[wacowade]

I picked up a Pro Cary HD 2 This past week in a trade. Pristine condition.
Put on some Pachmyr Grips with rubberized fingers grooves for a better feel.
I shoot 95% handloaded ammo and made some .45 ACP 200gn RNFP with 5.8gn of Unique Powder.
Took it to the range today for my first time to shoot the gun. I shot nice groups (2" - 4") up to about 45 feet.
The problem was that after about 30 - 40 rounds I would get a failure to feed. The old brass was tossed and the new shell was in the barrel 85% the way in, but not all the way.. Unable to fire without a smack on the back of the slide forcing the shell all the way in.
Shoot another 10 - 15 shots, same thing.
First thing I thought was maybe my hand load ammo was the problem, so I grabbed my American Classic Amigo .45 and shot 30 rounds or more through it with no problems.
The feed ramp looked gunked up, but I wasn't having feed issues at the ramp, it was with the shell actually getting all the way in the barrel.
I'm new to 1911 and Kimber, but I have had a Sig 229 with 5000 rounds through it with no issues like this.
Talked to the guy at the range and he said "they're POS and to send it back to Kimber".
Anyone have this problem.
Any suggestions?

Wade

 

[Chuck43]

Welcome to the forum from northern Illinois wacowade. First off the gun is used, do you have any idea of how many rounds have been fired through it. From the sounds of it you could be experiencing a weak recoil spring. The Pro model guns have a recoil spring life of 800 rounds, yours could be due for replacement.

 

[wacowade]

Thanks..
That was my very first thought. Untill the guy at the gun range starting spouting anti Kimber noise I never thought anything but that.
I will order a couple today and see if that does the trick. I plan on feeding this a lot of ammo.
Are there any known issues with Kimbers not liking hand loads? Or are some bullet grains better to shoot than others?

 

[Islander]

I agree with Chuck 43. Replace the recoil spring and see how it shoots using 230 gr RN ammo. I'd tell the range expert to....well never mind.

 

[Lineman]

Good News!

Good news for you Waco, the problem is the powder that you are using, not a recoil spring!! I reloaded for over 30 years and am quite familiar with Unique powder. While it is a very efficient powder for .38's, .44 Special, .45 Colt and .45 ACP, it is, to put it mildly......FILTHY!!! Note the large quantity of smoke and powder residue left in the barrel and chamber. While I love the performance of the powder(it is quite accurate in the cartridges that I mentioned), I have gunked up many a revolver almost to the point of locking it up with Unique powder.

A similar performing powder, that burns much cleaner, is Universal Clays. If you still have a bunch of Unique left and like it's performance, just bring a swab or bore snake to the range with you. Clean the gunk out of the chamber after every 30-40 rounds and your .45 should keep right on pluggin' along without a hitch. Give it a try! I think you'll be happy with the results.

 

[wacowade]

Great info lineman...
I had been using Unique in my .40sw reloads and was having amazing accuracy with no loading issues. Never really thought it would be too messy for .45
I broke the gun down a while ago and it was filthy. I put about 100 rounds total through it and didn't expect to see that much crud.
I still have 1.5 # left of it, but I can use it in my fathers .44 mag reloads. I do still have about 175 .45acp loaded, so I guess I will just be cleaning it real good while shooting. Changing the recoil springs should also help the situation too.
Thanks for the feedback.

 

[Islander]

Good news for you Waco, the problem is the powder that you are using, not a recoil spring!! I reloaded for over 30 years and am quite familiar with Unique powder. While it is a very efficient powder for .38's, .44 Special, .45 Colt and .45 ACP, it is, to put it mildly......FILTHY!!! Note the large quantity of smoke and powder residue left in the barrel and chamber. While I love the performance of the powder(it is quite accurate in the cartridges that I mentioned), I have gunked up many a revolver almost to the point of locking it up with Unique powder.

A similar performing powder, that burns much cleaner, is Universal Clays. If you still have a bunch of Unique left and like it's performance, just bring a swab or bore snake to the range with you. Clean the gunk out of the chamber after every 30-40 rounds and your .45 should keep right on pluggin' along without a hitch. Give it a try! I think you'll be happy with the results.

That's super info. Not being a reloader, I never would have thought of it. Thanks lineman!!

 

[Josey Wales]

Put this spring in and you will be good to go
KIMBER® EXTRA POWER RECOIL & FIRING PIN SPRING | Brownells,

It is a known problem, do some research, (Google)I changed mine in my SCP-HD and it made a bunch of difference,

Oh! and Welcome

 

[wacowade]

I ordered 2 of those Wolf XP springs after the first reply on this post.
Thanks everyone.

 

[Chuck43]

I ordered 2 of those Wolf XP springs after the first reply on this post.
Thanks everyone.

I'm expecting a range report after you get the new spring installed.

 

[Islander]

I want to hear a range report after trying different powder in your reloads. I think linemans idea about your problem was very sound!

 

[PorscheVille]

I shoot a stainless Pro Carry II — at 750 rounds, I had my first (and last) FTF. Was it the recoil spring that has a life expectancy of 800 rounds? Or was it the stock Kimber magazine? A poltergeist? I put in a Wilson Combat Flat Wire Spring kit, which allows you to take it down without the L "paper clip" tool. I also started using Wilson Combat ETM magazines which are known as legendary for reliability. I'm currently at 1350 rounds and have not had a second poltergeist attack. I highly recommend the WC flat spring which lasts a lot longer than the Kimber spring, and the WC Elite Tactical Mag which, according to my gun smith, are the best mags made.

 

[pbsdaddy]

Without knowing the number of rounds through the gun, I would lean toward the powder first too. I never cared for unique in any of my guns. Your Kimber is built to very tight tolerances and it wouldn't take much of that dust to decrease the size of the chamber.
The up side of the better Wilson spring is it may be enough to over power the dirt. Change powders and give that a try before you change the spring. Then put in your new spring knowing you have doubled checked your problem.

 

[wacowade]

Update: ***
I went back to the range on Saturday last week with the idea of testing out the dirty ammo theory. Brought all my cleaning supplies etc.
First Mag had 3 failure to feeds. The gun was super clean, rail was gun lubed. After about 3 mags, I just gave up as it was obvious the dirty chamber theory wasn't the culprit.
Consolation prize was that my Wolf XP Springs came in on Tuesday.
Question.. With those Wolf Springs came a small firing pin spring.
I guess Im a novice at this.. Where in the world do I find that one to replace it. Is it easy to change out?
Hopefully I can get over to the range tomorrow after I get off work to see if the recoil spring fixes the feed problem.
Keeping my fingers crossed.

 

[Islander]

Lets hope the spring solves your problem. If not a trip back to Kimber may be necessary.

 

[Chuck43]

Update: ***
I went back to the range on Saturday last week with the idea of testing out the dirty ammo theory. Brought all my cleaning supplies etc.
First Mag had 3 failure to feeds. The gun was super clean, rail was gun lubed. After about 3 mags, I just gave up as it was obvious the dirty chamber theory wasn't the culprit.
Consolation prize was that my Wolf XP Springs came in on Tuesday.
Question.. With those Wolf Springs came a small firing pin spring.
I guess Im a novice at this.. Where in the world do I find that one to replace it. Is it easy to change out?
Hopefully I can get over to the range tomorrow after I get off work to see if the recoil spring fixes the feed problem.
Keeping my fingers crossed.

Don't worry about the firing pin spring, it has a 5000 round life. Replace the recoil spring and think positive, I'm confident you're going to see an improvement in the way the gun preforms.

 

[pbsdaddy]

Now that's the way to analyze a problem. Clear one possibility before moving on to the next.