Kimber Custom II FTF (Failure to Feed)

[wulfman92]

I have a Kimber Custom II in 45 ACP that I bought new around 2010. Very often, think nearly all the time, I have a FTF (Failure to Feed) on the first round of a magazine. If I under load the magazine by one round, it will work fine, but I don't want to. I want the gun to work right. I bought some Wilson Combat mags and it helped, and I replaced the springs and it helped. However, it still does the FTF on the first rounds. What it seems to do is, hit the feed ramp and the nose of the round goes to the top of the chamber and it gets stuck in a nose high position with the round not in the chamber hardly at all. Or it will mostly load and get stuck a little nose high and I'll pull the slide back and it will straighten out and load.

After some internet research, I found that it might be the extractor tension, but I really have no idea. Has anyone else had this problem? More importantly, has anyone else been able to FIX this problem??

I'm not sure that I can send it in for warranty after ten years and I don't want to sell the gun. I bought it ten years ago and don't think the Custom II's sell for as high as they once did. Also, it is an accurate gun, just not reliable at this time.

Thanks

[Larry Gibson]

1st round FTF with all bullets or just one?

[willowbend]

I am no means a "gunsmith" in any sense. I traded for a Para P-14. Did the same thing with previous owner(friend), The extractor was beat to death. I replaced the extractor but still had the nose up jams. I found loading 230 RN a little longer fixed the problem. I load them to 1.245 - 1.250. A lot of the box ammo I had which would jam was always shorter. This fixed the problem for me.

[wulfman92]

1st round FTF with all bullets or just one?

Just the first round of a fully loaded magazine.

[NSB]

Are you racking it by hand or using the latch to release the slide? I've seen some guns that have problem when using the latch and then work fine racking by hand. Have you tried it both ways?

[wulfman92]

Are you racking it by hand or using the latch to release the slide? I've seen some guns that have problem when using the latch and then work fine racking by hand. Have you tried it both ways?

Mostly, I use the slide release. However, it still has done it by racking by hand.

[NSB]

Mostly, I use the slide release. However, it still has done it by racking by hand.

Bullet profile can cause a lot of problems. Some feed great and others don't. I've had some guns that digested everything and others that were quite particular. Springs never seemed to help much, but polishing the feed ramp, adjusting crimp a little, and using different bullets made all the difference in the world. Shooting competition precluded using anything that wasn't 100% reliable.

[wulfman92]

Bullet profile can cause a lot of problems. Some feed great and others don't. I've had some guns that digested everything and others that were quite particular. Springs never seemed to help much, but polishing the feed ramp, adjusting crimp a little, and using different bullets made all the difference in the world. Shooting competition precluded using anything that wasn't 100% reliable.

I know what you mean, shooting competition is very important for this reason, if nothing else. I encourage everyone to shoot competition, because it lets you get to know yourself, your guns and your reloading techniques! I started shooting IDPA and found out that my bullets were keyholing! Now before you think I'm a total idiot, I was shooting mostly steel and inside of 10-12 yards, they were fine. However, get out a little farther, like IDPA may demand, and they keyholed quick. It was an embarrassing learning curve...

[MT Gianni]

What bullet are you shooting? The weight and profile can make a ton of difference.

[Alstep]

I've got the same gun, bought about the same time as yours. I used to have intermittent problems as well, and tried different ammo combinations. OAL & crimp are critical. Finally settled on the H&G 68 copy (RCBS & Accurate), 1.250 OAL, taper crimp to .468-.469 (gotta be under .470), 4.0 gr BE, and haven't had a hangup since. Not one, in thousands of rounds. It's a nice mild load, doesn't beat you or your gun up. No need to change recoil springs. Accurate too. Use Wilson ETM magazines, but GI work too. Works in all my 1911's, GI, Colt, & Kimber. Good luck.

[wulfman92]

What bullet are you shooting? The weight and profile can make a ton of difference.

Using either 230 grain plated ball or 230 powder coated lee TC

[wulfman92]

I've got the same gun, bought about the same time as yours. I used to have intermittent problems as well, and tried different ammo combinations. OAL & crimp are critical. Finally settled on the H&G 68 copy (RCBS & Accurate), 1.250 OAL, taper crimp to .468-.469 (gotta be under .470), 4.0 gr BE, and haven't had a hangup since. Not one, in thousands of rounds. It's a nice mild load, doesn't beat you or your gun up. No need to change recoil springs. Accurate too. Use Wilson ETM magazines, but GI work too. Works in all my 1911's, GI, Colt, & Kimber. Good luck.

I will try to go this route. Thanks for the help.

[Greg S]

1.260-65 if problems persist. Polish the top of the chamber with 600-1000. Check firing pin hole on breech face for a burr. With the slide off, check extractor tension.

New Wilson mags need to be used fully loaded to get spring set. Once worn in, they will be easier to load and cycle reliably. Had feed issues with Wilson's Gen 9mm mags.

[Texas by God]

A friend bought one of those and experienced Hang-Ups like yours with FMJ Factory ammo. He called Kimber a few times and finally spoke to a manager. My friend waxed eloquently about how his $200 Ruger P89 would digest any and all ammunition he could find and yet his $1,000 Kimber choked on the easiest feeding ammo available.
Apparently that struck a nerve because Kimber replaced the pistol with a brand new one! The new one works perfectly with hollow points and semi wad-cutters not to mention ball.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

[Plate plinker]

Just the first round of a fully loaded magazine.

I think Larry was referring to bullet profiles, which is a excellent question.

Polish your ramp if it hasn't been done. A throat job may be a good idea as well.

Length of loaded rounds should certainly be considered.

[35remington]

I am on record as against ramp polishing. This has screwed up more 1911s than it has fixed. Few ramps need polishing.

If you do not understand why laypeople should not be polishing 1911 feed ramps, please ask me why.

[Norske]

I own two Kimber 1911 pistols. The most reliable magazines I own are genuine parkerized Army surplus 7-round mags. 8-round mags aren't perfectly reliable, no matter the brand.

[35remington]

The above answer has a role in minimizing this particular type of misfeed as the round approaches the chamber at a flatter angle.

[35remington]

Given it happens only on the first round we can likely rule out extractor tension.

What is different about the first round is it has the lowest frame ramp strike of all the feeding rounds and has the steepest climb to the chamber. This manifests itself as either a near live round stovepipe or a three point jam and three point jam possibly seems a better description.

This isn’t a ramp polish issue as the round is not hanging up on the ramp. Longer overall length rounds reduce the chances of this happening due to a higher and earlier frame ramp strike. Round nose bullets of ball profile are most correctly loaded to around 1.265.” Magazine release timing may also be a little suspect or a contributor when in combination with other issues.

First rule of fixes is to leave the gun untouched until alternatives are tried. Have you even run a correct tapered lip magazine? Is the needed clearance between frame ramp and barrel ramp present when the barrel is fully aftward?

A little more information about overall lengths and exact magazines used would be helpful. I can pretty safely say that no Kimber of this vintage ever needed more polish or throating as it came from the factory.