Chronic (FTF) Failure to Feed fixed.

B

Battler

New member
Yeah, I know that I didn't post originally of the problem; but I had a new Kimber compact that worked perfectly for first 150 rounds, then decided to start failing to feed chronically on the next 150. Happened on both original "shooting star" that came with it, and the brand new pair of shooting stars that I was trying out that day.

Cleaned it meticulously, cleaned (not polished) the feed ramp (which I originally suspected was the culprit), put enough oil in it to lube a big-block and took it to the range.

Happened again on the first mag.

However, a very smart and helpful gentleman who was managing the range told me it was hung up on the mag. Yeah, I know a lot of problems are with the mags; but that it manifested itself with all 3 new mags. . . .

Sceptically, I let him VERY lightly oil the inside of the feed lips with CLP. Worked great from then on. I'm sure the problem is gone, I put ~130 through with perfect reliability after that.


I've used these forums as a resource in tracking down problems - doing a search on "feed", etc. I am posting this so that if anyone else has a "feed" problem they'll spot this amongst other posts with cures for feed probs. There are good posts on here pertaining to ramp polishing - and I don't doubt that many need it; but this is an easy thing to try first - I was one step short of doing/paying for a polishy.


Battler.
 
Hi, Battler,

It is sometimes a good idea to polish the inside of the feed lips on a magazine, especially some of the cheap ones. But generally, magazines are meant to be used dry to avoid dirt pickup on oiled surfaces. If the feeding problem was the magazine, I think I would look at the recoil spring, since it should be strong enough to overcome normal magazine friction.

Jim
 
In defense of what he did, he oiled his finger, wiped the oil off, then rubbed the mag a bit. There was VERY little oil there.

The recoil spring is new and stock.

However, how does one remove a recoil spring from a Kimber? Actually, I should rephrase, how do I put the spring back on?

The only tool that came with it was the paperclip thingy for holding it in place. Where can I mail-order a good cheap tool that would help me install a spring on the Kimber rod? Do all bushing wrenches have this feature (i.e. should I just buy a bushing wrench for any future 1911s)?

thanks,
Battler.
 
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