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This is really an attempt to detail the feeding of a round, from the magazine, into the 1911 chamber, giving 99.99% reliability. Sorry, if what I'm going to ask has been asked 482 times before, but I've never read, nor heard, a good explanation of it.

I've always been a bit confused by the position of the top round in a 1911 magazine, and the same behavior is exhibited in all the mags I own; ie. Kimber, Colt, Mecgar, McCormick, military, etc. If you take a look at rounds 2 through N in the mag, they all sit there neat and tidy and stacked tightly against each other. Then there's the top round with the base touching the round below it, but the nose is angled ~1/8" higher than the round below it.

This all looks fine and dandy while the slide is locked back, as the round is positioned to shoot straight into the chamber. But the instant the slide is released to go forward, the slide pushes against the top edge of the base, and the nose of the bullet goes down, smacking the feed ramp and then working its way up and hopefully into the chamber.

So, a lot of variables now exist that could cause a FTF; ie. bullet nose shape, ramp polish, chamber throating, spring tension, energy of slide, actual angle of attack on ramp, etc. I imagine there is a fine line to where some guns will feed hollow points, and others will FTF anything besides 230 ball ammo.

I've got a new Kimber Ultra Carry, and it feeds flawlessly, as many Kimbers do. Other Kimber owners want to throw their guns away.

So, my real question is: Is there a way to keep the top round in the mag, pointed in the same direction it starts out at, instead of tipping down the ~1/8" when the slide hits it from behind? Take any mag that I've listed above, and you'll see what I mean. Are there follower/spring setups that keep all rounds in the mag, at this slightly raised angle? Are there mags out there that do this already? Is there a way of shimming the follower to raise all bullet noses in the mag, by ~1/8"?

CT Brian... You make a very reliable SideWinder from a 3" 1911. How do you establish a reliable feeding mechanism in your guns, that a person could have their life depend on it?

Hope this makes sense.

Marlin

I use Wilson or McCormick mags only

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The only place you will find success without hard work is in the dictionary

Here may be part of the answer. Looks like the followers I have in my mags, may not be supporting the rounds properly. Tripp Research has the CobraMag follower which looks like a nice setup. Anyone use these?

Marlin

Quite frankly Marlin, it's voodoo. Pure unadulterated black magic. With a sprinkling of wizards and lizards on top.

Seriously, it's no big secret how to make a 1911 feed each and every time. The feed ramp must be cut to the proper angle and depth, and the barrel must be properly throated. If that's done correctly, any quality magazine will throw those rounds into the 'shoot tube'. Obviously there are other factors involved, but the above is the key that unlocks the door.

Hope that helps.

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CT Brian Custom
'Blending Art With Firepower'

As I suspected!

Some more data with my officer-length mags that have the McCormick-style follower... With 7 rounds loaded, there is the ~1/8" gap between bullets on the 1st and 2nd rounds. As more rounds are removed from the mag, the distance between bullets on the 1st and 2nd rounds becomes less. And, finally, with the last round, it stays properly positioned the entire way, as the slide removes it from the magazine. Heads directly to the "shoot tube" without having to slide up the ramp.

I'm going to give these Tripp follower/spring setups a try, in my Kimber mags. I'll let you guys know how they work.

Marlin

My .45's feed with selected magazines

- my 9X23 feeds although I am not sure quite so much thought/trial&error went into the magazines but there sure is a difference in the way the cartridge sits.

My feeling is that there is more room left for trial (and error?) in cartridges other than .45 but I also notice far far fewer complaints - don't know if it is fewer users equal fewer complaints or more willingness to tinker and try different magazines and loads (or fewer weird combinations to try the standard) lighter cartridges have less inertia to put them in the wrong place at the wrong time or just possibly any smaller diameter cartridge sits higher and feeds straighter?

My Service Ace conversions don't feed just fine and it's hard and very expensive to try different magazines.

Any generalizations beyond the .45?

Clark, good question. So, I had to go take a look myself...

Horrors, but I do own other semi-autos besides 1911s. I checked out the fully loaded mags on my Glock and Springfield XD, both in 9mm Luger. AND, interestingly enough, the top round does NOT have any space below the round beneath it. You can take your thumb and strip off the top round, and it slides just as true as can be right towards the chamber. Kinda likes it's supposed to. No nose-down tipping at all, unlike the 1911 45ACP.

So, I'm still back to my original question of why there's such a gap, just on the bullet end of the round, between the 1st and 2nd round of a fully-loaded 1911 magazine. Again, as the rounds are stripped off, the distance between the top 2 rounds becomes smaller. Go ahead and try this at home...

If I could figure this problem out, I could probably solve 98.42% of all production-gun FTFs, and maybe even sneak up on world peace

Marlin

Sounds like the 1911 has an inherent problem and it has to do with geometry, physics, friction, conservation of energy, etc. Take a look at this website from Tripp Research, which briefly describes the issue. Virgil has gone to GREAT lengths in testing this.

http://www.trippresearch.com/feature/angulargap.htm

The problem seems to start with the 5th round, no matter how many rounds the mag holds. Interesting, very interesting. The problem does NOT exist with double-stack mags.

I've got a son who is a mechanical engineer at the University of Colorado, and I'm going to sic him on this for a while...

Marlin