Gunsmithing ? re 1911 cycling failure

[Inspector Gadget]

Hey there folks, a puzzle submitted for the collective wisdom.

The patient - Springfield Armory 1911. Base model. Couple years old. Stock. Maybe 1000 rounds. Cleaned and lubed after every outing. Treated gently.

The symptom - consistent failure to cycle/eject completely on an outing earlier today.

My diagnosis - Ammo was my reloads. Ball ammo. Don't remember the powder used. But I'm guessing that the culprit is a light load? I'm a rusty novice on reloading, but I know that I started with no more than about 90% of the recommended load. These have been sitting around for a couple years. (Does the load degrade over time?). Reloading hasn't been as regular an activity as I had planned, so load data is buried somewhere in the basement. Shells were firmly gripped by ejector mechanism, but not thrown from the slide, creating a traffic jam when the slide tried to return to battery. Never had this issue with factory ammo, or commercial reloads.

Am I on the right track? If so, I'll use these in the moon clips on my revolver, and cut it closer to the manual recommendations next time.

Thanks

 

[gunnergirl81]

Re: ? re 1911 cycling failure

Too many variables come into play. If the ammo is suspect, switch ammo, problem goes away? Problem solved. We used to shoot hand load ammo for matches that was 185 gr projos on top of either 2.3 or 3.2 of Clays. It was like shooting a cap gun. But it took a lighter spring and a FIRM grip or it'd short shuck and you'd be clearing stovepipes till your hands bled.

Some 1911's like a certain diet. Feed it what it likes, avoid what it doesn't.