I have an old Para-Tac 4, and it is starting to have some feed issues after many thousands of rounds have been put through it.
It was a fairly nice .45 acp handgun with a 13+1 rd capacity.
I was wondering if any of you guys knew a modern upgrade/replacement that won't break the bank.
Preferably in the same caliber just so that I can have something that shoots .45 that isn't a 1911.
Para-Ordnance made the Tac 4 more or less a clone of the P13-45, except with a light double action trigger. they are a little too similar: they share Para's weak early extractor material that would wear prematurely and some magazine incompatibility and edge cases prior to the introduction of the power extractor... which still had some issues, but at least didn't break as often.
1. try different ammunition - hollow points, or really any ammunition with a meplat (the "tip" of the bullet is flat instead of a rounded ogive) can interact with the feed ramp or other parts of the barrel/slide/frame differently than typical ball ammunition. make sure that an ammunition change isn't your culprit.
2. make sure your issue isn't magazine-specific. try using a different magazine for a while, see if there is a difference between magazines in terms of fit or function - take a known good and known bad one apart (keep them separated) and compare the parts. sometimes with stamped magazines, the welding can be slightly uneven and cause a hiccup in the movement of the follower or spring - enough to prevent reliable presentation of the round to the breech face for feeding.
3. if 1 and 2 aren't the culprit, closely examine the failure mode: with deactivated ammunition or a dummy cartridge load a few into the magazine and do a function check that the slide isn't catching, that the slide moves into battery smartly and that the extractor snaps over the rim of the cartridge (do a press check by slightly drawing the slide back to make sure the cartridge is easily held to the breech face by the extractor). if your failure mode occurs, see what position (bullet nose up, nose down, bullet catching on something, et c) and what step (feeding from the magazine, loading into the chamber, moving into battery, removing from battery, extracting, ejecting) the failure occurs on.
some common issues:
1. on many Para-Ordnance 1911 designs (P13 and Tac-4 included), the ramp is built into the barrel (known as the Para-Clark ramp) and this ramp can pick up debris or burrs with high round counts. this is unlikely in a few thousand rounds, but it's a solid idea to clean it with acetone or something and run a fingernail gently across the surface to determine any imperfections.
2. 1911 based designs require at least 3 points of contact for the bullet to function reliably. this is called "controlled feeding" and they are:
2a. when feeding: the top rear of the case is touching the interior rear of the magazine, the case is being presented by the feed lips of the magazine, and the bottom of the case is pushed upwards by the magazine follower or next cartridge. the top rear of the case is briefly touching the bottom of the ejector. the cartridge is almost entirely horizontal.
2b. when chambering: the top rear of the case is touching the lower portion of the breech face, the case is being held by the feed lips of the magazine, the tip of the bullet is touching the feed ramp, the bottom of the case is holding the case against the bottom of the ejector. the cartridge is pitched upwards as the feed lips "let go" of the front of the case and the ejector acts as a pivot point for the upwards force of the magazine follower or next cartridge. if chambering is done slowly enough, the bullet can "pop-up" and misfeed - this is a magazine problem either with feed lip geometry, follower geometry, or the magazine spring is slightly too strong or the action/recoil spring is too light.
2c. when locking: the rear of the case is being pushed forwards into the chamber by the breech face, the case is released by the magazine feed lips entirely and the extractor slips over the rim of the case and hold the case to the breech face. the ejector no longer touches the case as the slide moves into battery. the tip of the bullet touches the underside of the barrel hood which guides the cartridge into the chamber, the bottom of the case is touching the feed ramp briefly which guides the cartridge into the chamber. the next cartridge should be touching the bottom of the slide now.
2d. when extracting: the top and bottom of the case is surrounded by the barrel, the rear of the case is held to the breech face by the extractor on the rim of the cartridge. the case is almost entirely horizontal.
2e. when ejecting: the rear of the case is being held to the breech face by the extractor, the ejector impinges upon the left rear portion of the case, pitching the case against the extractor's leverage as the slide continues rearward. this combination throws the case outwards and to the upper right (from the view of the shooter) as the extractor releases the spent case and the cycle begins again.
check that your pistol conforms to the 3 points of contact rule. another thing i see sometimes is improper lubrication - try to either use a film lubricant like molybdenum disulfide based products, white lithium grease, or something similar. light machine oils tend to get gummy with exposure to carbon, requiring gas-actuated system to "flush" itself with each cycle. recoil operated firearms tend to cycle slower and can leave a carbon residue with light machine oil, which can make the feed ramp or other parts a bit gritty. if you clean thoroughly every few hundred rounds, then light machine oil should be fine if applied with a light touch (enough to be slick, but not feel oily to the fingertip).
special note on the Para extractor - check that the body or claw isn't cracked with a strong light and your finger nail. it's thin extruded metal and a cracked extractor sleeve can widen enough during a firing cycle to have a failure to extract or eject sometimes. the claw's interior surface (the surface that actually pulls on the case rim) should be very slightly concave by a few degrees and have a sharpness to the edge - not rounded or convex.
