Problem child 1911

[Fire_at_will]

I have a firestorm 45. which is a clone of the colt 1911a1. Now before I get too far in to this I don't want to hear any lip about buying a knock-off of a good U.S. gun that was copied and made in Spain, this gun was cheap and easily upgraded w/ Colt parts so I went for it.

The problem that I'm having with this gun seems to be with the ramp into the chamber. I know these guns don't like hallow points, but this one has problems even with ball. The slide jams the nose of the round into the slide, but is quickly re-chambered with a 1/4 inch pull back and release of the slide. Is there anything I can do to this gun like decreasing the slope of the ramp into the chamber, I hate to mill on the body of this gun since I have only one. However I do have access to a milling machine. Also, I know that if I mill the body that I will have to mill the ramp on the barrel(shiver). Will this make the barrel prone to fractures or would it still be safe.

I'm not a rich man, so any thing that cheap/free please let me know. Also, let me know anything else that may cause this problem.

Untill then I will pratice cold bore shot and then throwing at close range.

[andyhinds]

I've got the two-tone version of the same gun (company was Bursa merged with Llama... I think).  I know people had the same problem with other guns, I've heard of people using a dremel tool on the ramp to polish it, but I haven't done it myself.

[TheRev]

First, let's be clear about the problem. When you cycle the slide, it strips a round off the mag, but instead of moving up the feed ramp, the round pops vertical and jams against the roof of the slide?, or jams against the upper part of the chamber? These are two seperate problems with two (or more) possible solutions (none of which involve any milling or machining). So which is it? Or is it both?

TheRev

[Fire_at_will]

Could this also be caused by the type of ammo. I use Winchester or CCI FMJ's. I don't notice a pronounced diffrence between the two.

[Fire_at_will]

It jams in mid cycle, the round is still straight but jams the nose into the ramp but the butt is still in the right spot, almost like the recoil spring is too weak. I have also heard that the mags could cause this by not having enough tilt on the runner inside the mag so the nose of the round is not high enough to keep from binding when going up the ramp.

[RickEJ6]

Is this when you are actually firing the weapon?  Or just cycling rounds through it?  If you ride the slide forward instead of just releasing it sometimes it will not have a stong enough force to fully extract the round.  
Rick

[Fire_at_will]

I don't have any problems when cycling it by hand. this only happens when firing, and it doesn't happen every time. The gun is trying to tell me what's wrong, I just don't understand the language.

[KenCasper]

Fire_at_Will,
 What kind of Mags are you using with your 1911? My LLamma had a simular problem, and some good mags solved it.  I personally would recommend some of the Chip McCormick mags, as that is what I've used with great success, but any of the good pistolsmith guys that make mags, such as Bear, Wilson, Ect, put out some decent mags. Buy one an try your pistol with it, if it works then ya know that was yer problem, if it don't then you are stuck with a pretty good mag (more mag's are always good), and have to move on in your truobleshooting process.

Polishing of the feed ramp helps with minor feed problems, but is mostly done for increased reliability, and it is best done by a pro, as it is REAL easy to mess up the angle of the dangle causing worse problems.

 Lastly you could try a stronger recoil spring, but I doubt that is the problem, as if it was you would be having the same feed problems during hand cycling of the action. (of course that assumes that you are jerking the slide back VIOLENTLY and releasing it at the full stroke, to simulate a firing cycle)

hope this helps

[Fire_at_will]

I had a feeling it was the mag. I used the factory one that came with the gun untill the bottom flew out of it while carrying it. How embarassing. The one I use now is from cheaper that dirt for a colt 1911.

I will try a new ChipMcCormick through Dillon Persicsion.
If not I will try the ramp.
Thanks to everyone for the help.

[TheRev]

At the risk of sounding redundant, Kevin (KenCasper) is mostly correct. The process of elimination works well when dealing with an inexpensive problem. Certainly a new mag (like the versions mentioned by Kevin) is a good start. Since you are dealing with a non-Colt import that uses Colt (or other) 1911 type magazines, this may, or may not solve the problem. I mean "may or may not" simply because of inherent differences in tolerances in clones versus originals. Also, mag to feedramp interfaces may be slightly different as well. I have found that if the round "stovepipes" or sticks up in the feedramp, that the usual culprit is the magazine (such as a deformed or out of tolerance follower). Another issue is when the round leaves the mag but jams somewhere in between the mag and the chamber. Two reasons will cause this to occur: One, the feedlips on the mag are out of tolerance, or two, the recoil spring is weak. Neither of these issues are too expensive to repair. On the feedramp issue, I would offer this... Be very careful on changing the geometry of the ramp. Polishing the ramp and throat are as far as I would ever go to improve feeding and reliability. To remove too much metal from the ramp may cause the round to become unsupported in the critical area near the rim. This can cause catastrophic case rupture and rim separation which can cause serious injuries or death (not to mention a broken gun). I hope this information helps.

TheRev

[KenCasper]

Just got my Cheaper than dirt Catolog today and they have the Chip McCormick "Star" mags in there, for as low as $13.95!!!!!  Hell I payed $20+ apiece from 1911 heaven several years back, well, guess I need to order some more!!!!!!!