I have one of these in the Colt 1911 Government style. I have touble getting hollow points to feed properly. I noticed that where the barrel chamber meets the feed ramp there is a lip where the barrel over hangs the ramp. It is a very small lip. Is this what is causing my gun to miss feed? Every time it hangs up it is in this area. I practice with 230 gr. Winchester BEB bullets and they feed just fine as do Full metal jackets. Also, if this is my problem how do I go about correcting it? This gun is used for home defense so I would like to have something with good stopping power. Are the 230 gr BEB bullets that I practice with good for defense purposes? If they are I won't really worry about hollow points.

Thanks in advance for any information.
Britt

Some 1911 copies/clones don't feed hollow points properly. A competent 1911 pistolsmith should be able to fix the feedramp for you.

ZM

[ 12-17-2002, 08:27: Message edited by: Zeke ]

Some guns are just finicky about what they like. Before you take it to a smith, try some other ammo.
Federal hydrashocks are very good, their new expanding fmj might fix your problem. You should try others as well: hornady XTP ammo, Remington golden saber and Corbon Powrball are all good defense loads.
The Winchester BEB would not be my choice for self defense.
On another note, how many magazines do you have? If you have more than 1, do all of them jam with the same ammo? Some magazines just don't feed as well as others.

DaveC

I have three clips. They all feed the same. The ones that jam all jam the same way. The top of the hollow point hits that lip, it leaves a line across the top of the bullet.

Anyway, I just saw a picture of the powerball. I think that I will try that one. Thanks.

Britt

Like the others, I'd recommend you choose another bullet for defense. Those are about the worst choice imaginable-- any hollowpoint design is far better than those.

As a specific recommendation, I'd recommend the 230 gr. Hydrashoks if you have a 5" barrel, 185 gr. if shorter. Alternately, the Golden Sabers, with the same decision about the weights.

Until you get the feeding corrected, get and use the Remington hollowpoint rounds. They use the FMJ profile, so they'll feed in any gun that will feed ball ammo. They may not expand, but maybe they will. What you have now definitely will not.

Pertinax

Britt,

It would help to know exactly what kind of feeding problem you're having and how it is miss feeding.

While there are certainly better choices of ammo out there remember, the best home defense load is one that feeds and hits the mark... In a gunfight, the first bullet on target usually wins.

Malm

G. Malmborg,
The best way that I can explain it is that when the slide comes back to chamber a round, it hits the round to slide it forward into the chamber. Well with my gun, if that round is a hollow point it you can look in the hung open ejection port and see where the round was driven straight into lip between the barrel and feed ramp. It leaves a line across the open part of the hollow point.

My best guess so far is that the BEB and FMJ have enough curvature to slide over the lip without a problem.

I hope that clears it up for you. I know my wife says that I am one confusing son of a gun sometimes.

Is it possible to just grind the lip off with my dremel? The lip is only 0.036".

Thanks all and have a Merry Christmas and a happy new year. I am looking forward to your replies.

Britt

Your pistol needs "throating", which is one of the most basic parts of pistol tuning. Throating consists of opening up the feed ramp and have both halves (barrel & frame) match perfectly, i.e. with no step/lip in between. A properly thoated 1911 must feed empty cases (NB. : cycled by hand)reliably. Any pistolsmith worth his salt will do the work.

Contact Clark custom gunsmithing, they are in La. and can fix your pistol.