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

[Cyo]

Ammo or gun. Not the magazines unless you are really unlucky.

[vjb.knife]

Ammo or gun. Not the magazines unless you are really unlucky.

Ditto. I have a Wilson 1911 and have 8 of the Elite model 500 mags. I have never had a malfunction.

[JenniferG]

I'd send those malfunctioning mags back.

[Twoboxer]

Did I miss how the Sig made out using the factory mag?

[Gunsnwater]

A secret to break in. Gun doesn't care if it's ammo or just you racking the slide. I have multipul colts. Some like plastic followers some like metal. Some work great with flat metal and some like the rounded stamped followers. Some need the slide stop lifter to have the dimple/bump, while others don't care.

Then too if the stop juts in a hair too far, certain shape bullets hit it and lock slide or FTF with a half way jam. Get a strong light and really look at the relationship if these parts with all combinations of mags. You can remove the slide and put the barrel and stop back on and look at the ammo comming out of the mags and the stop and ramp relationships.

Sooner or later if things are hitting or missing that shouldn't you will see it. Heavier recoil spring = slower slide speed. Resistance to recoil impulse. The other main feeding area is mag lips. They have to present and release properly and are easier to compare.

[Gunsnwater]

Ditto. I have a Wilson 1911 and have 8 of the Elite model 500 mags. I have never had a malfunction.

I have guns that disagree. It's not the normal but some combos of tollerence don't work. Metalforms come in lots of varieties and are affordable. I have had good luck with the sarco house brand. Wilson's and shooting star are nice, don't get me wrong. I'm just not buying 10 at a time.

[Gunsnwater]

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?

You didn't state, are all the mags just bought new?

[Hodgie]

Did I miss how the Sig made out using the factory mag?

I was wondering the same thing. How does it run with the magazines that the factory intended it to run on?

[ColtShooter]

I'll throw in my 2 cents.

I'll start with the Wilson mags. I highly doubt that 2 of them failed to meet spec before being shipped. They are solid mags and unless quality has dropped dramatically they should not be the problem. Unless the UPS guy ran them over with the truck they should be fine.

The ammo- take that WWB and just well....do something else with it. I don't buy it and I surely don't shoot it when trying out a new gun. Some people have excellent results with it but over the years I have not. I have run reloads, blazer brass (still cheap stuff), more reloads, self defense (why am I trying this stuff out for what I pay for it) ammo, etc through my sigs with no issues.

Next- the sig. They are some of the nicest well done factory run of the mill 1911's out there. Tight is an understatement and I think that is a large part of the problem. I run them super wet to start and even after a few thousand rounds they are still tighter than most other factory delivered 1911's. Think of them as breaking in a new AR. Wetter is better. Make sure there is no factory grease on it. While you are at it, break down those Wilson mags and lube them a little too. You will see a difference in how they work. Break free CLP is still something I recommend (not that I would have any aversion to using something like a Mobil 1 full synthetic 0-w30 -green cap ) I have not found sigs to be fussy.

If you do all this and continue to see a problem I would be very surprised but let us know. Make sure you follow the suggestions above about numbering the magazines and stick with one type of ammo while testing things out. 230 factory and a 185 reload is what I have been running recently. If you have a fellow 1911 shooter and he happens to be with you when you encounter a problem let him run what you just ran. We all get tired and a couple of hundred rounds of 45 will slow most down to the point where it could possibly be something that you are doing at the end of a string. It happens and it's not unexpected IMO.

[ColtShooter]

OH....Let me be clear. I don't claim to be an expert nor do I play one in real life. I just learn hard lessons the hard way and then force myself to continue having to learn them again ....over and over.