Give me your opinion on my next step with my Colt 1991A1.....

J

Jamie Young

New member
I just got back from talking to my gunsmith about my Colt 1991A1. I told him it didn't feed anything but ball ammo and he said to bring it in and maybe have it Throated or polished. Well I brought it back again tonight and found out that it was already throated (I Didn't know what that was until I took it to him). If it's already been throated and the feed ramp has been polished and it doesn't feed anything but ball should I give up on letting him do anything to it? I love the gun and I know There are other .45's out there that feed HP ammo better but whats your Vote? Any options?
 
Hi, SodaPop,

Before you give up or spend a lot of money, think about ammunition. How many kinds have you tried? Some hollow point ammo just won't ever feed in the 1911 types with any real reliability, while some (I like Golden Sabre), will work fine. In general, the closer the bullet profile is to GI ball, the better it works. Other problems can come from the magazines. You might try (borrow if possible) a few different kinds, including WWII GI, which is often reliable where new magazines are not, due to the shape of the feed lips.

If nothing works, then you might want to go whole hog on ramp work or even trade the gun on something that works better, but there is no reason the 1991A1 can't be made to feed most HP ammo reliably.

Jim
 
I agree with Jim, try different styles of JHP's and as many different magazines as you can. Remember every 1911 seems to "like" different makers magazines.

GS and the newer HydraShocks have an ogive closer to USGI ball ammo than many of the other JHPs on the market. Overall length of the ammunition will be a factor also, too short and it will tend to catch on the magazine, the barrel or the feed ramp - take you pick.
 
I have fired 165gr Hydra Shoks and Golden Saber rounds out of my 45 and I had 1 Jam from each of them. I reload 185gr HP and have never had a Jam in about 300 rounds. My gunsmith told me usually if your going to have problems they happen pretty soon. I did recently buy 2 Wilsons 8rd mags but have not tried them yet. I don't think it was the mags because I haven't had any problems with ball ammo. My Gunsmith said he could make a deeper groove where the gun was already throated. He pulled out a National Match 1911 and compared the throat and there was a difference. I wish Hydra Shoks were cheaper so I could go out and buy 200rds and test the gun more.
 
SodaPop, the usual reasons that a 1911 won't feed other-than-ball ammo are 1) release point on mags too far forward; 2)chamber throat too small and 3)barrel not fit properly to ramp. The first thing I'd do is try the Wilson mags. If you compare them to the mags you use already I think you will likely see a difference in the profile of the mag lips. As was already said, the closer to the overall length of ball ammo a hollow point or semi-wadcutter is the better it will feed in an unaltered pistol. Your mags work fine with ball because they are all designed to use it. Shorter ammo has to "pop up" sooner in the cycle in order to feed so the release point has to be farther to the rear of the mag. George
 
don't forget the recoil spring

The stiff hardball spring will many times keep a lighter load from full cycling. Try a lighter spring before doing any expensive work.
 
1911 Reliability

You weren't too specific about the jams, but I'll relay my experiences. As soon as I went back to the STANDARD recoil spring (16 lbs.) and threw the shok-buffs into the trash can, my Springfield 1911 A1 became TOTALLY reliable!
 
Well I assume that I have the Standard Recoil Spring in my gun because its the original one. I might try reloading the Golden Saber bullets because I have seen them for sale. My gunsmith is a 65yr old and he said shooting ball ammo out of a .45 is like shooting a cannonball. I agree and I really wouldn't feel undergunned if I carried my .45 with ball ammo. I just want to see if I should alter the gun to increase the guns effectiveness.I will try out the Wilson Mags and see if I fair better. The only problem I have is I've Fired about 800rds out of the gun and I have never had a Jam with 230gr Ball ammo. I don't want to try out 20rds in the gun and say "Well It didn't Jam this time it must be ok". So I might try reloading the Golden Saber Bullets and then Factory rounds For carry. How does that Sound?
I'm getting some pretty good Answers from you folks I appreciate the detailed answers!
 
I'd try using a quality magazine, more often then not
the mags that come with 45 are lousy, even Kimber sends
bad mags.

I wouldn't worry about the recoil spring being too heavy, I've found a 20lb spring works pretty well for most factory
ammo and full strength reloads.

If the gun still doesn't work with a good mag, send it to Colt for Warrenty repair/replacement.
 
Well folks its been about 2 months since I first posted this and I finally got to the range and fired 120rds of Hydra-Shoks and had.................................................................. ZERO JAMS WOOOO HOOO!!!!!!!!! I got the feed ramp polished and I'm using Wilsons Combat 8rd mags. Boy those Hyrda-shoks cost an arm and a leg to shoot. I think I spent $65 for 120rds. I think shooting 120rds is a decent test of reliability with Hollow Point ammo. Anyone have Suggestions on What Bullet Grain I should carry? Thanks for the Input ALL OF YOU !!
 
SodaPop,...

I don't know what your intent with the pistol is, but I like to stay with bullet weights
at or above 185 grains.

BTW, come on over to the 1911forum for a visit. Link to follow.
 
I intend to carry the gun for self defence and for Target shooting. Right now I've been carrying my Beretta 92FS because I never worked all the bugs out of my 45. I really was about to just carry ball ammo I don't have a problem with it.
 
SodaPop,

I'll bet the Wilson magazines will cure the problem. I'd first try them with 230 grain HydraShok, only because I read somewhere that it most closely conforms to standard GI ball size, shape and weight.
 
1991 Jams

I had severe jamming problem with various cmponents of my 1991. Here's what I've learned..
1. Factory Extractor not tuned. Simple trial and error following guidelines from http://www.m1911.org fixed this.
2. Keep feed ramp clean and polished
3. High quality mags. I like Chip McCormick Power Mags, very heavy springs, not to be confused with their standard Shooting Star Mags. I returned both of these after having the feed lips spreading and causing jams on the last round.
4. Reminton Golden Sabers are the BEST FEEDING HP for these guns!
 
Tator I've been hearing that about the Golden Sabers I can't see much of a difference between the Hydra SHoks and them. I have a hard time finding 230gr Hydra-Shoks and Golden Sabers. Everyone seems to carry the lighter stuff.
 
George Stringer has the right answer. Before you spend any more money on a gunsmith buy a Wilson magazine. I have a
1991A1 Custom tactical level I. I had feed problems from the beginning w/ the factory suplied mag. I purchased a Wilson 8 rd mag. The mag took care of the feed problems. I bought another 8 rd and a 10 rd mag.
 
Here's a list of the most common (aka the ones I've seen) sizes for Golden Saber

.45 185 gr HP
.45 230 gr HP
.38 125 gr HP very fun with 19.9 gr of H110 in .357 1500+ fps with huge flame and concussion. Boosts the ego lots!!
.40 160 gr HP

I dont reload 9mm but also
115 gr HP
 
Hi, SodaPop,

I am sure the (few) people who read my postings get tired of seeing this, but my rigid reliability test is a minimum of 200 successive rounds without any kind of a failure WITH THE CARRY AMMO. So don't congratulate yourself on having gotten off 120 rounds with one type and bullet weight and then talk about carrying another type or bullet weight without further testing.

Jim
 
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