[frbejarano]

I picked up my new Springfield Operator yesterday and made it out to the range today. The pistol functions fine with ball ammo but will not feed hollow point ammo. It will randomly feed them when the magazine is not 100% full but if I load a round in the chamber and insert a fully loaded magazine with a hollow point on top it will not feed it. The round gets hung up in the feed ramp.

I tried the supplied Macgar mags, Wilson Combat mags, and some Colt magazines all with the same result.

I also picked up a new Springfield Garrison that eats everything. All of my Colt 1911's eat all ammo.

What could be the problem and what do you all recommend I do to fix it?

Here is the pistol with the Garrison on bottom and a Colt on top.

 

[Suburban]

. . .if I load a round in the chamber and insert a fully loaded magazine with a hollow point on top it will not feed it. The round gets hung up in the feed ramp.

Throating might help, but a close-up photo of the stoppage might indicate otherwise. An EGW mag catch that positions the magazine higher, or maybe just a different one, might help. Need more info.

 

[azguy1911]

Sadly some gun are just more finicky, you could try a different brand of SD ammo, it doesn't appear to be a magazine issue considering you tried a few and I think so called "throating" of the chamber (whatever that is) or polishing the feed ramp is just silly IMHO, sometimes going up a pound or two with your recoil spring can make a huge difference IMHO. It after-all, is the recoil spring that is jamming the round into the barrel.

I own mostly commanders and have recoil spring between 12-18 lbs on hand and I can't tell you how may problems I have solved by increasing or decreasing just the recoil spring.

 

[Suburban]

. . . I think so called "throating" of the chamber (whatever that is) or polishing the feed ramp is just silly IMHO. . .

Sent from my moto g stylus using Tapatalk

 

[frbejarano]

Throating might help, but a close-up photo of the stoppage might indicate otherwise. An EGW mag catch that positions the magazine higher, or maybe just a different one, might help. Need more info.

I don't know much about 1911's and had to look up throating. It does not seem to be getting hung up on the barrel but rather on the feed ramp on the frame.

 

[Steve in Allentown]

. . . new Springfield Operator . . . will not feed hollow point ammo.

So many possible reasons to pick from.

Does this pistol have a full ramped barrel or is it a standard barrel?

 

[frbejarano]

Sadly some gun are just more finicky, you could try a different brand of SD ammo, it doesn't appear to be a magazine issue considering you tried a few and I think so called "throating" of the chamber (whatever that is) or polishing the feed ramp is just silly IMHO, sometimes going up a pound or two with your recoil spring can make a huge difference IMHO. It after-all, is the recoil spring that is jamming the round into the barrel.

I own mostly commanders and have recoil spring between 12-18 lbs on hand and I can't tell you how may problems I have solved by increasing or decreasing just the recoil spring.

Finding good ammo right now is hard to do. I really wanted this pistol to run as it was going to be my nightstand gun.I emailed SA in hopes they get me fixed up.

 

[frbejarano]

So many possible reasons to pick from.

Does this pistol have a full ramped barrel or is it a standard barrel?

Standard barrel with the feed ramp being on the frame.

 

[Steve in Allentown]

Standard barrel with the feed ramp being on the frame.

Without having the pistol in front of me my best guess is some facet of the pistol's geometry is wrong. Could be the frame ramp is not 31.5 degrees or it doesn't extend far enough down into the frame. Ideally a .45 frame ramp will extend downward .420" from the top of the frame rails. Not many go that deep but .400" is good enough.

. . . I can't tell you how may problems I have solved by increasing or decreasing just the recoil spring.

Addressing only feeding, if a pistol requires a recoil spring stronger than 10lbs to feed from known quality magazines, the pistol was not built correctly. You should be able to remove the recoil spring, insert a fully loaded mag, and feed every round through the pistol without a hiccup by manually pushing the slide forward just fast enough to get a round chambered.

 

[nikerret]

Why JHP’s did you have trouble with? Some may be better than others. For example, Remington Golden Sabers are known to feed easily. The Hornady Critical Duty have a FMJ profile.

 

[japsco113]

I picked up my new Springfield Operator yesterday and made it out to the range today. The pistol functions fine with ball ammo but will not feed hollow point ammo. It will randomly feed them when the magazine is not 100% full but if I load a round in the chamber and insert a fully loaded magazine with a hollow point on top it will not feed it. The round gets hung up in the feed ramp.

I tried the supplied Macgar mags, Wilson Combat mags, and some Colt magazines all with the same result.

I also picked up a new Springfield Garrison that eats everything. All of my Colt 1911's eat all ammo.

What could be the problem and what do you all recommend I do to fix it?

Here is the pistol with the Garrison on bottom and a Colt on top.

View attachment 626904

If it a non ramped barrel you need a 1/32 set back from the frame ramp. And as noted if you removed the recoil spring and the firing pin + extractor for safety you can work your slide slowly and see what’s going on. I just finished up a 1911 government size with a 40S&W bull non ramped barrel. I had to recut the barrel ramp to get that 1/32 set back. In its first live fire testing it cycled every kind of 40 cal. Ammo I have including wad cutters. The way I checked it on the bench was how I described it to you. Good luck and 1911’s Forever

 

[RickB]

I'd suspect excessive extractor tension, so, for a different reason than above, I'd assemble the slide without the extractor, then see if the gun will feed.
A 5" .45 should not be finicky about extractor tension, but too much is too much, and can stop feeding, cold.

 

[Gutschott]

Maybe a simple polishing of the feed ramp will help? I use 1500 grit wet/dry sandpaper then some metal polish. No Dremel!

 

[gw104]

Send it back to Springfield. It's under warranty.

 

[frbejarano]

I'd suspect excessive extractor tension, so, for a different reason than above, I'd assemble the slide without the extractor, then see if the gun will feed.
A 5" .45 should not be finicky about extractor tension, but too much is too much, and can stop feeding, cold.

It isn't the extractor. I took it out and tried feeding some ammo and nothing changed. Still getting hung up.

Thanks for the tip.

 

[frbejarano]

Send it back to Springfield. It's under warranty.

This is what I'm going to do. Hope they can get it figured out.

 

[frbejarano]

Maybe a simple polishing of the feed ramp will help? I use 1500 grit wet/dry sandpaper then some metal polish. No Dremel!

I bet it would help. The feed ramp is not very smooth. It has machining ridges that can be felt with the fingernail.

 

[frbejarano]

Why JHP’s did you have trouble with? Some may be better than others. For example, Remington Golden Sabers are known to feed easily. The Hornady Critical Duty have a FMJ profile.

They are Sig V-crown 230 grain.

 

[gw104]

Best idea. That's a fairly high dollar piece. Why take the chance of screwing something up? No knock on you sir sir but you don't appear to have a lot of knowledge about repairing it yourself. Let Springfield take care of it, they will do an excellent job. That Operator should run with just about any quality hollow point ammo on the market. Do tell them what ammo you are using.

 

[frbejarano]

If it a non ramped barrel you need a 1/32 set back from the frame ramp. And as noted if you removed the recoil spring and the firing pin + extractor for safety you can work your slide slowly and see what’s going on. I just finished up a 1911 government size with a 40S&W bull non ramped barrel. I had to recut the barrel ramp to get that 1/32 set back. In its first live fire testing it cycled every kind of 40 cal. Ammo I have including wad cutters. The way I checked it on the bench was how I described it to you. Good luck and 1911’s Forever

1911's forever!

I cycled the slide without the recoil spring and it is hitting the feed ramp on the frame and stopping there. It will not angle up and into the barrel. I'm stumped. Hope springfield armory can figure it out.