I've got a series 70 Colt 45 that was slightly customized before I got it. The gun used to shoot great but now it constantlly jams while feeding a round. I've tried other clips but no luck. I've cleaned the chamber with no luck. I've tried different ammo including FMJ. It seems like the recoil spring still has sufficient tension but I'm not sure. Any tips / suggestions?

Upon closer inspection, the chamber looks pretty rough. I've got it soaking in bore cleaner but I'm kinda skeptical. Does anyone recommend polishing the chamber and if so, what's the technique?

Do not polish the chamber, if it is that rough then get another barrel for the gun. 45 barrels are not very expensive...probably another spring and recoil buffer, throat the gun for all ammo including lead simi-wadcutters, open the ejection slot in the frame...

It sounds like this gun has had the crap shot out of it or it has surly been abused...

Recoiljunky,

If the chamber is rough you can clean it up like any barrel on a lathe with some fine emery cloth.

Describe the type of jam you are experiencing. Too much extractor tension or lack of proper feed angle on the bottom of extractor will cause jamming. The 1911 is a true CRF design. The case head has to slide up the face of the breech and smoothly slip under the extractor just as the slide goes into battery. Sometimes something as slight as a burr at the firing pin hole can stop a round from fully feeding.

Damaged magazine feed lips can either retard feeding or create a premature release causing the round to pop up at wierd angles and jam. A weak grip on the weapon during recoil likewise will cause problems.

Lightly coat the barrel and slide rails with oil. 1911's like most other machines require a certain amount lube to function reliably.

Malm

The jam occurs when the slide is feeding a round into the chamber. The jammed round will be pointed with the nose up, halfway into the chamber. The chamber has a mark in it where the bullets are stopping. I don't know if the jams are causing the mark or if the mark is causing the jams. Today is the first time I noticed the mark but I've never shined that much light into the chamber until today. The problem has become increasingly worse. Last time I tried cleaning the chamber and shooting a few rounds, the gun jammed 50% of the rounds fed. It jams the first round as frequently as any other round.

Jake

Recoiljunky,

If the round is making it halfway into the chamber, look at the breech face and see what is stopping the case head from sliding up into position under the extractor. Sometimes lightly polishing the breech face to remove roughness will allow the case to slide into position better.

If the round were missing the chamber in a nose up position, then that would indicate a magazine failure. Mag feed lips are most likely spread too far apart causing a premature release of the round which is "always" indicated by a "nose up" jam.

Malm

recoiljunky--

Your symptoms are classic "Hardball in a wadcutter gun" syndrome.

Autos are ammo sensitive and the 1911 is no different. Buy a new spring or two and swap recoil springs until it works with the ammo you want it to.

Malmborg has covered most of your potential trouble spots.

You say the gun was "slightly customized". That raises the possibility that some kitchen table gunsmith attempted to throat the gun and polished the barrel and frame together in an attempt to blend the two together, a most serious mistake. There should be a 1/16 inch step barrel to frame relationship. If there is not, take it to a competent gunsmith who understands the Colt 1911 design.

I work on quite a few Colt 1911 design hand guns and this is probably the most common mistake that amatuers make when trying to "throat" it to feed semi wadcutters.

Another common ailment is when owners drop a round in the chamber and then drop the slide. Like Malmborg said this gun is a CRF design and when you drop the slide on a chambered round you force the extractor to snap over the case rim. That ruins the tension adjustment which causes feeding, extraction, and ejection problems. Not to mention shortening the life of the extractor.

Craftsman,
Funny you should mention dropping a round into the chamber and letting the slide slam shut. Thats often how I do it. Hummm. Looks like I might need a gunsmith to check that extractor. As I look at the extractor now, what you said makes total sense. Do you have an estimate as to how many times you can improperly chamber a round before the extractor shows signs of failure? The barrel has been fitted to the frame, the mag well has been beveled, the area where the empty cases come out has been opened (I forget what you call that), the ramp has been polished. The gun USED TO function great. That makes me suspect that the problem is my fault. I'm taking it to a smith today. I'll post the results for those who may be curious. Also, appearantly I need a good instructional book or video on this firearm. Any suggestions?

[ 02-24-2003, 17:36: Message edited by: recoiljunky ]

You can break an extractor hook the first time you make it snap over a cartridge rim if it hits it right. There is no "allowable number of times" but a good spring steel extractor will take a little abuse. Always (as in every single time) let it strip a round from a mag when chambering.

The best book you can buy would be Kuhnhausen's Colt .45acp Manual Book 1. Do an internet search, it is widely available.

Its also pretty easy to swap out and adjust an extractor if you broke the hook on yours.