Polishing Feed Ramps


FloridaBlue

New member
I recently came across a few youtube videos that talked about polishing feed ramps and stated that it could assist in feeding. So I am curious if anyone has tried this before and have they noticed improvements afterwards?
 

polishing feed ramp

I recently came across a few youtube videos that talked about polishing feed ramps and stated that it could assist in feeding. So I am curious if anyone has tried this before and have they noticed improvements afterwards?

I have never used tools to do so, but I have applied some metal polish to smooth it out completely.
 
I recently purchased a new Ruger SR1911, and the feed ramp was a train wreck. After firing about 350 rounds of hardball through it, I used emery paper and a dowel rod (wrap the emery paper around the dowel and secure top and bottom with tape. After 3 hours of gently polishing, the machine marks are still there, but are far less noticeable and much of the feed ramp is mirror finished. I also polished the slide rail guides on the frame, as they exhibited some machine marks. I cleaned out all of the emery debris, carefully lubed the gun, and ran the slide 40 or 50 times. I took it apart, cleaned out what little emery grit remained, relubed, and oh hell yes it makes a difference. Hardball ammo will feed unless you have a real clunker. The trick is to get defense loads with hollow points to feed reliably. They do now. There is no way, unless I'm looking at a high end Kimber or Ed Brown, that I would carry a .45 of any manufacturer without putting lots of hardball through it, polishing the feed ramp, rebating the barrell, lowering the ejection port, and flaring it as well. Ruger did a great job on the ejection port, a lousy job on the feed ramp. Now that I've got hours of range time and hand polishing time done, I consider it a worthy defense gun. You can bet, whenever I have time, the feed ramp will continue to be polished until it is totally mirror finish. For you machinists out there, thats RMS125 or better.
 
"If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

A small percentage of feed problems are caused by the ramp needing polished.

A much larger percentage of feed problems are caused by idiots with dremel tools trying to polish the feed ramp instead of taking it to a qualified gunsmith for diagnosing and repair.

I know that of which I speak. I managed to turn somewhat functional Tokarev 9mm into a non-functional Tokarev 9mm in my early 20s.
 
It can definitely help but you might want to leave it to a qualified gunsmith if you aren't sure what you're doing.
 
Under the instruction of a qualified gunsmtih I've polished the ramp on my old Llama .380 and it was a two fold improvement.

Just make sure you get some advice from a qualified gunsmith or let them do it if you're not confident in yourself.

It's not hard to do it right. Then again, I've been around firearms and the mechanics of, and fixing them for about 13 years...
 
It does help, but if it isnt needed, dont do it!

I have done it to two of my pistols that had feeding problems and was successful in curing them. I used a dremel with a polishing pad and some rubbing compound... You need to VERY careful not to polish too much, or you really will have a jam-o-matic....
 
I used heavy metal coarse and fine. Mine are mirror finished and it makes a huge difference. I also polished the rails, all my guns run like warm butter
 
I read you all loud and clear. Trust me, the feed ramp on the Ruger requires much polishing. Since its stainless, and those of you who have worked with stainless know this, using a Dremel is a bad idea. You have to do this by hand. Using coarse, then fine, papers on stainless is a reciped for disaster as well. Emery paper, and perhaps after I've got the chatter marks eliminated, jewelers rouge or lapping compound, and a very slow and deliberate lapping of the feed ramp will be in order. I agree with Phillip. Leave the Dremel in the box. This is tedious work, and takes a steady hand and plenty of patience. Your reward is a finely tuned ramp that will digest nearly anything you feed it. I also agree that the feed ramp is just part of the deal. Spring pressure on the magazine, the ejection port, and the barrel all play a part in the process. Thankfully Ruger rebated the barrell and its perfect, including the very tiny gap between the ramp and the barrell.

I've been shooting, and doing light gunsmithing, for over 40 years, and this .45 is not my first rodeo. I do however, appreciate the folks who warn that you better know what you're doing.
 
When I was a working gunsmith back in the late Pleistocene a Llama came in for some work; trigger job, feed ramp, etc. The owner had tried the feed ramp job himself and the inside of the gun looked like a half-gone all day sucker. It wasn't even good for parts. It's an easy thing to honk up if you don't know what you're doing.
 
A few years ago I bought a Kimber Pro Carry II in 45ACP. I was the third owner. It would shoot FMJ rounds just fine, but about half of JHP rounds jammed, with the nose stuck into the feed ramp. I sent it to Kimber twice, but their gunsmith couldn't fix it. He cleaned and lubricated it, but said that the feed ramp had been worked on by someone who didn't know what he was doing and had taken too much off the feed ramp.

The Pro Carry II has an aluminum frame, and the feed ramp is part of the frame. The Kimber gunsmith said he could replace the frame for $350, but I declined. He said he would decline, too. So he returned it to me.

I took some powdered graphite and rubbed it on the feed ramp and took it to the shooting range. I fired 24 rounds of FMJ and then fired 24 rounds of JHP. They were a mixture of Federal and Winchester. I fully expected the first 24 rounds of FMJ to wipe the graphite off the feed ramp and cause the JHP rounds to jam as before. But I couldn't get the JHP rounds to jam at all.

I took it to a gun show, along with the two reports from Kimber showing what they said. I also told a dealer who expressed interest in buying it what I had done with the graphite. He bought it from me for $100 less that I had paid for it and was happy to do that.

So those of you who are having trouble with rounds hanging up on the feed ramp might try the graphite treatment.
 
I have done it on my 2 Hi Point carbines, they don't come with feed ramps that are smoothed out very well. It was reasonably easy to do (used a dremel)and has definitely helped.
 
When I was a working gunsmith back in the late Pleistocene a Llama came in for some work; trigger job, feed ramp, etc. The owner had tried the feed ramp job himself and the inside of the gun looked like a half-gone all day sucker. It wasn't even good for parts. It's an easy thing to honk up if you don't know what you're doing.

Those must have been some dangerous times, when even livestock like llamas were armed. My theory is that when someone told him about the feed ramp, he completely misunderstood, and it got worn out from all the grain that he ate off it. :biggrin:
 
I polish my Glock feed ramps and trigger assemblies with a small amount of Flitz and a felt tipped dremmel at VERY LOW SPEED (careful not to remove the protective coating). I've never ha a Glock FTF or jam in over ten years of ownership.
 
I polish all my feed ramps and slide to frame engagements for that matter. Removing the machining marks shortens or eliminates the "break in period". Don't use anything more coarse than 400 grit and work your way up to a 1000-2000 grit for a mirror finish.

Magazine problems are more likely to cause nosedives and jams than your feed ramp angle.
 

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