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40 short and weak 1911 inital results

846 views 10 replies 3 participants last post by  nutznboltz 
#1 · (Edited)
since i had one of my 1911s set up for 10mm and had tried 40 rounds through it and it all most worked with um i thought i would try again.

this time with a swenson/roto 40 barrel from midway and a new 40 ejector.

the swenson barrel looks good enough and it offers what looks to be full support for the 40 chamber -- if it ain't fully supported it is close. unlike other rotos this barrel looks to have pretty decent looking rifling.

the barrel link is a PITA to install --- way too small --after a bit of grinding, rotory tool, grinding and filing and three attempts to install the barrel link i finally got it in with the proper amount of friction.

everything else seemed to fit good so it was time to try a couple mags.

accuracy seemed very good although not quite as good as that stainless steel 10mm i got from numrich. soda can sized targets @ 10m and 20m are very easy to hit. i suspect it can do a 2.5" at 25M with ease.

recoil is sharp, ironically is seems sharper with the 180s in 40 than it does with 1200fps 180 loads in 10mm although a bit less noisy than the 10mm.

now for the bad part -- i had a few jam-ups like the ammo was weak, it couldn't get the brass ejected before loading another round, it seemed to jam more often with steel 40 than brass.

the good is it ain't beating up the brass like before.

i tried my best 45acp mags --the same ones that work well in 10mm and they will about half work.

looks like there is just enough taper in the 40s that the 45 mags just can't get enough grip to hold um back fully under recoil.

eventually i'll get some 40 mags. i think this will go a long way to fixing the jamming up problems with the 40 conversion.

it will get by ok if you short load the mags. there might be a friction somewhere as i just installed a new ejector that required a lot of fitting -- a lighter or possibly even stouter recoil spring may also help.

the test was run with a 18.5 wilson that should have been enough for a 40--

the 10mm so far looks like a lot less effort to convert over from 45--
 
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#2 ·
Damn that sucks j4, I hate it when thinks do not work.. O.K. Sniper69 just passed through here and checked my .45 AR I was having stovepipe problems with. Damn it was not seating the rounds all the way. Upon trying to eject manually it was stove piping.
Now having no 0 patience with things that do not work, Sniper told me to calm down and do not try to set the world record toss with an AR. As I already hold the world record with heaving a non working AK 127 feet 11 inches. I like to use the Olympic move a triple spin and a friggen heave, timing is crucial.
Sniper told me to calm down and 90% of the time it is magazines to check first. Well be damned if my Bro did not call it. Bolt was dragging on the Pro Mag just enough to not let the round seat. Took some brillo and smoothed it down a bit. Oh hell yeah it did the trick..
Take your time, study what is going on. Usually it is something minor.. Let us know what yah find was the problem.
 
#3 ·
yea 4th it is those little things that make people want pull their hair out.

after a tear down and inspection of the roto/swenson barrel there looks to be a bit more contact on some of the lugs than i would like.

so i put the roto 40 barrel in my old 43 rand-- and it totally locked up.

i suspect the lugs engagement is a bit too tight -or it is hanging up on the hood--something is happening making the 40 look like it didn't have enough power to cycle fully. the lugs were holding the slide back too long and there was not enough energy left in the slide to fully cycle. if i can get the barrels engagements resolved i think most of these little hiccups will go away-- the damn thing runs so smooth and slick in 45 and 10mm i just have to be missing something for it to be such a screw up in 40--LOL

looks like i have a fitting problem with this 40 barrel-- time to break out the files and dremmel tool!--
 
#4 ·
Yeah like I am saying sniper steered me in the right direction for my problem AR-45 not feeding. I am not a gunsmith or even close to most of the good builders here. But I followed snipers advice and sobered up and went over the damn thing slowly.
Sure enough it was the damn bolt dragging on the Pro Mag. Now it is fixed? I do not know? Ran 10 rounds through it and it ran and fed fine. Tolerances are close on all these weapons, only take one small glitch to make the damn things not work..
That is why I love AKs, Hell you can whip them, drive over them with your truck, they take a licking and still keep ticking.
 
#5 ·
looking a bit better-- did a slight touch up on the barrel lugs, i also found that the barrel bushing i was using with the 40 had a bind in it.

went to a stock sized bushing. now it feels mucho slicker.

i got a feeling it is about to run proper IF the mags don't have a 'bad hair day"--LOL knock on wood.

yea 4th it is the little things that can FURBAR and otherwise good firearm.

damn 1911s are simple --but their critical at the same time. ya don't have a lot of "room to play" --like you do with an AK or even an AR-15.
 
#6 ·
J427x I will send you my Jerry kuhnhausen shop manual on loan if you'd like a good read on 45's. If I can find it.let me know and I'll look for it.Mr. Browning would approve of this book. What more could you say?
 
#8 ·
the second attempt was much better but still had a couple of mag related bo-boos. the next to last round out of a ten round mecgar 45 double fed then the next to last round double fed again when i re-loaded the mag.

the slightly more loose barrel bushing really helped out in fucntion. accuracy gave in a little but not serious.

before it was really pumping some tight groups probably under 2" -- now wee looking at 3" 3-1/2" @ 25 with is a bout typical for roto/swenson i think.

i think to get this 40 reliable it is going to take some 40/10mm mags and a slight tune on the ejector and possibly a lighter recoil spring. the wilson 18.5LB still seems like a bit much for the 40.

it is very very close to runnning proper right now. there is nothing mechanical screwing um but the mags -- and they work somewhat .

if i was giving a reliability rating it would be about 75-80% and i tend to be on the conservative side.

a 40 in a 1911 is a bit more involved-- now i remember why back in the day i was telling builders to stick with 45acp--LOL--
 
#11 ·
Had a 10mm conversion a friend gave me till he got his own 1911.What ya gonna say? LOL. Thanks for letting me borrow it. I kept the ammo I bought tho just in case. The cartridge interests me big time living with the bears.
 
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