SR1911 10mm Failure...And The Final Update

[WAYNO]

I just received word from Ruger...

I am to receive my repaired gun next Tuesday.

They replaced the barrel, and tested it with lower velocity practice ammo with no issues. We'll see. :wink:

But the nice lady did tell me to test it myself with the hotter Federal ammo I plan to use, and they want to know immediately of the slightest hiccup. Her words. :mrgreen:

 

[SR1911SHOOTER]

Wayno,
Don't worry about it. I would imagine that it happens once in a lifetime.
I spent 20 years in the Navy, and on one destroyer I was on, A shipmate of
mine was a Chief Gunners Mate. We talked about guns off duty in the Chiefs
Mess, and He never mentioned anything like that happening on any 1911.
And, when I was in, we had never heard of any thing as wimpy and M9!
I have also owned 1911s for about 65 years, and never had an instance
of that happening.
Blackie

BTW, You didn't say. were those cartridges +p or +P+ by any chance??

 

[WAYNO]

Wayno,
Don't worry about it. I would imagine that it happens once in a lifetime.
I spent 20 years in the Navy, and on one destroyer I was on, A shipmate of
mine was a Chief Gunners Mate. We talked about guns off duty in the Chiefs
Mess, and He never mentioned anything like that happening on any 1911.
And, when I was in, we had never heard of any thing as wimpy and M9!
I have also owned 1911s for about 65 years, and never had an instance
of that happening.
Blackie

BTW, You didn't say. were those cartridges +p or +P+ by any chance??

As an Army Ordnanceman, I've been around a lot of 1911's. I've repaired many, and I also never personally witnessed this type of failure in a 1911 .45 ACP. Yep, it's probably and hopefully a once in a lifetime failure, other than we now know of 3 similar failures since the release of this SR1911 10mm.

No, these were not +P's. I don't find there is any criteria for +P in a 10mm, as the original SAAMI loading was already plenty hot, before the FBI decided to load them down to where girls could shoot them without spoiling their manicure.

Much of the factory 180 grain ammo is loaded in the 1050 to 1100 fps spectrum, and I don't expect most folks would have ever shot the higher performing Cor-Bon, Underwood, Buffalo Bore, Double Tap, or even this Federal Premium Trophy Bonded ammo. And if I had never stepped up to this better performing ammo, I might have never experienced this failure.

So I continue to beg the same question...Would this gun have failed if I was only shooting the really low power stuff, or was stepping up 200 fps the straw that broke the camels back? I would have hoped that with such a failure, Ruger would have tested the gun with more realistic ammo.

It really doesn't matter now, as Ruger has declared this gun repaired. I will have to shoot a lot of ammo in this gun before I will ever trust it to carry it, and I will have to shoot some hot stuff to really know if the gun is up to it.

 

[1911Tuner]

So I continue to beg the same question...Would this gun have failed if I was only shooting the really low power stuff, or was stepping up 200 fps the straw that broke the cazmel's back?

The ammunition power level didn't fracture the lug. It would have happened with reduced power target loads.

The barrel being stopped by the link instead of the vertical impact surface is what did it. The only other possibility is the lower lug or the barrel hitting the frame bed before it hits the vertical impact surface while the link is still pulling on it.

I've seen lower lugs pulled all the way through into the chamber.

 

[Pat-inCO]

BTW, You didn't say. were those cartridges +p or +P+ by any chance?

The case is not long enough to produce a +p+.

I run a slightly detuned 10mm (about 5%, as it turns out) and there is way
less than enough space between powder and bullet to produce a +p, let
alone a +p+.

 

[WAYNO]

Received this pistol back from Ruger yesterday. Of course the barrel was replaced, as well as the slide stop. And they gave me a free little wiping rag. :mrgreen:

As soon as I can get to the range, I'll put this thing back into its paces.

update...

Took it out today and it shoots as wonderfully as it did before it blew up. I've certainly not yet shot as many rounds as I had before, but so far I see no indication that the barrel lug is cracking. We'll keep our fingers crossed. :mrgreen:

 

[Heliman]

Received this pistol back from Ruger yesterday. Of course the barrel was replaced, as well as the slide stop. And they gave me a free little wiping rag. :mrgreen:

As soon as I can get to the range, I'll put this thing back into its paces.

Oh yeah..... I have 6 of those free wiping rags. Would rather have none... :roll:

But seriously, I hope it is properly repaired and there is no reoccurrence.

Dave

 

[WMB30]

and I thought those were weeping rags

Bill

 

[WAYNO]

Update...

I've spent quite a bit of time on multiple occasions testing this gun with many different loads. No indications of any mechanical failure. I did have a few feeding issues with the Federal Soft Points. Everything else operated perfectly.

Ammo used was 180 grain 1100 fps thru 1300 fps, and 200 grain at 1300 fps.

I'm not ready to say I trust it, but it's well on the way to being worthy of carry.

 

[Heliman]

I also fired my SR1911 10mm and a recently purchased Sig P220 10mm. No hiccups with a wide variety of ammo. I shot the Ruger a little better than the Sig. May take some getting used to with the Sig. good day shooting with WAYNO!

Dave

 

[WAYNO]

I also fired my SR1911 10mm and a recently purchased Sig P220 10mm. No hiccups with a wide variety of ammo. I shot the Ruger a little better than the Sig. May take some getting used to with the Sig. good day shooting with WAYNO!

Dave

Yes this was a good day. :mrgreen:

 

[budshad]

I would have shat me skivees then and there. I love my SR 10mm. It is the most accurate 1911 I've ever held. I'm not suggesting that it's the gun that's accurate. It may very well be. But I think it's a gun that fits my stance, grip, way I aim, sight picture. It's the target variant so I guess it is slanted towards accuracy but daggum what a gun. Smooth as silk (because I did do a small amount of buffing) and eats any I throw in it. But being that I only throw high quality match ammo in it I guess I give it every opportunity not to fail. Anyways, dude, don't stress. Ruger will fix you right up. I had to send back a pistol that the very first magazine shot blew the Cerakote (or whatever Ruger uses) of the area around the barrel. I got my sticker the very next day with a box to ship. Ended up getting a brand new slide. They didn't cheap out and try to repaint. They made me the most important person that day and hooked me up. Totally unexpected but totally appreciated. Ruger has some problems sometimes but they correct it and make sure your 100% happy in the end. 90% of my many many guns are Rugers. Too bad they didn't invent Glock. That would be awesome. All my guns would be Ruger. No wait. I have 2 post war Belgium Browning Auto 5 shotguns. A 12 and a 20 gauge. Loveble joy those two.

 

[Get Wood]

Yep, I Had To Send A 44 Mag. I Got At A Gun Show. Was All Messed Up. When I Got It Back, It Was A New Gun All New Parts And Reblued. At No Charge. You Can't Beat Ruger Service..

 

[DLB-NRAlife]

Now after reading about 3 failures I will take mine apart and inspect it for cracking at the lug. I do love the 10mm but now will watch for problems after every range session.

 

[1911Tuner]

Now after reading about 3 failures I will take mine apart and inspect it for cracking at the lug. I do love the 10mm but now will watch for problems after every range session.

Just run the test for stopping on the link.

 

[The Blackhawk Kid]

WOW! Ruger will make it right. Keep us informed?

 

[hpman66]

FYI
I don't know if this will help anyone. I did some Googling and I am just passing it along:

http://forums.brianenos.com/topic/248527-broken-barrel-lug-how-and-why/

 

[WAYNO]

I keep trying to break this new barrel, but I can't. Put about 80 rounds thru it again today, the hottest being 180 gr @ 1320 fps. No indication of the barrel lug cracking. Maybe the bad ju-ju is behind me. :mrgreen:

I will say this new barrel is far less forgiving than the original barrel in feeding most HP or SP ammo. I had numerous jams where the tip of the bullet jammed hard into the feed ramp and would not jump into the chamber. I will do a little polishing of the ramp.




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[Heliman]

I keep trying to break this new barrel, but I can't. Put about 80 rounds thru it again today, the hottest being 180 gr @ 1320 fps. No indication of the barrel lug cracking. Maybe the bad ju-ju is behind me. :mrgreen:

I will take mine down tomorrow. I am going to polish the feed ramp to facilitate better feeding. I had a couple of failures to feed today while shooting with WAYNO. Otherwise, performed well.

Dave

 

[Heliman]

I polished the feed ramp just a bit to knock the roughness off it. Inspected the barrel lug/link and appears to be fine. Ready for more testing at the range with minimum 1300 FPS 180gr and 1250 FPS 200gr.

Before cleaning....


After cleaning/polishing....


Lug/link...


Dave