I was recently dismayed to learn that a Wilson pistol I wanted to get would not feed certain bullet designs/shapes; something about its ramp being "two piece." Are there 1911's that have a one piece feed ramp? If so, would feeding of large mouth hp's be improved?
1911 Feed Ramps
SHAMUSPI
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I was recently dismayed to learn that a Wilson pistol I wanted to get would not feed certain bullet designs/shapes; something about its ramp being "two piece." Are there 1911's that have a one piece feed ramp? If so, would feeding of large mouth hp's be improved?
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15,800 Posts
The 1911 was designed with a frame ramp and barrel ramp and that has pretty much been the best design for 45ACP in the 1911 platform. There are also ramped barrels where the frame has been cut so the barrel ramp can fit. Check out some barrel manufactures barrel selection and you will see the term non-ramped, W/N (Wilson/Nowlin) and C/P (Clark/Para). The Clark/Para/Listner is an improved variation of the C/P and proving to be the strongest.
All that said a non-ramped barrel should not have a problem smoothly chambering any of the bullet shapes once it has been tuned for it. So smooth those wrinkles off your forehead and jump in, the water's fine and solving the problems of the 1911 can be fun!
LOG
It is my understanding that 1911 were originally designed just for FMJ's. That being said, I recently purchased a near new Colt 1911 that was manufactured in 1978 that had FTF problems from the first mag I loaded. I took it to a local gunsmith and he polish the ramp which solve the problem.
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There are ramped or fully supported barrels that require a modified frame. The standard 1911 has part of the feed ramp on the frame and part on the barrel.
![Image]()
![Image]()
Either should be able to feed just about any bullet, but the ramped barrel gives better support to the case in the chamber.
Either should be able to feed just about any bullet, but the ramped barrel gives better support to the case in the chamber.
The two-piece feedramp has been working quite well for 98 years, and is not the cause of feed issues. Barrels with integral feedramps ("one piece") were designed to contain high pressures and allow the use of one frame for multiple calibers, as the frame part of the two-part ramp is caliber-specific.
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Does one need to have a Gunsmith polish the feed ramp oris this a kitchen table project
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Feedramps
The 1911 magazine often times feed the bullet at different angles to the feed ramp. Sometimes, a fully loaded mag will cause the stripped round to strike the ramp lower than the last fired rounds, which often times strike the ramp higher.
If a 1911 mag fits loose in the frame, it may drop a few thousandths, which can cause the top rounds to nosedive and hit even lower on the feed ramp or frame. This nosedive angle is more severe and prone to jamming, especially with hollow or flat point bullets, since a nose diving bullet may strike the ramp close to perpendicular. For a loose fitting mag with a lot of vertical slop, I use an EGW oversized mag catch which raises the mag in the frame.
The ramp angle is critical for proper feeding. The way the slide strips the top round and how much of the base of the brass is caught can make a difference in the way the round feeds. If the cartridge sits low, the strike of the slide to strip the case will hit higher on the base of the case, which may cause the round to nosedive. If the round sits higher, the more the slide contacts the base closer to the primer, the better the round will move straight forward with less nosediving. I once had a .38 super that would not feed JHP bullets reliably, which wouldn't allow me to use my favorite defense loads. I eventually noticed the slide sat very high off the frame, since I could see a lot of daylight through the frame and slide when looking from the back of the gun. I ended up peening the rails, and filing the slide so the slide fit closer to the top of the frame, yet still had sufficient clearance. This prevented the top round from nosediving, and the gun would shoot any JHP bullet used.
Ramped barrels that use the Wilson/Nowlin or Clark/Para, seem to feed more reliably from my experience using them. Some of the new Schuemann ramped barrels have a slightly curved feed ramp, that takes in consideration the different angles that may occur from a bullet striking higher or lower on the feed ramp.
The 1911 magazine often times feed the bullet at different angles to the feed ramp. Sometimes, a fully loaded mag will cause the stripped round to strike the ramp lower than the last fired rounds, which often times strike the ramp higher.
If a 1911 mag fits loose in the frame, it may drop a few thousandths, which can cause the top rounds to nosedive and hit even lower on the feed ramp or frame. This nosedive angle is more severe and prone to jamming, especially with hollow or flat point bullets, since a nose diving bullet may strike the ramp close to perpendicular. For a loose fitting mag with a lot of vertical slop, I use an EGW oversized mag catch which raises the mag in the frame.
The ramp angle is critical for proper feeding. The way the slide strips the top round and how much of the base of the brass is caught can make a difference in the way the round feeds. If the cartridge sits low, the strike of the slide to strip the case will hit higher on the base of the case, which may cause the round to nosedive. If the round sits higher, the more the slide contacts the base closer to the primer, the better the round will move straight forward with less nosediving. I once had a .38 super that would not feed JHP bullets reliably, which wouldn't allow me to use my favorite defense loads. I eventually noticed the slide sat very high off the frame, since I could see a lot of daylight through the frame and slide when looking from the back of the gun. I ended up peening the rails, and filing the slide so the slide fit closer to the top of the frame, yet still had sufficient clearance. This prevented the top round from nosediving, and the gun would shoot any JHP bullet used.
Ramped barrels that use the Wilson/Nowlin or Clark/Para, seem to feed more reliably from my experience using them. Some of the new Schuemann ramped barrels have a slightly curved feed ramp, that takes in consideration the different angles that may occur from a bullet striking higher or lower on the feed ramp.
IIRC, this is the only dimension in the 1911 pistol that has no +/- tolerance. The feed ramp must be machined at exactly the correct angle. I was reading someone's account of their 1911 build, and both the feedramp and the entire magwell were off by a few degrees! The gun would still feed most of the time. While it's not a sure-fire test in any way, my .45s that have mostly impeccable feed histories have frame feedramps that run down the frame to about the same level as the bottom of the hole for the slide stop lug. Some posted pics, of guns with feeding issues, show the ramp extending only 2/3 that far, which makes me think that if the magwell and feedramp are both properly machined, the visual relationship should be more like my guns (including 1918 Colt, 1998 Colt, and both cast and barstock Caspians).
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