontal machine marks out. Before I did so I watched several YouTube animated flicks of how the 1911 cycles, (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6SmlOEzNBs ) in each one I would see the round start coming out of the mag. and then strike the top of the feed ramp head on and glance (ricochet) up into the bbl. but it goes into battery and operates fine until that feed ramp gets the Pb smudges going again. Now I shoot PC ammo in L-SWC's and L-RNFP's and life is good. I hope.

Have I done something I'm going to beat myself up over?
If not here…PM me?
If I misunderstand my pistol I want to get it straight…I'm an electrician not a pistol smith!

[Love Life]

OS OK-No more polishing, lol.

[mozeppa]

Is the nose of the bullet "pinned" against the chamber roof? Or is the round chambering 90% of the way with just a tad of the slide overhanging the frame in the rear?

Does it look like this:
157077
YUP ...LOOKS LIKE THAT!
thanks guys... i'll be trying the "shoot one round to see if it locks open" thing....bet it don't tho.

[mozeppa]

okay this is new to me...i does in fact lock the slide open with only one round.

but attached is a photo of the primer strikes i get.

bottom shell is a normal shell primer strike from a different gun for comparison.
top 4 have one pierced primer....and 3 that are smeared!? ..yet they fired.

second photo is factory ammo fired.

the smeared ones look like there is no crater at all ...just a metal smear.
yet the factory ammo craters normally.

3.1 grains of hogdons clays shouldn't be that hot...or is it?

[Boogieman]

Check firing pin for sticking due to dirt being bent, or a weak return spring. If the pin is slow to retract the case will drag as it slides uo the breachface. This will also cause the smears on the primers Limp wristing with light loads can cause this problem also. If all else fails try a new mag. I'd try a Wilson Combat.

[Plate plinker]

I have had the same issue with my springfield 9mm. Had to up the charge to get it running better. Also had some machine gun brass that had a thick rim. Works much better now.

[mozeppa]

its brand new and been cleaned... less than 400 rounds thru it.

primer dents look normal with factory loads...only my loads smear.

i have 16 mecgar new mags ...a wilson won't change anything.

[oldfart1956]

Mozeppa how does the velocity of your loads compare to the factory loads? Light loads can cause this problem because the slide is slowed down. Might need a slightly softer recoil spring for those loads? Also in post 22...I'm puddy sure the "return spring" Boogieman is referencing is the firing pin return spring and yes a weak one will cause exactly the issue you have. The firing pin is still engaged with the primer as the pistol is trying to eject it. Good catch Boogieman. A too stiff (for your loads) mainspring/hammer spring can also cause problems. It overpowers the firing pin spring. Audie...the Oldfart.

[mozeppa]

the factory loads seem a bit more robust than mine....but not much

as i don't have a chrony, that's my best guess.

are firing pins usually subject to being weak from brand new?

[flyingrhino]

In the photo, the case rim is not sliding up behind the extractor. I had the same problem. There are two things to look at. One is the extractor tension. Too much tension will cause this. Second is the magazine. As the nose of the round starts up the ramp the case rim should pop out of the ears of the magazine so that the round will pop up behind the extractor. If the case rim doesn't release at the proper time the round will jam just like your pic shows. My factory mag ran fine but my new Wilson ETM's jammed like this. The difference in the two mags was that the Wilson held the rim of the case longer than the factory mag. I ended up filing back the ears to match my factory mag and it runs like a top now. Just saying that if the slide will lock back on empty then increasing load charge is not your answer. The slide is cycling full length. One way to check if it's a mag problem is to load a dummy round (no powder or primer). Seat the bullet about 1/16" deeper than normal and see if it will pop up behind the extractor. When a 1911 feeds that case should snap up behind the extractor hook just as the nose of the bullet reaches the top of the feed ramp. Looks like yours is hitting the top of the chamber before it releases.

[35remington]

The photo is of someone else's jam, not his.

Even the photo given cannot be an extractor issue as the jammed case's rim is nowhere near the extractor nor has it been launched toward it yet. The extractor cannot influence what has not reached it.

[Boogieman]

Yes springs can go soft rather quickly I've had new replacement springs that were weak & took a set in less than 100 rounds. A full set of new springs are cheap to try & if you shoot much .you will need them later. JMB designed the 1911 around the 45acp which is longer than the 9mm, this makes the 9mm a little more touchy as to springs & OAL for 100% feeding. An earlier post suggested extractor tension problems That would my first thought also. There are instructions on the web on how to adjust an extractor. Wilson Combat is a good one. Many u-tube experts have one problem they know so much that just isn't true

[DougGuy]

When a 1911 feeds that case should snap up behind the extractor hook just as the nose of the bullet reaches the top of the feed ramp.

The round being fed does not magically "snap" up behind the extractor hook. The stack in the magazine being pushed up with the magazine spring is what pushes the case head upward and into place behind the extractor hook. As soon as the rim clears the lips, the round BELOW the round being fed pushes it up.

[Forrest r]

A couple of quick questions:

When the jam happens does it leave a smiley face by the mouth of the rim of the case?
After the jam happens can you push the slide forward/closed?
After the jam happens does it take allot of force to push the slide forward/closed?