Polishing the feed ramp on a stainless 1911.

[PaulD]

Ok, maybe "feed ramp" isn't the correct term here but I'd like to polish the feeding area on my SIG GSR and have a few question.

Do I want to polish the breech area on the barrel? Also, I'll be using a Dremel with a polishing wheel/attachment but what compound should I use and what speed on the Dremel?

Thanks.

 

[M1911]

Don't polish it if you are not having problems. If you are having feed problems, check the tension on your extractor and the breech face on the slide.

If you really are dead set on polishing the ramp, don't use a Dremel. Get some 600 grit sandpaper, some oil, and use your fingertip.

 

[PaulD]

Don't polish it if you are not having problems. If you are having feed problems, check the tension on your extractor and the breech face on the slide.

If you really are dead set on polishing the ramp, don't use a Dremel. Get some 600 grit sandpaper, some oil, and use your fingertip.

I am having feeding problems with Fed HST. Ball ammo feeds fine. Is there anything else that might cause this? I can send it back to SIG if need be.

 

[Bugs100]

Polishing a feed ramp might sound easy but that really isn't some thing you want to do if you can avoid it. If the ramp is already smooth and has no visibile marks on it chances are it's some thing else.

Try a different brand magazine. Some time just using another Magazine will make a big difference.

If it's a new pistol it might require a longer break in period than you think of at least 500 rounds, some 1911 manufactors say 1000.

 

[Sir_Macadoo]

check the extractor. There may be too much tension on it thus racking rounds as they are driven into the barrel. Them things dont go in there cock-eyed.

Remove the extractor and chuck it in a vise. And gently, ever so gently try to take some of the bend out of it. A hammer may be required, but be very careful. If its a SS extractor, you can be a little more forceful with it - SS is painfully springy and takes a fair bit of persuasion to bend (or un bend as the case may be). Go slow.

Oh and as for the dremel - I'd advise against it for this kind of job. The dremel has its place in gun smithing, but its a crude device at best. If you want to polish the feed ramp and barrel ramp (though probably not the issue on a new gun) use a dowel, some oil and emery cloth (for shaping/removing material) or fine sand paper (400-600 is about right for polishing) as described above. Go slow and use easy pressure, you'll be surprised how little goes a long way. You'll kick youself for a long time if you put scratches all over the ramp. As they say, you can take material off - but not put it back on. Bending an extractor takes off no material.

 

[M1911]

I am having feeding problems with Fed HST. Ball ammo feeds fine. Is there anything else that might cause this? I can send it back to SIG if need be.

Extractor tension, a rough breech face on the slide, improper angle on the feed ramp, too tight a barrel, etc. Personally, I'd drive it down to Greg Derr before sending it back to Sig -- FedEx shipping adds up fast.

 

[Gammon]

check the extractor. There may be too much tension on it thus racking rounds as they are driven into the barrel. Them things dont go in there cock-eyed.

Remove the extractor and chuck it in a vise. And gently, ever so gently try to take some of the bend out of it. A hammer may be required, but be very careful. If its a SS extractor, you can be a little more forceful with it - SS is painfully springy and takes a fair bit of persuasion to bend (or un bend as the case may be). Go slow.

Oh and as for the dremel - I'd advise against it for this kind of job. The dremel has its place in gun smithing, but its a crude device at best. If you want to polish the feed ramp and barrel ramp (though probably not the issue on a new gun) use a dowel, some oil and emery cloth (for shaping/removing material) or fine sand paper (400-600 is about right for polishing) as described above. Go slow and use easy pressure, you'll be surprised how little goes a long way. You'll kick youself for a long time if you put scratches all over the ramp. As they say, you can take material off - but not put it back on. Bending an extractor takes off no material.

I would not advise using a hammer on a Colt style extractor under any circumstances. Over the last 30 years I have adjusted a bunch of them, many SS, using only my fingers.

 

[M1911]

One other point, when trying to debug a gun, always start messing with a CHEAP part first. The feed ramp is part of the frame -- the most expensive part -- and you don't want to bugger it up.

Start with extractor tension. Extractors are cheap.

 

[Supermoto]

Does the GSR have an external extractor? If so, they are not easily tuned. What mags are you running? try some wilson 40D, they will present the rounds higher

 

[drgrant]

Nooooo! Don't do it!!! (I'm only half kidding here. ). If you do decide to polish, don't do anything more than lightly polish... eg, you don't want to change the geometry of the ramps. (The 1911 design actually relies on that oddball ramp configuration to feed properly. )

Have you tried other types of JHP ammo? Some 1911s simply do not like some types of JHP ammo. I've rarely seen a 1911 that would feed it "all".

Mags often can make a big difference too. Try a Wilson 47D, a CMC, and a cheapo mag... to see if there is a difference.

You might also be able to save yourself a lot of anguish by stoking the thing with Remington 230 gr Golden Sabers. They're considered a good SD load, are not that hard to get around here, and they will feed in anything.. if your gun doesn't feed those, something is definitely not right.

-Mike

 

[hpic55]

I think the extractor on the Sig is external.

Some guns, no matter how you work them, may not like a specific type of ammo. I.E. It may work well with a Golden Saber but not with an HST.

As posted before you should shoot 500-600 rnds of ball through it, clean it then get a mix of carry ammo and see which one works best with your gun. You may also find that some ammo is also more accurate than others in your gun.

As for the feed ramp, if you want to polish it, use the 600 then 800 paper wrapped on a sharpie and watch your angle so you don't round the top. You want to maintain that 1/32 of a gap between the top of the feed ramp and the barrel ramp.

If you polish the breach face go easy as that should be done before the barrel is fit to keep the headspace in spec. Polishing will not change it much if you go easy but I have seen some stuff go bad.

 

[M1911]

Good point about the external extractor. The whole thing about tuning the extractor tension only applies to standard internal extractors.

 

[PaulD]

Thanks everyone. I guess I'll forget about the feed ramp, for now at least. It is reasonably smooth as is. Also, I know someone else with a GSR and he has the same exact problem with HSTs. I did say that either Golden Sabers or Winchester Ranger would feed well. These have a more rounded profile where the HSTs are more conical so it makes some sense but I haven't tried those in mine.

The GSR does have an external extractor but why would the extractor work better with ball ammo vs. JHP? Also, this is definitely a feeding problem, not an ejection problem. What happens is the round sits about 1/4" back in the chamber which means the slide stops about 1/4" out of battery. Often, if I just push the back of the slide lightly (just a tap really), it goes fully in and I can fire the round.

For the purpose this gun serves me, it's not the biggest deal if it won't feed JHPs but it'd be nice if it would.

The point about bringing it to Greg Derr is probably the best advice.

 

[M1911]

The GSR does have an external extractor but why would the extractor work better with ball ammo vs. JHP? Also, this is definitely a feeding problem, not an ejection problem.

During the feeding process, the round is pushed off the top of the magazine and the rim has to slide up between the breech face and the extractor. In a standard 1911, if the extractor tension is too tight, this extra friction can result in failures to feed. With with an external extractor, the tension is controlled by a spring; with a standard internal 1911 extractor, the tension is controlled by bending the extractor. Standard 1911 extractors are often mistuned in factory guns. But as your SIG has an external extractor, chances are that the extractor is not the problem.

You might head over to the SIG forum and see what those folks say.

As to why it would work with ball but not JHP, ball ammo has a smoother bullet and thus less friction when feeding.

 

[PaulD]

As to why it would work with ball but not JHP, ball ammo has a smoother bullet and thus less friction when feeding.

Yeah, that I get but my question was in the context of the extractor being part of the issue, which it sounds like it's not. Thanks though.

 

[M1911]

Yeah, that I get but my question was in the context of the extractor being part of the issue, which it sounds like it's not. Thanks though.

Same answer. Suppose this was an 1911 with an internal extractor. The extractor is marginally too tight, adding friction during feeding, but it is just loose enough that FMJs still feed OK. JHPs have a rougher bullet that causes more friction between bullet nose and feed ramp than FMJs. So the added friction of the JHPs and the extractor tension cause the JHPs to fail to feed, but FMJs do, and the fix is still properly tensioning the extractor.

As I said, I doubt that is the issue with your GSR, as the extractor tension is created by the extractor spring in that gun, rather than by carefully bending an internal extractor. That doesn't mean it can't be the problem -- I know Kimber has had lots of issues with the external extractor on the Kimber II and has gone through at least 3 designs.

Of course, I am not a gunsmith nor did I stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

I would go over to the SIG forum and see what those folks say. It is my impression that there have been several generations of the GSR and that some of the early guns in particular had issues.

How does the breech face look? Is it rough? Are there are a lot of tooling marks on it?