I've now put 650 rounds through my new Dan Wesson Kodiak. I've been having problems getting the first round from the included 8 round magazine to feed. With the slide locked to the rear, insert the magazine, hit the slide release and the slide closes about halfway with the round slightly nosediving down. Once it chambers the first round, it runs flawlessly. I've run mostly 180 grain handloads through it. Although, yesterday I put 25 or so handloaded 200 grain XTPs and 25 200 grain handloaded WFN-GCs from Montana Bullet Works. Between those two loads, only the XTPs seated to 1.25 nosedived on the first round and the pistol ran fine with both loads.

I tried loading only 7 rounds in the magazine and only one time could I get it to nosedive the first round. I tried a magazine from my Dan Wesson Bruin and it too nosedived the first round. I got back home and cleaned the pistol and loaded the magazine with 180 grain handloads stuffing 8 rounds into the magazine to see if it would nosedive. Ten times in a row, it did not nosedive and hungrily chambered the first round. I picked up three boxes of factory loads, 170 PPUs FPJ, 180 Magtechs JHP and 180 FMJ S&B rounds. I loaded the magazine with 8 rounds from each of the three factory loads, and attempted to get the gun to nosedive on the first round. I made five attempts with each box of factory ammo. Zero nosedives on the first round. I'm gonna put all 150 factory loads through it today to see what happens. Hopefully, the problem has resolved itself.

Anyway, here's a few pics of the pistol. Notice the cutout in the spring plug for easy removal and installation. I have found this pistol to be easier to remove and reinstall the recoil spring assembly than either the STI Perfect 10 or the Dan Wesson Bruin. The entire barrel is also bronze in color. Although, the bronze is wearing off the barrel hood and elsewhere through use.

Barring any more nosediving issues, I think I like this pistol better than my other 10mms. By comparison, my Glock G40 stings my hand with 200 grain handloads. This pistol doesn't sting at all probably due to its weight. If anyone is looking for a heavy 10mm six inch pistol, I would recommend you give this model a look.

                         

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Nice gun! Do you always push down the slide stop to chamber the first round? Does it jam if you pull the slide fully to the rear to chamber the first round?

I usually do just release the slide stop but did try to pull it to the rear and it still jammed.

Just got back from the range. First 50 rounds had the slide lock open with one round left in the magazine. Second fifty rounds had one incident where the slide sluggishly closed forward when I hit the slide release but it did return to battery. The third box of ammo S&B 180 FMJ didn't go so well. First time I hit the slide release, the round went partially into the chamber with the slide left partially left open. The projectile of the cartridge itself was fully in the chamber as all I could see is the brass case and the case was canted at a downward angle. It happened repeatedly with that box of ammo but only on the first round with a fully loaded magazine. Once I got a round chambered, it ate the rest of the magazine with no problems. I'll be calling Dan Wesson tomorrow as something isn't right. I didn't have this problem with my Bruin or my STI.

It ain't good but if this is the biggest problem I have in my life, well, life is pretty good. We'll see what the folks at Dan Wesson have to say. Regardless, I still like the pistol. Just gotta get it runnin right to regain some confidence in it.                   

Send the gun back to the MFG for repair give as much detail as you can. Those guns are expensive you should not have those issues.

The feed process in a 1911 relies on a couple specific bumps, grabs and hits to feed reliably.  It is far more tumultuous than it appears on the surface.

First, the slide picks up momentum in normal operation from rebound off the recoil block in the frame.  In fact, in 10mm as you advance to hot-loads it can induce excessive rebound velocity and result in bolt over base failures as the slide outruns the magazine.  You don't have this problem.

Second, the magazine feed lips control the initial feed geometry.  If this were off for your gun, then you would be having failures all the time, and not just on the first round.

Third, the barrel to frame geometry has to be right to bounce the nose around.  Ramped barrels both help and hurt this.  They help in that the geometric relationhisp between the ramp the the barrel is fixed.  If the ramped barrel is made correctly it can't be screwed up like it can on a ramped frame.  But, because the barrel can move back and forth a bit when the barrel is unlocked and the link down, the ramp effectively can move in the frame. If you don't have a correct link geometry* this movement can result in exactly the type of jam you describe.  However, this would not be a first round only issue.  You would be having the issue throughout a magazine, so this is likely not it.

Fourth, the extractor hook needs to be properly shaped so as to not grab, block or bite the round as it slides under the hook.  But it also needs to hold the round correctly.  Again, an issue here would affect more than just the first round in the magazine.

Fifth, the point when the magazine feed lips release the case head is critical too.  When this happens the round below (or follower on the last round) gives the case being feed a push up the breech face.  This is an important step in avoiding a three point jam.  If the push up occurs too late, you have a nose up or three point jam because slide momentum was eaten up before the push occurred. Too early you get a nose down jam because the head ends up way higher than the nose.  You feed lips are fine, as again this would impact lots of rounds.

However, your issue is the last one, but is not because the feed lips are "wrong", but because they are "wrong" for the slower slide velocity that you have when don't have the rebound adding to the slide velocity.  This is a common problem with 8 round mags because the extra spring tension puts more energy and velocity into the bullet head compared to the slide velocity.  Frequently this will get better as you shoot the magazines.  Until then load you mags with seven rounds if you are carrying them.  Also number them and track if a certain mag has the issue more or less than the others.


*Link geometry can be impacted by more than just the link.  The barrel bushing, for instance, can alter this as well.  About three years ago I upgraded to an EGW bushing and it made my P16-40 start feeding empty cases.

 I would agree with basically everything posted above. For the money, the manufacturer should straighten this out for you. You are well past any break in period.

I run 8rd mags in all my full size 1911 45s and 10mms. They all work fine. If you don't want the hassle of sending it back there are a couple of things to try first. Different mags with more of an anti-tilt follower, like the Tripp Research mags might help. Loading your mags and letting them sit for a couple of days is another possibility.

Locking open with a round in the mag is a clue in this, too.

Good luck with it.

Thank you all for the detailed explanation and the input. I really appreciate it. I'm waiting on a Fedex return label from Dan Wesson so they can take a look at it. I'll report back on how this all plays out.   

Quote from: sep on October 22 2019 10:04:50 PM MDT
Thank you all for the detailed explanation and the input. I really appreciate it. I'm waiting on a Fedex return label from Dan Wesson so they can take a look at it. I'll report back on how this all plays out.

You did the right thing Sep.  The problem belongs to Dan Wesson, not you.  You paid good money for one the the nicest handguns I ever held.  They are a work of art with great pride of ownership (though I do not own one).  They should make it right for you.

For those who may be interested, I received my Kodiak back from Dan Wesson. I ran 200 rounds through it today with no malfunctions or even a hint of a malfunction. I used both magazines which came with the pistol too. Apparently, they got her fixed.  Here's what the email and paperwork enclosed in the box with the pistol said they did to it:

"Work Performed: Extractor and mag catch tuned. Feed ramp recut and polished. Barrel throated and polished. Barrel link and recoil spring installed. Breech wall polished. Chamber reamed and honed. Slide stop relief cut. Test fired, no issues."

After reading this, I thought they may have reamed the chamber larger. So, I measured the inside diameter of the Kodiak chamber and the inside of the chambers of my Dan Wesson Bruin and STI Perfect 10 with a dial caliper. I really couldn't really see any significant difference between them. so, I then dropped a newly fired case from the Kodiak into the chambers of the Bruin and the STI and it freely dropped fully into both of them. So, it looks like I'm good to go.

I like this Kodiak better than my other 1911/2011 10mms. It's easier to remove and reinstall the recoil spring due to the cutout recoil spring plug. I'm looking forward to lots more shooting with it.             

I KNOW THIS POST IS REALLY OLD.  However, I needed to ask how this is still holding up.  I HAD THIS EXACT SAME PROBLEM WITH IT AND THEY ENDED UP KEEPING THE GUN AND JUST GIVING ME MY MONEY BACK WITHOUT AN EXPLANATION?!  It was a crazy experience as I had sent it in 3 times to remedy.  This link takes you to my story with DW Kodiak.

https://www.thefirearmsforum.com/threads/dw-kodiak-failure-to-feed.214832/

Beautiful weapon as long as functions properly

Benchmark,

My Kodiak is still running fine. No recurring issues. I also have a Dan Wesson Bruin and it has ran fine since new. No recurring issues there either. Based on the other link you posted, it sounds like most (but not all) of your problems were from your handloads. Been there myself. COAL has to be acceptable for these autopistols to run right. Too long and they just don't function correctly. As you also pointed out in the other thread, the powder charge weight has to be sufficient to properly cycle the action.

I only load and shoot 180 grain 40 smith & wesson power level loads for practice and full power 200 grain WFNGC loads for woods carry. COAL for my 180 grain loads is generally no more than 1.250. The 200 grain WFNGC are wider bullets and require a COAL of 1.245 or they won't fit properly in the magazine and will cause malfunctions. You can tell they are loaded too long when the 7th and 8th round in the factory magazine bind and are not under the correct tension. I've had the same problem with my Glock G40 magazines. In those magazines, I can get 10 rounds or so in them without binding but anymore than that and you can tell the rounds are not sitting properly, under proper tension in the magazine. I can get malfunctions with my G40 under those circumstances too. 

I don't know why Dan Wesson simply refunds customer's money instead of fixing the pistol. I've read online at another forum of at least one other person who took the refund rather than try another pistol. As a consumer, I have no idea what the reject rate is on these or any other pistols. You would think in this day and age of CNC machines, products would be produced almost perfectly but they are not. I saw a Smith & Wesson factory tour video where the S&W representative said they can hold machining tolerances on some of their parts to one ten thousandth of an inch. That's got to be equivalent or better tolerance than a worker hand fitting two parts together.

Despite this, I have purchased three S&W revolvers within the last 6 years or so and all three had problems. I shipped two of them back to S&W to fix and the third, my local gunsmith fixed with a few strokes of a file while I watched. That's three for three revolvers from S&W with problems. Still S&W revolvers are my preferred revolver. You just gotta get em running correctly.                       

Back to the Kodiak. It is my favorite 1911 10mm autopistol in terms of function and performance. My Bruin is my favorite in terms of appearance. I would buy them again if they were stolen or lost or broken beyond repair. Alternatively, if I just wanted a 10mm tool, I'd buy another Glock G40. Install a KKM barrel, Zevtech Fulcrum trigger, adjustable rear sight with fiber optic front sight and be done with it.

Sorry, you had such a bad experience with the Kodiak and I'm glad Dan Wesson refunded your money.