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Ronin EMP 3" Feed Issues

7K views 24 replies 15 participants last post by  Nitro.45 
#1 ·
I picked up a new Ronin EMP 3" last night as a retirement gift to myself. I already have an Emissary .45 ACP 4.25" and a Ronin 10mm.

Went to the range today and fired off 100 rounds of MagTech FMJ, worked perfectly. Tried a box of Hornady Critical Defense next and the problems started.

9 rounds in the mag, released the slide and it did not fully seat the round. After that, the rounds started diving almost every round. Finished the box of 25 and called it a day.

I know 125 rounds is not a break-in and could be part of the problem with the Critical Defense, but with the high price of ammo, both range and defense ammo, I'm not going to keep shooting if there are issues with this and SA CS needs to get involved.

Anyone have any comments or suggestions? Thanks!

Photograph Air gun Trigger Wood Gun barrel
 
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#3 ·
I don’t want to sound biased or snobby but the only 3“ 1911 I would buy and possibly carry if it was the only gun I could own would be the Colt 3” Defender. It is just really hard to get the 1911 in that size to run properly. Having said that I would not buy a 3” 1911. But hey, if it is just for fun and you like it and don’t plan on it as your primary SD gun…. why not? The other option would be to get a really good gunsmith to try to make it reliable enough to trust your life on.
 
#5 ·
Consider that the polymer tip is causing the feed issue. May be a break in issue.

Try trimming some round such that the polymer is flush with the bullet.

Also. Disassemble and clean the new magazines. Could be storage oil or not assembled correctly. Inspect for burrs or any other issue.
 
#9 ·
Consider that the polymer tip is causing the feed issue. May be a break in issue.

Try trimming some round such that the polymer is flush with the bullet.

Also. Disassemble and clean the new magazines. Could be storage oil or not assembled correctly. Inspect for burrs or any other issue.
I fired another 150 rounds of FMJ today (total 250 FMJ to date) and then tried another 25 rounds of the Critical Defense. As before, all the FMJ was fine. There was an improvement with the Critical Defense. The first round from a full 9 round mag nose dived every time, but after that, the next round feed ok about half the time and the rest of the clip feed the last 6-7 rounds fine most of the time. I disassembled and cleaned the mag (only one came with it).

I will get another type of defensive ammo that doesn't have a polymer tip. I might try to dig out the polymer from one round and load it on the top to see if that makes a difference just so I know if the polymer is actually the problem.
 
#7 ·
I have a few short 1911's. The one I found reliable which i bought last year a S&W 1911 3" Pro Series. I also bought a Colt 1911 3" defender. The defender I had
trouble with the safety was very to put on and off also when shooting it the cases would eject all over the place and hitting me in the face several times. Traded it
back to the LGS that I bought it from.
 
#10 ·
Thanks for all the replies & comments.

I fired another 150 rounds of FMJ today (total 250 FMJ to date) and then tried another 25 rounds of the Critical Defense. As before, all the FMJ was fine. There was an improvement with the Critical Defense. The first round from a full 9 round mag nose dived every time, but after that, the next round feed ok about half the time and the rest of the clip feed the last 6-7 rounds fine most of the time. I disassembled and cleaned the mag (only one came with it).

It was suggested to try to trim the polymer. Since it is feeding the Critical Defense better than yesterday, I would have to do that to all the Critical Defense ammo. I think I will do it to one round and load it on the top to see if that makes a difference, but I think the best track to take would be another type of defensive ammo.

If any one has any recommendations for a 9mm defensive round that works well for them, I would appreciate the info so I can give it a try and see how it works in my EMP.

Thanks!
 
#15 ·
Thanks for all the replies & comments.

I fired another 150 rounds of FMJ today (total 250 FMJ to date) and then tried another 25 rounds of the Critical Defense. As before, all the FMJ was fine. There was an improvement with the Critical Defense. The first round from a full 9 round mag nose dived every time, but after that, the next round feed ok about half the time and the rest of the clip feed the last 6-7 rounds fine most of the time. I disassembled and cleaned the mag (only one came with it).

It was suggested to try to trim the polymer. Since it is feeding the Critical Defense better than yesterday, I would have to do that to all the Critical Defense ammo. I think I will do it to one round and load it on the top to see if that makes a difference, but I think the best track to take would be another type of defensive ammo.

If any one has any recommendations for a 9mm defensive round that works well for them, I would appreciate the info so I can give it a try and see how it works in my EMP.

Thanks!
I use Speer Gold Dot in my Walther PPS classic. When new the PPS hung up on the critical defense polymer tip. That was when I experimented by trimming the polymer flush with a razor.
Once the PPS had about 100 rounds through it it would feed critical defense.
However I prefer the Speer Gold Dot 124 gr 9mm.
 
#11 ·
I feel your pain, happened to me with my EMP Ronin 3. I sent it to Springfield. Here is what they did “The technician recut and polished the barrel ramp, reamed the chamber, tuned the extractor, tuned the slide stop for easier installation”. It worked flawlessly from a shooting standpoint but now…. It wouldn’t accept a fully loaded mag (9rds) if the slide was closed. If I forced it, it would lock the slide up. It should be at Springfield tomorrow for its second visit. Not happy but the CS Supervisor and I had a good discussion and I have options. My problem is, I love shooting the thing, it just works for me. So we will see?
 
#12 ·
I've had my 3" EMP since they first came out. The first thing I did when I got it was lightly polish the feed ramp and change the safety to a single side Novak. It has run perfectly with both 115 gr. ball, and 124 gr. HST, (my current carry load) along with everything else I have run thru it. I have found that Springfield was a little short in trying to get an extra round in the mag. It works much better loaded one round less, but my mags have gone to Log Man for his mod which makes everything work great.

If I were you I would try some HST, or another hollow point before sending yours back to the mother ship. They are great little carry pieces, and well worth getting them to run at 100%
 
#13 ·
After that, the rounds started diving almost every round.
If you're curious to know if the extractor is contributing to the problem, lock the slide open, remove the extractor, insert a fully loaded magazine, push down the slide stop to release the slide. If the first round chambers with no hesitation then the extractor needs some attention. It may have too much tension on it, deflection may be excessive, the hook-to-breechface distance may be too short, or the hook may be digging into the case.

It wouldn’t accept a fully loaded mag (9rds) if the slide was closed. If I forced it, it would lock the slide up.
A simple diagnostic is to disassemble the magazine and use just the tube for the test. Remove the recoil spring assembly, barrel, and bushing from the slide. Remove the disconnector, and the mainspring housing assembly from the frame. Allow the hammer to flop down out of the way.

Pull the slide fully to the rear. Seat the magazine tube in the pistol. Slowly move the slide forward to see if it hangs up anywhere in its travel forward. There may be a tidbit or two in this post that will be useful: Why is it so hard to seat the magazine and how do I fix it?
 
#16 ·
Noodle around on the WilsonCombat.com website. It seems to me I remember a statement there that Wilson does not recommend polymer tipped bullets in their pieces. It may not be just Wilson products. Try the “tried and true” HSTs. Bad guys are not going to see either one coming to determine what hit them! Twistedtippet may be on to something! I use HSTs in my Colt Lt Wt Officer’s model with good success (3.5” bbl). Your Ronin EMP will work. SA does not put out junk.
 
#17 ·
You guys may be way overthinking this….except for the polymer tip thing. Even some full size 1911’s will have occasional issues with certain types of ammo. Some guns just don’t like some ammo. So far, only FMJ and Critical Defense have been run, hardly a good reliability test. I know, crappy time to be buying premium stuff, but if you don’t load, that’s what ya gotta do. HST, Gold Dot, PDX1, Sabers, V-Crown etc… Find what works and stick with it. Wilson mags are always a good go to as well. I wouldn’t have sent it back until it was a last resort. I bet HST’s would have run perfectly….
 
#18 ·
In regards to ammo, take a look at the Lucky Gunner 9mm self-defense ammo testing. It may help you decide to try a different brand/model of SD ammo. Pay particular attention to the photos of the ammo that was dug out of the ballistics gel.

 
#20 ·
On all of my 9mm Springfields the extractors were not setup correctly & the distance between the extractor hook face was too short & not allowing the case rim to slide up the breech face.

A new quality extractor fixed all of them along with following Steve-in-Allentown’s extractor setup-step by step. Both my EMP4 & my 9mm Range Officer suffered badly from this. Add-in a feed ramp that looked carved out with a picket knife on my EMP4 and it was constant feed & extraction issues.

One other thing I found was that the magazine & the top round made hard contact with the ejector, which is why I believe the glued in ejector came loose in my EMP4. Clearancing the ejector so there’s no contact & the reglued EMP ejector has been fine since, for many thousands of rounds.

I also clearanced things on my Range Officer with the same issue and now more than 10k rounds later no issues. All of this contributed to the ftf’s & fTE’s that were really bad on my EMP4 but much worse on the Range Officer rendering it nearly useless even after multiple trips back to mother Springfield including a $430 trip to SACS to improve the horrible accuracy.

Anyway take a look at the extractor first try slowly closing the slide on a round (snap cap) to see if feeds the case rim smoothly between the extractor claw and up the breech face, if it don’t, then that’s where you start. Read Steve’s procedure here and follow it closely !
 
#21 ·
Soooo, none of that is acceptable. Springfield must have a problem much worse than anyone is admitting. I don’t hear much “bad” about them at all. I don’t own one, but that’s the stuff you normally hear about Taurus. Sorry for your troubles, that would piss me off……
 
#22 ·
Nothing erudite or scholarly here, just some thoughts from personal experience with an EMP. Years ago I bought one for my wife shortly after they first came out—it has a 4 digit serial number 3XXX. The size was right for her—it could stay in her car or be put in her purse when needed. Not only did hers have a problem with JHP ammo, but it had problems with FMJ. All the ignition parts were rough and gritty, so I replaced all of them plus the slide stop and thumb safety with quality parts from folks like Ed Brown and Wilson Combat. I replaced the extractor and tuned it like Steve in Allentown describes (BTW, go to the stickies in Gunsmithing and Troubleshooting section and read his articles plus others). I had Log Man shorten a couple of mags—I highly recommend that.
At this time I had 99.9% reliability with Remington or Winchester 115 gr FMJ. Next, I had to find a JHP that was reliable. After trying many brands, I settled upon the basic Remington 115 gr JHP because it had a very similar bullet shape and length to the FMJ. It’s nothing fancy or the latest cutting edge expanding bullet, but hopefully it will get the job done with correct placement. The other bullet that works well is PMC 115 gr JHP, again nothing fancy, but it’s reliable in this pistol.
 
#24 ·
Thanks everyone for the suggestions and comments. I ran a couple hundred more rounds of FMJ for a total of 450 rounds and it continued to run flawlessly. I then tried the Critical Defense again and still had the issue but not as often. I then tried HST's (147gr) and that did the trick. The HST's ran great, so I'll run some more HST's until I'm confident it's reliable enough.
 
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