[Tim K]

It was time to change the carry ammo in my Kimber Ultra Carry II, so I bought a couple of boxes of Hornady 230gr TAP personal defense ammo. I had FTF's on every other round or so. When the slide came forward, the nose of the cartride would tip down into the magazine and jam.

The bullet on the Hornady is much more conical than spherical, so I think that was likely the problem. I bought a couple of boxes of Pow'r Ball and intend to try that today.

I did try the Hornady in a 5" 1911, and it ran just fine.

 

[Tim K]

Following up, the pow'r ball functioned flawlessly in the Ultra Carry. Being +P, it was a bit stiff, but seemed to shoot to the same point of impact as standard 230gr ball, or maybe just slightly higher.

 

[steveno]

I have heard that the short slide 1911 sometimes don't like +P loads because of the increased slide speed. there might be individual guns that work just fine and some might have troubles. I have a Kimber SST compact with 4 inch barrel. I have never tried +P ammo in it because of this possibility. I had chronographed some +P and standard ammo in a Colt Comabt Elite and the difference in velocity wasn't worth the hassle either for about 50 fps

 

[WESHOOT2]

real life

No all ammo works in every gun; gotta test to know.
Gotta...

 

[DaStray]

I`ve found that most 230gr bullets don`t function well in my 3" barrel 1911(Defender) too. If I stick to 185gr / 165gr then all is fine but things get "iffy" w / 230gr. Winchester white box is generally OK but I wouldn`t bet my life on them so for PD, the lighter weights are always in the mag.