Range Report with my two new 1911's

[Jose]

Went out to the Bullseye Gun Range in Duncanville last Saturday and took my nephews with me. Unfortunately the youngest couldn't shoot because he was underage and I wasn't his legal guardian/parent (next time I'll know better). I took the new Springfield Operator with me and a Kimber Stainless Steel Ultra Carry I bought a few months back.

Had a lot of trouble with the Ultra Carry failing to feed one or two rounds a magazine. It's brand new so I'm hoping it's just a break in period although I do not remember having that problem with my Kimber Custom II when I bought it years ago. Otherwise it's fairly accurate for what it is (a short barrel gun) with terrible sights, they do not even have dots on them and with them being black and in an indoor range they were a little hard to sight with my bad eyes.

The Springfield shot flawlessly with the exception that it wouldn't hold the slide open on the last round and I think it was with just one particular Wilson 47D magazine. I meant to pay a little more attention to that one magazine but I was kinda of in a rush because my youngest nephew was outside by himself plus we had a movie to catch.

The Ultra Carry's I'm used to shooting with the shorter sight radius and lighter weight. The Lightweight Champion Operator on the other hand I wasn't sure what to expect. It has the grip of a Government model but on a lightweight frame plus a shorter 4" barrel. First few rounds were off target but on the second magazine I was shooting in the circle and on target. The sight radius isn't that much different than a full size 1911 but the lighter weight was very noticeable but I got accustomed to it real quick.

Overall I'm pretty happy with the Operator and love the gun. It carry's comfortably and I've even been using the paddle holster that came with it. Seems to be more secure on my belt than the last XD I had when I used the factory provided holster. With the 1" shorter barrel it hides fairly well underneath a long sweater or jacket without any concerns from me.

Now I'm looking for some suggestions on the Ultra Carry. I'm going clean it out tomorrow and wondering if I should do any polishing of the ramp. I've never had to do this before so I'm open to advice and suggestions. Probably only shot about a 100 rounds through it so I'm willing to leave it be a little longer and see if things work themselves out.

Sorry for the long rant. Couple of pics of the aforementioned guns including a new one of the Operator with the TLR-1 mounted.

The lighting unfortunately was not ideal.

[soap]

I'll take that junk ultra carry off your hands. Just pay me for my gas and I'll come pick it up today.

[AnthonyS]

I took my new Sig 1911 Scorpion out the other day. It shot great with the Sig magazines and okay with the Wilsons. It's tight... It'll need a few more hundred rounds through it for sure. It's so tight, you can't get the round home releasing the slide release. You have to rack it by hand to get the first round home. It's the cerakote on the slide and inside the slide tracks. It's accurate and pretty though. It's now the bedside gun due to being a 45 and very bright new night sites.

[Jose]

I'll take that junk ultra carry off your hands. Just pay me for my gas and I'll come pick it up today.

LMAO! It's my first stainless steel and I might hang on to it for a while

I took my new Sig 1911 Scorpion out the other day. It shot great with the Sig magazines and okay with the Wilsons. It's tight... It'll need a few more hundred rounds through it for sure. It's so tight, you can't get the round home releasing the slide release. You have to rack it by hand to get the first round home. It's the cerakote on the slide and inside the slide tracks. It's accurate and pretty though. It's now the bedside gun due to being a 45 and very bright new night sites.

You ever post any pictures of it? Sounds like a beautiful gun.

[inline 6]

They wouldn't even let him come I'm and just sit tight?

[dsrtuckteezy]

bullseye is meh. i go there a lot because theyre close, but theyre the only range in dfw (that i know of) that wont let you shoot anything but pistols, with the exception of rimfire. and they are some price gouging motherfuckers. $1500 for a run of the mill bushmaster ar15.

their gunsmith, ed, however, is a good guy.

[Jose]

They wouldn't even let him come I'm and just sit tight?

Didn't ask. We were the only 30 minutes and went through maybe 150 rounds between me and my older nephew. I was only planning on spending an hour there anyway and not sure how there rules were for having someone in the firing lane who wasn't shooting.

bullseye is meh. i go there a lot because theyre close, but theyre the only range in dfw (that i know of) that wont let you shoot anything but pistols, with the exception of rimfire. and they are some price gouging motherfuckers. $1500 for a run of the mill bushmaster ar15.

their gunsmith, ed, however, is a good guy.

Agreed. There OK and I only go there because they are close to me. I'll probably hit up Elm Fork next time.

[FunFordCobra]

Kimbers are hard to get to run these days. I have a 2013 TLE-RL 2 that has has a fail to feed for over 1k rounds and a trip back to kimber. They ran 5 rounds through it and "couldn't find a problem."

To Kimbers benefiet, I've owned 3 1911s this year and they all produce the exact same malfunction with different ammo and experienced shooters.

The FTF basically gets lodged between the mag and feed ramp maybe 1-2 out of 100. Kimber would never run more than 10 rounds through any gun.

After they sent it back with no problems found, I took it to a gunsmith and had the feed ramps polished and now I'm at 0/200+ on FTF.

Honestly I'll never buy another 1911. I'll keep the kimber just because it's pretty but the way it's performed and my experience with NEW 2013 1911s, I'd only take it to the range and would never depend my life on it. Sucks because it's the most accurate pistol I've ever shot.

[HOOCBB]

Kimbers are hard to get to run these days. I have a 2013 TLE-RL 2 that has has a fail to feed for over 1k rounds and a trip back to kimber. They ran 5 rounds through it and "couldn't find a problem."

To Kimbers benefiet, I've owned 3 1911s this year and they all produce the exact same malfunction with different ammo and experienced shooters.

The FTF basically gets lodged between the mag and feed ramp maybe 1-2 out of 100. Kimber would never run more than 10 rounds through any gun.

After they sent it back with no problems found, I took it to a gunsmith and had the feed ramps polished and now I'm at 0/200+ on FTF.

Honestly I'll never buy another 1911. I'll keep the kimber just because it's pretty but the way it's performed and my experience with NEW 2013 1911s, I'd only take it to the range and would never depend my life on it. Sucks because it's the most accurate pistol I've ever shot.

That's how I feel about my Kimber CDP Custom II. It feeds perfectly fine, except for the last round in the magazine, which is ejected with the last spent case. It doesn't matter if it is the Kimber mag or a Wilson 47D/DE.

[txminime]

That's how I feel about my Kimber CDP Custom II. It feeds perfectly fine, except for the last round in the magazine, which is ejected with the last spent case. It doesn't matter if it is the Kimber mag or a Wilson 47D/DE.

Have you checked the extractor tension and angle?

[HOOCBB]

Have you checked the extractor tension and angle?

I don't understand how that would affect the last unspent round being ejected with the previous spent case.

[txminime]

My first suspicion for last round feeding issue is weak magazine spring. But you mentioned that you have the same problem with multiple magazines, so the next most likely culprit is the extractor not having enough tension to catch and guide the last round into the chamber.

The last round is always when the magazine spring have the least amount of tension for pushing the round up. If the extractor doesn't have enough tension to catch the rim of the brass on initial contact, then the magazine spring may not have enough tension to push the round up before the last round slips off the extractor.

This is a "live fire" version of the extractor test: http://modernserviceweapons.com/?p=131

[Jose]

Kimbers are hard to get to run these days. I have a 2013 TLE-RL 2 that has has a fail to feed for over 1k rounds and a trip back to kimber. They ran 5 rounds through it and "couldn't find a problem."

To Kimbers benefiet, I've owned 3 1911s this year and they all produce the exact same malfunction with different ammo and experienced shooters.

The FTF basically gets lodged between the mag and feed ramp maybe 1-2 out of 100. Kimber would never run more than 10 rounds through any gun.

After they sent it back with no problems found, I took it to a gunsmith and had the feed ramps polished and now I'm at 0/200+ on FTF.

Honestly I'll never buy another 1911. I'll keep the kimber just because it's pretty but the way it's performed and my experience with NEW 2013 1911s, I'd only take it to the range and would never depend my life on it. Sucks because it's the most accurate pistol I've ever shot.

Man that sucks! I happen to love the 1911 platform and the .45 ACP and hope by what you said it's not of sign of things to come. I've owned a number of 1911's and the last few being Kimber's but I sold the last one back to the guy I bought it from because of FTF issues. The latest one I'm going to hold onto just because it's Stainless Steel and I'm hoping because it's new it will clear up. Both of the FTF issues where on short barrel 3" Kimber Ultra Carry's. The Springer only had issues with failing to hold the slide open on the last round and I think it might have only occurred on a particular Wilson 47D (surprisingly).

Need to stock up on some .45 ACP ammo and make another trip to the range and do a little more break in.