[1911Badger]

I had a Wilson Combat match barrel and bushing installed in my Colt Gold Cup Trophy. This gun was reliable and pretty accurate. It is now AMAZINGLY accurate, and unreliable- FTFs every 40 or so rounds.

This gun feeds factory (230 fmj) ammo very well. I am shooting 200 gr SWCs. Jam, jam, jam. When FTF occurs, lower front edge of cartridge is nicked, or a crescent shaped crease is formed. Looks like the bullet is catching on the barrel/ramp juncture. I've seen posts here referring to 1/32" spacing needed for proper fitting.

Work was done by local smith. When I brought gun back w/ FTF complaint he polished feed ramp. He wants to throat out the barrel some more. He seems like an honest guy, and he isn't charging for this work, but my faith in his ability/quality is sliding.

I feel that I paid top dollar, and should have gotten accuracy and reliabilty the first time around. Now that I've shared my tale of woe, I have two questions-

1) Am I nuts or having unrealistic expectations?

2) Any suggestions on the FTF problem? Is grinding back the barrel throat the appropriate correction?

The gun is super accurate, but the FTFs are killing me. Thanks!

 

[Howardk]

Your expectations are not unrealistic. The gun should feed every time. That's a given.

Be careful about overthroating the barrel since you could ruin it.

Before you mess around any more with the barrel, try adjusting your ammo. Are you shooting reloads? If so, try increasing or decreasing the OAL of your rounds. In general, 200 gr. SWC's should be at about 1.250, but some guns like it shorter or longer. If you're not reloading, try a different brand of ammo or a different bullet configuation. In my limited experience, the more accurate the barrel the more ammo sensitive it tends to be.