For the 1911 Experts: bad gun, or bad mags?

[American1776]

I bought a new SIG 1911 Nitron with the Rail. Gun feels great. Took it to the range today with 215 rounds of 230 gr.FMJ ammo (Fiocchi, Blazer, WWB). Bought 4 magazines, all new. 2 7 round Wilson Combats, 2 8 round Wilson combats.

In the first few magazines, I had two FTF. These occured with the the 7 rounders. After that, heres what happened.

One of the 8 rounders would fail to feed the first round (round would go halfway in, then stop. One of the 7 rounders would always fail to lock the slide on the last round. The other two magazines, 7 rounder and 8 rounder each, were reliable. No further problems with them.

So, I must ask the question for the 1911 guys and gals: Should I consider this a good gun, but bad mags? Or, is the SIG likely a problem, along with those two mags? Or, is this just a lemon of a gun?

When it has those two 'good' magazines in it (the 7 rounder and the 8 rounder), if doesn't seem to have any problems. The other two have the problems mentioned. All of this occurred over 215 rounds.

Any thoughts? Keep the gun and keep shooting it? Try a different magazine company?

Many thanks!

[Quacked]

I am far from an expert. I would number those mags and track any malfunctions from them.
I would also offer the thought that you need a bit more time behind the trigger before getting too worried about this. Another few hundred rounds will reveal the nature of the problem.
If the failures happened nearer the end of the session you may want to give her a good cleaning and lube. Good luck and let us know how you make out.

[Gunsnwater]

Limp wristing. Are you new to 1911s? Clean, lube, lock your wrists. WWB is dirty inconsistent crap in every caliber. Your gun needs to be broken in. 1911 slide stops can be picky on followers for slide lock if not fitted by the knowledgeable. Try different types, plastic, stamped flat stamped rounded and the ones with the dimple on the slide stop lifter. On aluminum frames use only plastic followers.

[American1776]

Limp wristing. Are you new to 1911s? Clean, lube, lock your wrists. WWB is dirty inconsistent crap in every caliber. Your gun needs to be broken in. 1911 slide stops can be picky on followers for slide lock if not fitted by the knowledgeable. Try different types, plastic, stamped flat stamped rounded and the ones with the dimple on the slide stop lifter. On aluminum frames use only plastic followers.

Thanks for the tips. I cleaned the pistols and lubed it up before the session.

I've owned several 1911's before, so I'm not new to the guns. Had one that worked well, the other one was a turd. On those two magazines that do work reliably, I tried to limp wrist to to induce a malfunction, but the pistol wouldn't malfunction. The other two mags had the problems---failure to lock the slide, and FRTB when chambering the first round. Strange, right?

[Xringshooter]

If you have 2 magazines that work correctly, and 2 that don't (especially if the same mfg. as the ones that work ok) I think you've answered your own question. Mark the ones that don't work correctly, then with all of them both empty and with rounds in them, set them side by side and look at them very closely, especially at the lips. See if you see anything different at all. I think you might just find that the ones that don't always work correctly may have something very slightly different from the ones that regularly work fine.

[mrbb2]

I'm also NO expert, have a bunch of 1911's and handguns

I find many times NEW guns are snug, and require SOME break in, NOT That they shouldn't work 100%, as they SHOULD< but when you take a mix of ammo, and a new gun, and UN proven mags(meaning new to you)
there is a chance things can be malfunctions from a bunch of cause's
limp wrist, different in charge per round(cheap ammo can have this pretty big in FPS's) a mag NOT seating correctly, feed ramp issue's and so omn

I agree, I would be marking mags and keeping track of what brand ammo as well
could very easy be a combo of all the things , and making a issue's

take aparty and clean and inspect real good is my suggestion, look for ??? and see what you see!
then try again with ALL one brand ammo and marked mags

[sprrdhawk44]

Get some Wilson 47Ds or some Tripp Cobra Mags. If you have any issues with those, it's the gun.

[American1776]

Get some Wilson 47Ds or some Tripp Cobra Mags. If you have any issues with those, it's the gun.

The magazines I used were Wilson 47D (2) and Wilson 47C (2). The D's are the 8 rounds, the C's are the 7 rounders. Both C's work very well (no stoppages after the first two magazines full), just that one of the C's fails to lock back the slide. One of the D's works well, the other one fails to feed the first round when I try to chamber it. All 4 Wilson magazines are brand new. The SIG pistol is brand new. 215 rounds total shot today. 2 FTF's were the only real stoppages.

[mrbb2]

The magazines I used were Wilson 47D (2) and Wilson 47C (2). The D's are the 8 rounds, the C's are the 7 rounders. Both C's work very well (no stoppages after the first two magazines full), just that one of the C's fails to lock back the slide. One of the D's works well, the other one fails to feed the first round when I try to chamber it. All 4 Wilson magazines are brand new. The SIG pistol is brand new. 215 rounds total shot today. 2 FTF's were the only real stoppages.

that's why I said, MIGHT be ammo, and NOT blowing back the side enough from a low power round or??
stiff springs being new and all, some guns can be picky

YES again they should work, but??
a different weight recoil spring might be needed for cheap 45 ammo, that isn't up to snuff on power!

[American1776]

that's why I said, MIGHT be ammo, and NOT blowing back the side enough from a low power round or??
stiff springs being new and all, some guns can be picky

YES again they should work, but??
a different weight recoil spring might be needed for cheap 45 ammo, that isn't up to snuff on power!

That's exactly the first thought that entered my head...that the ammo wasn't cycling the slide all the way to the rear. However, when I manually cycle the slide all the way to the rear on that empty mag, the slide stop 'slips' and the slide closes on the empty mag.

I don't know what's going on with the other mag (the 47D 8 rounder), with it's tendency to cause a jam when loading the first round.

Here's something that I'm (wishfully) hoping: The brand new SIG 1911 is a little on the tight side. And I will attest to the fact that disassembly and re-assembly has been 'tough', with the slide getting stuck. And there's no slide movement on the frame laterally. Perhaps this gun needs 500-1,000 round through it to really let the clearances 'settle' to where they need to be.

When I discovered which magazine were the 'functioning' ones, the pistol ran VERY well. I did a lot of one hand shooting, and tried to limp wrist the gun, and it was still reliable on those two mags. I'm hoping it's the mags.