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Old August 28, 2007, 05:52 PM   #1
IdahoG36
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PT 1911 feed issues

I just recently purchased a new Taurus PT 1911 and I have shot 200 rounds through it so far. I noticed that when the slide is locked back, or closed, and pulled open to chamber a round, and a full eight round mag is inserted, when I try to load the first round, it will jam between the bottom of the feed ramp and the mag. Basically, the round nosedives and jams the slide open.
This only occurs when the actions stated above are performed. When shooting, there have been no problems. It happened using both Speer fmj and Federal Hydroshoks, using both factory supplied mags and a Chip McKormick mag. I noticed that the mags will hang down about an eigth of an inch, and when pushed up flush with the magwell, the top round will chamber properly every time. Is this maybe a problem that I may need to send the gun back to Taurus for? Has anybody else had this occur?
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Old August 29, 2007, 06:56 AM   #2
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Only a guess, but are your magazines 7 or 8 round mags??
If the magazine can not be fully inserted into the magwell with 8 rounds loaded then it sounds to me like it’s a 7 round magazine. I don’t know much about your Taurus PT 1911, but all my Kimber 1911 guns come with 7 round magazines. You can purchase 8 round mags, but they extend out from the bottom of the magwell as to accommodate the extra round.
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Old August 29, 2007, 09:43 AM   #3
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Have you posted this question at http://forum.m1911.org/forumdisplay.php?f=115 in the Taurus section or here at http://www.taurusarmed.net/forums/index.php? There is a alot of good info at those to site on the PT 1911
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Old August 29, 2007, 02:53 PM   #4
IdahoG36
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The factory Taurus mags are 8 rounds. The mags can be fully inserted, but are loose on the mag release and can travel about an eigth of an inch up or down.
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Old August 30, 2007, 09:58 AM   #5
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I went down to the local gun shop where I live yesterday to have them take a look at my Taurus, and while they were checking it out, I saw that they had a NIB Kimber TLE II for $750.00. I checked it out and decided to trade my Taurus in on it. Well, thanks for the responses. Hopefully my new Kimber will do better.
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Old August 30, 2007, 10:15 AM   #6
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Did you get a good trade in value?
Considering that you took the Taurus in for them to look at.
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Old August 30, 2007, 11:20 AM   #7
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I paid $550 for the Taurus and got $450 trade in. I lost $100 on the Taurus, but the Kimber was $80 to $100 cheaper than I have seen anywhere. They will probably just send it back to Taurus to have them look at it.
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Old August 30, 2007, 12:46 PM   #8
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I had the same issue with my pt1911 until I put 400 rounds through it. After that I have yet to encounter a problem. The mags do seem to be a bit loose but I would chalk it up as poor mag construction. I plan on getting some Wilson Combat mags to see what the difference is. Sorry to hear you gave up so fast but I hope you enjoy your Kimber.
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Old August 30, 2007, 04:38 PM   #9
IdahoG36
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The Taurus shot fine, I just will not own a firearm that is not reliable. That goes for any brand. It is just my experience early on that if a firearm has a problem, it usually takes 2 or 3 trips back to the factory to fix. I really liked the looks of the PT 1911 and all the nice features they add to the gun. Hopefully the Kimber will be alright. I have read a lot of posts on this forum about Kimber. Half of the people say they are the best and the other half hates em.
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Old August 30, 2007, 07:36 PM   #10
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Quote:
The Taurus shot fine, I just will not own a firearm that is not reliable. That goes for any brand. It is just my experience early on that if a firearm has a problem, it usually takes 2 or 3 trips back to the factory to fix. I really liked the looks of the PT 1911 and all the nice features they add to the gun. Hopefully the Kimber will be alright. I have read a lot of posts on this forum about Kimber. Half of the people say they are the best and the other half hates em.
Let us know how that new Kimber shoots!!
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Old August 31, 2007, 02:19 AM   #11
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I had a jamomatic PT1911 for about a week. It fed 50% of ball and 0% of HPs no matter what the brand. If you got an early one it might have the same bugs mine had. I sold it back to the store I bought it from and got an XD 9mm Sub-Compact to go with my Tactical. My SA Mil-spec is all the 1911 I need.
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Old September 1, 2007, 01:15 AM   #12
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Quote:
If the magazine can not be fully inserted into the magwell with 8 rounds loaded then it sounds to me like it’s a 7 round magazine.
Eight rounds will NOT fit into a seven round magazine. If it will hold eight then it is an eight round magazine. If it's a seven round magazine then it will only hold seven. So it sounds to me like you can't count.

Quote:
I don’t know much about your Taurus PT 1911, but all my Kimber 1911 guns come with 7 round magazines. You can purchase 8 round mags, but they extend out from the bottom of the magwell as to accommodate the extra round.
You don't know much about 1911 pattern magazines in general.
While there are a few brands of eight round magazines that are slightly longer there are even more brands available that are the same length as a standard seven round magazine. And you can purchase a flush eight round magazine from Kimber who just so happens to make one of the best.
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Old September 1, 2007, 08:21 AM   #13
BigV
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Quote:
Quote:
If the magazine can not be fully inserted into the magwell with 8 rounds loaded then it sounds to me like it’s a 7 round magazine.
Quote:
Eight rounds will NOT fit into a seven round magazine. If it will hold eight then it is an eight round magazine. If it's a seven round magazine then it will only hold seven. So it sounds to me like you can't count.
Quote:
Quote:
I don’t know much about your Taurus PT 1911, but all my Kimber 1911 guns come with 7 round magazines. You can purchase 8 round mags, but they extend out from the bottom of the magwell as to accommodate the extra round.
Quote:
You don't know much about 1911 pattern magazines in general.
While there are a few brands of eight round magazines that are slightly longer there are even more brands available that are the same length as a standard seven round magazine. And you can purchase a flush eight round magazine from Kimber who just so happens to make one of the best.
Sounds like you are the “know it all” person when it comes to 1911 model guns.
Perhaps I should clarify my comment regarding 7 round magazines. I was referring to Kimber compact 3’ model guns. And by the way I CAN count very well thank you and I have most likely forgotten more about 1911 model guns than you will ever know. So sit back and relax and chill out a bit Mr. Knowitall…
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Old September 2, 2007, 09:23 PM   #14
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One more thing you don't know much about... me

Quote:
Sounds like you are the “know it all” person when it comes to 1911 model guns.
We're discussing 1911 magazines. A topic in which I am rather educated.


Quote:
I was referring to Kimber compact 3’ model guns.
How strange since this thread is about full sized guns using full sized magazines.


Quote:
and I have most likely forgotten more about 1911 model guns than you will ever know.
A rather bold statement since my dad can beat up your dad.


Quote:
So sit back and relax and chill out a bit Mr. Knowitall…
You are the only one who seems upset.



You see there's one more thing you obviously don't know much about...




Me



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Old September 3, 2007, 04:54 AM   #15
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you weren't by chance riding the slide forward were you?
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Old September 3, 2007, 05:36 AM   #16
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I realize that the OP (IdahoG36) has already dumped his Taurus and bought a Kimber but I thought y'all might be interested to know that my brand new Taurus PT-1911B was doing the exact same thing right out of the box.

I had brought the gun home and field stripped it to clean out the packing grease and re-lube. After reassembly I found that with either the slide locked open, or with it closed, insert a full 8 round magazine and then either hit the slide release, slingshot, or rack the slide (I tried several methods) and the first round (of FMJ) would hang up on the feed ramp. Manually working the slide would feed all of the following rounds just fine.

Closer inspection revealed the slightest roughness of the feed ramp, not on the "trough" area but high on each side. A brief and gentle bit of work with a felt tipped dremel and some jewelers rouge polished it all right up and then there were no further feed issues but the gun still felt awfully gritty and the grip safety wanted to hang up a little (it would stick in the "squeezed down" position when released and then pop out).

Now keep in mind that so far I hadn't actually FIRED this gun yet.

So I finally gave in and did a -total- takedown of the pistol.

WOW! There were burrs and little curls of metal shavings ALL OVER the internals of this gun, especially around the trigger mechanism and the grip safety! I wound up doing quite a bit of deburring, polishing and just general cleaning to remove it all. I shudder to imagine the amount of trouble all of that crap would have caused in the long run had I not gotten that out of there.

Folks I'm not a Taurus basher, in fact this is my FIFTH Taurus firearm, but I've decided at this point that you simply cannot accept a Taurus as a "finished" product. Before you go to shoot one for the first time you simply must do a total takedown and inspection...or find someone (like me ) who knows how to do it.

BTW, my PT-1911B now runs like a timex watch and has a trigger pull like breaking glass so it really was worth the extra effort on my part
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Old September 3, 2007, 07:40 AM   #17
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The only Taurus I own is the PT1911. It has fired flawlessly literally right out of the box. Cleaning came after the first firing. After reading ZeSpectre's post, I may be in for a little Zen and the art of Taurus polishing. Overall, nice pistol. Shoots darned well.
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Old September 3, 2007, 07:59 AM   #18
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GoPack,
Have you ever totally taken one down before? If not I'll caution you about removing the safety lever. The right side lever (as the gun is pointed away from you) is simply held on with an internal compression style fitting. You remove it by sliding something thin under the body of the safety lever and -GENTLY- prying it out. HOWEVER Do NOT pry on the lever arm itself. It's relatively delicate and you can bend/break it if you use it as a prying point.

the rest of the disassembly follows a pretty standard 1911 pattern (with the usual fun of getting the trigger bits back in place afterwards )

Last edited by ZeSpectre; September 3, 2007 at 08:55 AM.
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Old September 3, 2007, 08:14 AM   #19
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Thanks for the tip.
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Old September 3, 2007, 09:15 PM   #20
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I've only field stripped one Taurus PT1911 so far. A customer had just purchased our first one and I stripped it for him both to show how it was done and to show him where and how to lubricate it.

Right out of the box the Taurus was very dry. I certainly wouldn't want to shoot it without lubing it first. No sense in galling the rails. The shipping grease Taurus uses does a good job of protecting the gun but it's not a very good lubricant.

There were a few machine marks visible but not many. And yes there were a few burrs and metal flecks in there too.
A good going over with a brass "toothbrush" took care of that.
I cleaned out the shipping crud and then lubed it with some Ballistoil.
Working the slide it felt like a different gun.


On another note, after I removed the grips the right side of the safety just pulled out very easy. The left side wiggled out like a standard one.
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The "Fashion Calibers" seem to come and go but when all is said and done everybody comes back to the forty-five.
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Old September 9, 2007, 02:04 PM   #21
IdahoG36
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Well, I finally got to go out and shoot my new Kimber. I shot about 200 rounds through it with no problems at all. It is quite accurate. I shot 150 rounds of Magtech 230gr fmj, some 185gr Federal Hydrashoks, and a few rounds of Winchester Black Talons that I have. All worked fine. I am very happy with my new Kimber.
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Old September 9, 2007, 04:52 PM   #22
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Cured feed issues

My wife bought me a new PT1911 last November for my birthday. Yes she's a keeper. Anyway, it was an excellent shooter out of the box with the factory mags (8-round) and 230 grain ball per the user manual.

It was a bit finicky with cheap Winchester JHP. Similarly cheap Remington JHP was successfully digested. Also, Chip McCormicks wouldn't feed anything (JHP or FMJ) when topped off with eight rounds. They worked fine with only 7 rounds, defeating the purose of a large mag. I swapped the McCormicks for Novak 8-round mags and it hasn't failed to feed since.

One issue I did have was a part failure. After 600ish rounds the ejector failed. After the weapon took a trip to Florida and back, I have since buried over 1000 rounds successfully in the backstop.

I think I need more range time to be sure.
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