Need some help.

[u/BlyatMan1953]

So i grabbed a 40 cal mk3 recently for a good price because I think its cool and also to use as a woods gun for like mountain lions but its having issues cycling 165 grain HSTs. Is there a fix for this like me polishing the feed ramps or should I use a different hollow point?

[u/Rtters]

Try gold dots and then some others. Feed ramp polishing isn't going to do much if they're a nose shape it doesn't like. Factory mk3 barrels were well made. Mine never had issues with anything I fed it before converting to 9, so I can't offer better advice than "try different rounds until it likes one." It could be short stroking as well if federal is cheating out like they do on their range loads, or if you're limp wristing. 32lb mainspring and a 20lb recoil spring doesn't play nice with a loose grip. I was starting to get the equivalent of shin splints in my wrist shooting mine weekly at one point.

[u/BlyatMan1953 → u/Rtters]

Ok I have some other ammo for instance I have some cheap blazer 180 grain hollow points I bought just to plink with because it was the same price as cheap ball ammo and I also have some speer g2 180 grain so ill try that either tomorrow or over the weekend

[u/Rtters → u/BlyatMan1953]

Yeah it gets expensive but if you don't load your own your best bet is trying different stuff. Speer (as far as I know) doesn't ever load their ammo lightly. You said it's not cycling, what exactly does it do?

[u/BlyatMan1953 → u/Rtters]

With the HSTs when I shoot it doesn't pick up the next round correctly and fails to feed and this is with a proper grip so I dont think im limp wristing the pistol.

[u/Rtters → u/BlyatMan1953]

Is it trapping the round against the feed ramp with the nose angled upwards? If it's jamming but the base of the cartridge isn't what's being pushed it's short-stroking. I can take pictures to show you what I mean after work, albeit my .40 barrel isn't fit to this piece anymore so it'll be with 9. I'll try to remember to help out more after my shift.

[u/BlyatMan1953 → u/Rtters]

Yes that is whats happening exactly

[u/Rtters → u/BlyatMan1953]

OK. I'll write more later. Probably 5-6 hours

[u/BlyatMan1953 → u/Rtters]

Gotcha ill try to see if I can get it to work here in an hour or so in the meantime

[u/Rtters → u/BlyatMan1953]

Clean your magazine tubes and put just a hair of oil in the followers and work it around the skirt. If you have more than one magazine see if it does it with all of them. Doubt that's the issue but mine had 20 years of holster crap in it when I got it.

[u/BlyatMan1953 → u/Rtters]

It was underpowered ammo just tested my speer G2s and it ran flawless

[u/skipperseven → u/BlyatMan1953]

Bear in mind that military weapons were usually intended to be used with ball only…

[u/Rtters → u/skipperseven]

? .40 HPs were never manufactured with a humped feed ramp. That was the design issue with the old ones.

[u/sqlbullet]

Additional details about "issues cycling" would be really helpful. Bolt over base, three point, failure to extract/eject?

Polishing the ramp makes people feel like they did something. Seeing a ramp polished on your gun when it comes back from the smith makes you feel like you got your moneys worth. In reality it doesn't do much.

Assuming the issue is a feed issue like a three point jam or nose down jam, I would start with detail stripping the slide for a thorough cleaning with special attention to the extractor channel spring and ensuring the extractor hook is free from burrs. Next would be magazine springs or/and a new magazine or two.

[u/Rtters → u/sqlbullet]

Careful, you said the quiet part out loud 😂 If my sidearm is so close to not feeding that a mirror finish on the ramp is the difference, I need a different sidearm.

[u/Turbinator870]

I can’t speak to your .40 cal but I polished the feed ramp of my (now sold) Argentine Hi Power in 9mm and that worked to get ammo feeding more reliable.

[u/BlyatMan1953 → u/Turbinator870]

I'll give it a try because I cant have it jamming on those HSTs