9mm 1911 gun? mag?

[Nucrunner 75]

My 9mm Springfield Armory Range Master is about a year old
Estimate about 3000 rounds through it (mostly 115gr. some 124, all factory brass).
I clean it after every trip to the range, I use Hoppe’s Gun Grease for the rails 
I use 10 round Wilson Combat Mags (which I take apart and run a silicone rag through every once in a while).

 

I started have some problems with going into battery (once, then twice during a local IDPA),
Then I started seeing stovepipes, and failures to eject (2-3x in 100 rounds).
After pulling and cleaning the trigger spring and ejector – the problem was getting no better so I sent it back to Springfield Armory who provided excellent customer service.

They sent prepaid Federal Express for the gun…

 

1911-A1 9MM EJECTOR EXTENDED,PARK.
DRILLED & PINNED EJECTOR
1911-A1 EJECTOR PIN 1
1911-A1 PLUNGER TUBE, PARK.
1911-A1 9MM EXTRACTOR, PARK.
TESTED-GOOD

 

Returned the gun within 10 days - first 100 rounds flawless.

Today after about 20 rounds I get the failure to go into battery – the rail was stuck,
had to do the firm grip on the rail with a firm strike to the frame to get the gun to eject.

 

You can see the damaged round in the first picture (shell brass is skinned back from the bullet),
it happened one more time (stuck) but not as dramatic. I also noticed one of the ejected shells (only noticed on one) the edge of the brass shell was nicked up (second picture).

 

So I’m a bit frustrated, looking to see if anyone has experienced anything like this and generally looking for an opinion as to whether you think the problem is the gun or maybe the mags?

 

Before you suggest it, I already got a GLOCK – and I do like my 1911.

Thanks!

[fatty 241]

Is the barrel ramp nice and smooth?  polished?  Did the failure above happen on a fully loaded magazine?

 

It's odd that your malfunctions started occurring after so many rounds.

[Zeke 5,504]

Polish the feed ramp?

Polish the chamber?

[Zeke 5,504]

Fatty beat me! Summabitch!

[Pizza Bob 1,488]

Do the failures happen with all brands of ammo, or only the Magtech shown? Have you tried other mags?

[Lalo 13]

Only change one variable at a time. I would try a different mag first, then different ammo, especially if that's the only type of ammo that you've fed it. In all honesty, I would send it back to SA to have them continue to work the issue.

[Nucrunner 75]

Never polished a feed ramp - will look into it

 

Been shooting Magtech, Remington UMC, Winchester White Box, Lawman -

I'll keep a closer eye to see if any particular Ammo is a problem.

 

The warranty "kinda" alludes to not using after market mags, but on the other hand they sell the Range Officer as an entry level

competition gun - but (as far as I know) Springfield doesn't offer a 10 round mag for competition.

 

I'm going to clean it all up, maybe do some light polishing work on that feed ramp, clean up the mags and give

this thing another run at Quinton Sportsman's Club this weekend - if the problem persists- back to SA she goes.

 

Thanks for the feedback -

[DargZ 5]

Another thing to check is whether the mag's feed lips are within spec.

[RichP 115]

I think its the mags. I had similar headaches with Wilson 10 rounders, and finally got rid of all of them. Went with Dawson and McCormick and my problems went away.

The Dawson 10 rounders have a little divot on the follower, which helps the round lift into the chamber.

The McCormick 10 rounder has a channel and lip stamped into the front of the mag body to help it along the same way.

Also, make sure that there is a spacer in the mag.

That's the price you have to pay for a tapered round in a single stack.

Polishing the feed ramp always makes the gun run smoother. A little Flitz and a Dremel will work wonders.

[Howard 538]

I agree with Rich, I had no luck at all with Wilson in my STI Trojan 9mm.  I would get misfeeds and other problems.  Sent the gun back to STI and they did some work on it but they told me they could not get it to work reliably with Wilson mags and suggested Dawson or Tripp Cobra, which is what I use now and have no issues anymore.

[Lambo2936 297]

Not sure if this problem is resolved, but i have the Wilson 8 rd mags for my .45 1911 and while i haven't had this happen, i've had a few failures though they weren't nearly as dramatic. Could also be the ammo. As previously suggested, change one variable at a time and see if the problem fixes itself. That's what i would suggest. 

[Steve_G 51]

I would also lean heavily towards the mags. When I picked up my S&W 9mm 1911, it came with 2 of the Wilson mags. I had seating issues, as well as feeding issues. Luckily, I had been warned about the seating issues and picked up some Tripp Cobra mags and have not had an issue since. 

[Nucrunner 75]

Cleaned up the mags, and found where I could do a better job with that, especially the crud that kinda built up on the followers. Previously I was just focused on clearing and cleaning the magazine body.

 

Also, and a bit reluctantly took a dremmel and polishing compound to the feed ramp - I say reluctantly because I'm no smith and not comfortable taking a power tool to one of my guns. I have to say, it was pretty easy and I was really happy with the results. During the process I could see minute improfections in the feed ramp, small nicks and grain showing where you could see crud could easily build up. I will no longer be reluctant to do this.

 

Results? A little better, but I still experienced 2 double feeds at Quinton IDPA Saturday.

The first one cleared easy, but the second one (last stage after about 80 rounds), was costly.

The slide locked on the double feed, I had to drop the mag to get it to clear.

Other than that the gun ran great.

 

My initial question was whether the problem might be the gun or the Wilson Combat mags.

I'm going to focus on the mags now - not sure what I need to do to check the clearances on the mag lips,

Should I be able to see issues by eye? I have the mags marked, but I didn't do a good job of noting if it was the same mag that caused the trouble - I'll pay better attention to that. I also ordered a couple of new mags from Dawson Precision.

 

Thanks for all the tips to work my way through these issues.

 

I also run a Colt Government 45 with Wilson Combat mags (not as much as the 9) - never had a feed issue

[Steve_G 51]

I'm willing to bet those Dawson mags clear up your problems. I run Wilson ETM's in my 45 RO, never had an issue. The 9's just weren't worth the hassle.

[Zeke 5,504]

When you say double feed. Do you mean fte and then live round stacked behind? Or 2 live rounds while going into battery?

[Nucrunner 75]

When you say double feed. Do you mean fte and then live round stacked behind? Or 2 live rounds while going into battery?

 

Now that you offer that detail, I believe I saw both - the first one being an FTE with a live round stacked behind it. Cleared easily with a tap, rack, dump...

The second one was two rounds going into battery - the two rounds trying to get into battery, put pressure on the slide - required dropping the mag - removing pressure on the slide - mag back in - continued the stage. Should have been a 20 second stage - I ran it in 45.

[DargZ 5]

Check the width of the feed lips. You can do this with a pair of calipers. I don't know the width off the top of my head but it seems you've had some miles with these mags. They tend to deform with lots of loading.

 

You can gently bend them back into shape but they will not stay in shape too long. They may stay that way for a match or so.