DW Kodiak failure to feed

[benchmark]

Bought new, jammed every magazine until I reached the 500. Sent it back, still experienced failure to feed jams. Sent it back again, still failure to feed jams. However, on second return it did fire two magazines back to back with no hang ups (factory ammo). I then tried some reloads....and failure to feed again.

So, could this be the grain weight is to light? Is that a common culprit for a failure to feed issues?

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[No_Regerts]

Could be a number of things. Weak ammo, weak grip, recoil spring could be too heavy, mainspring too stiff, slide/frame fit coild be out of spec, lots of stuff.

 

[asiparks]

is the slide closing on an empty chamber or are you getting a round hung up between the mag lips and ramp ? Is the prior round ejecting vigorously or falling out ?

Does it work 100% with factory ammo, and only FTF with your reloads ?

 

[benchmark]

The bullet hits the ramp and partially enters the barrel (not dive). The slide locks 1" back from close. When jammed I eject the magazine, but trying rack the slide to eject is brutal. Hitting the grip or bumping the slide is typically not a fix to fire another. Many cases have to heavily slam the butt of grip on table. Bullet prior does not appear to eject more than 5-10'. Not 100% prior to the second time I sent it in.

 

[spookshack]

Did DW provide you with a list of repairs they did? I'm curious as to what they did or did not do to try and remedy the issues.

I could possibly see sending a gun such as a Taurus back to the factory to make it right. DW, not so much....

 

[asiparks]

Guessing that an empty gun, the slide and barrel are moving as they should with no sticking or rough spots ?
To be clear- the mag drops out but the live round is still jammed in there and pulling back the slideto get it out is extremely hard ?
The slide should not be getting jammed, unless maybe brass or lead is getting shaved off the bullet and caught somewhere as it tries to feed.
If the slide movement & barrel moving in and out of battery was an issue, DW would surely have caught it.
It's hard to say for certain it's an issue with your reloads- lower power not being able to fully cycle the slide back - then returning hard under the power of the recoil spring before the next round can be pushed up by the mag spring, but if it works 100 % now with factory ammo, then it's likely.

I also wonder about your reload specs-- with the barrel out, do your reloads drop easily in and out of the chamber ?
Could you fill a mag with uncharged, unprimed rounds that you can try to cycle, both gently and rather aggressively, by hand ?

 

[L84Cabo]

The Kodiak is a long slide 10 mm, if I recall, right?

So that's a whole lot of slide mass to be moving. And 10mm rounds can run the gamut with respect to how they're loaded.

Until you get this sorted, I would make sure you're using factory FULL POWERED ammo. No reloads and no bargain brands...which are typically underpowered.

I'd also pickup a different high quality mag...like one from Wilson Combat...and see if that resolves your issues.

Did DW give you any help with this? I know the gun has been back twice. What have they said and what do they recommend?

 

[po18guy]

A semi lives or dies by the magazines it is fed. I would look there first, and email DW to see which brand of ammo they use.

 

[tj3006]

What did DW Tell you on return ? odds are It is a either the magazine The Extractor or the shooter needing a firmer grip on the Gun. Cant believe DW sent the gun back to you if it was jamming for them to. Witch tells me either the Mag or the shooter. A let someone else shoot it. B get a Wilson magazine , C watch a You tube Video on extractor adjustment.

 

[benchmark]

Did DW provide you with a list of repairs they did? I'm curious as to what they did or did not do to try and remedy the issues.

I could possibly see sending a gun such as a Taurus back to the factory to make it right. DW, not so much....

1st time in the service log read "inspected, adjusted feeding edges then function tested and test fired, good"
2nd time in "adjusted and polished the extractor and deburred the slide stop test fired good with 180gr fmj"

 

[benchmark]

Guessing that an empty gun, the slide and barrel are moving as they should with no sticking or rough spots ?
To be clear- the mag drops out but the live round is still jammed in there and pulling back the slideto get it out is extremely hard ?
The slide should not be getting jammed, unless maybe brass or lead is getting shaved off the bullet and caught somewhere as it tries to feed.
If the slide movement & barrel moving in and out of battery was an issue, DW would surely have caught it.
It's hard to say for certain it's an issue with your reloads- lower power not being able to fully cycle the slide back - then returning hard under the power of the recoil spring before the next round can be pushed up by the mag spring, but if it works 100 % now with factory ammo, then it's likely.

I also wonder about your reload specs-- with the barrel out, do your reloads drop easily in and out of the chamber ?
Could you fill a mag with uncharged, unprimed rounds that you can try to cycle, both gently and rather aggressively, by hand ?

Yes, no issues with slide when empty. Yes magazine will drop out and bullet stays lodged partially in barrel, slide is about 1"from full closing and seating". Getting the slide to eject the lodge is very hard. I have not noticed any brass shavings on bullets after getting unjammed. Yes, reloads from freely in and out of barrel. I will try the latter.

 

[benchmark]

The Kodiak is a long slide 10 mm, if I recall, right?

So that's a whole lot of slide mass to be moving. And 10mm rounds can run the gamut with respect to how they're loaded.

Until you get this sorted, I would make sure you're using factory FULL POWERED ammo. No reloads and no bargain brands...which are typically underpowered.

I'd also pickup a different high quality mag...like one from Wilson Combat...and see if that resolves your issues.

Did DW give you any help with this? I know the gun has been back twice. What have they said and what do they recommend?

Yes, 6". See above for response from them.

 

[L84Cabo]

Yes, 6". See above for response from them.

Can you get them on the phone and actually talk to them? Or at least email them and get a response?

You need to understand what ammo they used? 180gr tells you the bullet weight which is a good start but nothing about how the round was loaded. What brand (s) specifically do they use? Or is it their own special load? And is loaded "hot?" How much powder are they using and what velocity does it generate? Is their gun designed to run on most standard factory 10mm loads or one very specific load? And if so, what the hell is it and why isn't that communicated in the product literature? They've got to have some recommendations on ammo specs.

Also, when you sent the gun in, did you send it in with the mags that came with it and are they using those mags to test fire or are they using their own in-house mags?

My bet here is that you've got an ammo issue. More specifically, that this gun likes a fairly hot load to move that big slide around.

But after two trips back to the factory, you need more from them than just the service log. Why do THEY think the gun can't get through a full mag on your end but for them it seems to run fine?

 

[asiparks]

I thought that the OP said the gun worked fine with factory ammo after it came back the 2nd time ? ( please jump in OP if I'm wrong),
So I'm guessing that the mags are fine and the gun is fine and that there are only issues when using his own handloads, (which sound like they might be underpowered.)

 

[benchmark]

I thought that the OP said the gun worked fine with factory ammo after it came back the 2nd time ? ( please jump in OP if I'm wrong),
So I'm guessing that the mags are fine and the gun is fine and that there are only issues when using his own handloads, (which sound like they might be underpowered.)

I got it back 5 days ago and have only been able to fire 20 factory rounds through it. I did fire those with no issues whatsoever. I shot the first mag slow the then the second fast. It was Hornady self defense ammo. I have since ordered some and have not received yet to make sure lighter factory loads work as well. I'm hopeful that way I know it is just my reloads, but bums me out they do not work in it like all the rest. The factory magazines are junk, I bought some cobra as well to test fire and it had the same results.

 

[drstrangelove]

When my Kodak failed to feed, the sprocket spring coil was busted. That roll of film cost me $12 to develop nothing.

Wait..


...you're talking about a gun, aren't you?

 

[Member 34319]

So they sell different strengths of recoil springs?

I'd be curious if it was designed around heavy, fast 10mm.

I had two recoil springs for my Glock 20 when I was into 10mm. One for weak sauce factory loads that were basically elongated 40sw, and another for my bonkers bat poop crazy hand loads.

 

[hongkong2]

Wolff Springs sell calibration packs of recoil springs for very reasonable price, you may want to try them with your reloads.

 

[Knute]

My DW Valor 10mm (5"), always ran great on Sig and S&B FMJ, both fairly spicy, and it ate all types of JHP and Underwood hard cast 200gr. Never had an issue with that awesome DW!

That Valor had a 24 pound recoil spring so I assume it may have had issues like this too if, if the loads had not been pretty tight, in the 1150-1250 FPS range. I should have never traded up that gun but I did like the Wilson that replaced it

Are you reloading once-fired or only using new brass? The 10mm in 1911s can be a bit picky!

You may want to stay away from multi used 10mm brass, especially if you don't know what gun it was previously fired from.

Some 10mm do not fully support the case and you get bulgy used brass out of all the 10mm Glocks with factory barrels. Not a big deal to reuse for the Glock 10mm drivers, but 1911 guys...not so much.

Come to think of it I ran 500 rounds of new Starline brass with XTP 180gr, and Blue Dot. I'd have to find my notes but I think these too were loaded in the 1150-1200 FPS range.

To my point, I never reloaded prior-used brass for my 10mm 1911s because of the pressures involved, and I loved that Valor, and Wilson, too much to risk questionable brass.

Your mileage may vary...good luck.

Hoping for the best with your 10mm

 

[Knute]

I got it back 5 days ago and have only been able to fire 20 factory rounds through it. I did fire those with no issues whatsoever. I shot the first mag slow the then the second fast. It was Hornady self defense ammo. I have since ordered some and have not received yet to make sure lighter factory loads work as well. I'm hopeful that way I know it is just my reloads, but bums me out they do not work in it like all the rest. The factory magazines are junk, I bought some cobra as well to test fire and it had the same results.

Try CMC 10mm mags...they have a higher bullet-nose lift angle that a 1911 10mm really needs. I learned that lesson the hard way on a Delta Elite.

Something to do with the 10mm case length being longer versus the way a 1911 feed ramp is designed and angled.