need help w/ my jambing colt 1911!!

[Benzboy]

Hello...My recent purchase of a used 80 series colt mark 4 compact officers pistol .45cal has me a hair frustrated. It is jambing every
or every other round w/the spent casing fully enclosed in the chamber or half sticking out. My ffl suggests polishing the ramp to the chamber to possibly quicken the action. The springs i cannot tell if they are stock or not and have gotton feedback from some of you who swear by certain brands. Thank you all for reading and repling with any advice for which i am greatfull;Q . Benz
p.s...This officers is a lightweight model if it makes a difference.

[Jim Watson]

I don't see how polishing the ramp is going to "quicken the action" and prevent failures to extract. You should not be polishing on an aluminum ramp anyhow.
You need the extractor refitted or replaced by somebody who knows what he is doing.

These little guns do need the recoil springs replaced every few hundred rounds. Wolff is ok, ISMI makes a whole new assembly that will last much longer but it has to be installed with a little cut on the slide... by somebody who knows what he is doing.

[Honkie]

Sounds like a limp wrist causing a stove pipe. These little guns need a firm grip to recoil agianst. My officers has been 100%. You might want to tune your extractor for the problem with the empty still in the chamber, its quite easy to do. Your pistol has the common two piece feed ramp; part of it on the frame the other on the chamber mouth. I took my dremmel tool with the small felt wheel and their red polishing compound and polished the shi-poopoo out of the frame ramp, the barrel hood, the barrel ramp and inside the chamber( the small felt wheel is a perfect .45cal fit) all to a mirror finish. This has helped feeding so much.I change my recoil springs every 300 rounds. Buy a couple of wilson model 47 officers mags and you wont be disappointed. 1 more thing, keep a eye on your barrel bushing and recoil spring plug, failures and breakage are prone for these. Whew!,sorry for the long post and enjoy your officers, I love mine!

Kris

[paul45]

Did you replace the recoil spring like was already suggested before?

[Kruzr]

Certainly sounds like Jim has the answer. Adjust or replace the extractor.

[1911Tuner]

Jim and Kruzr nailed it. It's the extractor.

Quicken the action?;Q Sounds like a Dremel Cowboy to me. Don't let him work on your gun...

Luck!

Tuner

[johnniekirk]

Benzboy- Try this address. WWW.m1911.org/technic2.htm

[Benzboy]

I just ordered the spring yesterday. I will try this first along with
suggestions of polishing w/ my dremel. Thank you gents for your help as this little .45 seems to be a little high maintenance kinda like my women;) Benz

[1911Tuner]

Take the Dremel out in the street and hit it with a hammer 10 or 12 times.

[johnniekirk]

Benboy, Before you take the Dremel to yor gun, Here is what I would do.
1. Shoot a different, type of ammo out of it and see if you still have a FTF, or FTE. If you shoot the same ammo all the time, it might be the ammo.
2. Let as many people,shoot the gun as possible. This will rule out limpwristing.
3. Just for fun try a different magazine.
4. Take the gun apart, and clean every part of the gun real good, I mean clean the hell out of it.
5. While cleaning the barrel, run your finger over the feed ramp. If there are any gouges or burrs, Use some fine sandpaper,wrapped around a wooden dowel,and smooth it up.
6. After you clean the barrel, drop a round into the barrel, this will tell you if the barrel is cut right. The round should fall in and out easily,
7. Reassemble, the weapon. In the process check and tune the extractor. Change out springs, and oil.
8. Test fire the weapon.
If it is still giving you problems, you can either take it to a competent gunsmith or sell it.

[shuwtist]

My Combat Commander had the exact same problem for awhile. Here's the steps I took. 1st, reloads needed to be crimped just a tad bit more. Then it started with commercial ammo.

Cured with stiffer recoil spring, and extractor adjustment. Works fine now. Good luck, I know how frustrating that can be!!

[1911Tuner]

"Limp-wrist induced malfunction" is a whipping post for a pistolsmith who failed to set the gun up correctly and would rather blame it on the shooter than bother with it. If the gun is right, it should function when cradled on top of your hand with just enough grip from your thumb and index finger to keep you from dropping it...with your wrist bent on two angles...It should function when held sideways, upside down, or when you stand on your head and whistle Dixie in the middle of a snowstorm.

Just my nickel's worth..YMMV

[Benzboy]

Thanks Johnny kirk for your words. Ive done all but put a round in the chaimber while disassembled. Ive tried three commercial loads and same game. I asked a big guy (chubby) at the range to fire this gun the first 50 rounds i owned it and it jambed on him too. It is a used gun, stock except for grips. Ill go to range on sat/sun w/ new spring installed and report back. Thank you all again for your interest/help! Benz

[ATI_RAGE_]

Well let us know how it turns out. Good luck with it.