[DanDean316]

I have a Para LDA where the rounds get hung up
feeding into the barrel. The spent brass is ejected
and the next round goes half way into the barrel. The front of the bullet goes into the barrel, but the whole cartridge will not slide in. From the side looking through the ejection port, the cartridge is about at a 45 degree angle.
I cannont push the slide forward to force the cartridge
in, I have to rack the slide to eject the good round
and cycle the next cartridge.

The feedramp looks real rough, and I thought about
polishing it myself, but I am wondering if that
wouldn't solve the problem anyway. I thought maybe if the ramp was smoother, it'd slide in better, but maybe there's another problem.

Any suggestions?

 

[shane45-1911]

Polishing the feed ramp might help, but I would try other things first.

Make sure your extractor is tensioned correctly - it may be too tight.

Does it FTF with all mags? I would try a couple different mags. You may have a weak mag spring, and isn't feeding the rounds "quick" enough.

Lastly, I would try a new recoil spring of the correct weight.

 

[DanDean316]

I tried the stock mag and a 10 round Wilson Combat mag. The Wilson seemed to feed a little better, but it still jammed.

Should the new spring be the same weight or heavier or lighter?

Make sure your extractor is tensioned correctly - it may be too tight.

How do you do this? Websites explaining would be helpful.

 

[bountyhunter]

I can only recount the adventures of my Para 1640. When new, it jammed every third round exactly as you described. Here are some things to try:

1) round and smooth the INNER sharp edges of the magazine feed lips near the front in the area where the round feeds out into the barrel. Sharp edges can dig into the brass and hang rounds there.

2) polish the feed ramp and ligtly round over the top of the ramp into the throat. If you are not sure how to do it, the golden rule is use very fine paper (like 600#) and oil and do not remove material. Just polish for smoothness. Keep the Dremel in the closet. I use the smooth end of a drill bit as a sanding tool to wrap the paper around.

3) Polish the inside of the barrel throat lightly, especially the top inner surface. That's where the nose of the round has to slide across to feed in. My barrel had rotary milling lines in that area and was hanging the round up. Again, don't try to take out material, just polish until smooth.

4) Extractor tension is a good point: my 1640 will absolutely not feed properly with any tension above 20 ounces (as measured using the Weigand gauge) so I keep it set at about 16 ounces and it works perfect.

Regarding the extractor: you may need to radius the lower inside edge. The replacement extractor I got from Para had no radius there and a 1911 will never feed properly with an extractor with just a single vertical cut on the inside edge of the extractor. The Kuhnhausen manual shows the proper shape of a 1911 extractor.

 

[wlynn5]

Every thing bountyhunter said and polish breech face and inside of extractor hook. If you are shooting flat nosed bullets this can be a problem with PO pistols, all six PO I have owned would choke every few rounds with flat nosed loads.

 

[BobRowe]

The P-O pistols seem to be a little sensitive ot magazine spring tension. A very slightly weak spring will result in the tail of the round not being popped up quick enough as the round is pushed out ot the mag.

I left three mags (one SS, two Wilsons) loaded for a few months. Eventually, all three mags woul hang the first round lilke that on my Para Companion Carry Option. This with Federal 230 gr Hydra Shok ammo. Yet all 3 mags worked perfectly in my Kimber Compact.

On the other, the breech face is polished on my Kimber, but not on my P-O.