Do you polish your feed ramp

[Major Tom]

On both my lugers (DWM and Mauser) the feed ramps are not polished and quite dark looking. The dark is not powder fouling and does not clean off. I was wondering if polishing the feed ramps (I've done this to my other pistols) would maybe help with feeding? I like nice bright feed ramps.
Thanks

[DonVoigt]

If they need it, by all means do it.

[Tony Sandrin]

Would polishing the feed ramps hurt the collector value in any way?

[Chickenthief]

Only had my 30 Luger for about 4 months and put 1200+ rounds through it, but i can say this:
Cartridges squirt through that pistol like nothing i have ever owned!
If COL is to specs then it is as reliable as i have ever seen (maybe except the H&K G3 i had in the military).

If you want shiny then go for it but i suspect good old George knew what he did and had worked the bugs out of the P08 by the time it hit WWI. But as polishing a 1911 (wich also dont need it to feed ball) DO NOT ALTER ANGLES!!! Just go lightly and less is more.

[alanint]

It you look carefully at how the magazine presents a round to the chamber throat, you will see that the feed ramp is almost an afterthought on the Luger. Polishing it won't necessarily help reliability, but if you like 'em pretty, go ahead.

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by alanint

It you look carefully at how the magazine presents a round to the chamber throat, you will see that the feed ramp is almost an afterthought on the Luger.

...And essentially non-existent on the Nambu!

[DonVoigt]

Ergo, polish it if you wish!

[DavidJayUden]

Would polishing the feed ramps hurt the collector value in any way?

On a shooter or entry-level collector pistol, I'd say no. But on a high-end or rare model, it is best to alter NOTHING.

IMHO.

dju

[Olle]

Originally Posted by sheepherder

...And essentially non-existent on the Nambu!

Reminds me of all those Chuck Norris stories: "When other gun designers make their feed ramps longer, Kijiro Nambu makes it shorter!"

[Eugen]

I would never polish a collectible luger's ramp. As for shooters, including any of my "modern" guns in my inventory, i would rarely polish a feed ramp and only if absolutely necessary. Why, you may ask? Well, polishing removes metal and removing metal on the ramp may not be the correct solution to whatever problem. Removing metal tends to be permanent (Unless you have micro welding skills to go along with your Dremel polishing skills.)

I believe the popularity of polishing ramps has to do with its being an easy procedure and because it makes the ramp look much better. Highly polished metal is pretty. However, I have to wonder how much it actually helps. Heck, I know guys that buy a brand new auto loader and the first they do is polish the feed ramp...just because it looks pretty and because of the perceived value when there was no problem to be solved.

Can polishing a ramp resolve a feeding problem? Yes. But, in most cases the problem resides elsewhere.

I am an amateur and this is my opinion.

[DonVoigt]

Much ado about nothing.

Proper polishing removes an un-measurable amount of metal.

Look at the ramps on 10 or 50 different lugers, they are all different- and some would benefit from a little polishing. As always, JMHO.

[Chickenthief]

Originally Posted by DonVoigt

Much ado about nothing.

Proper polishing removes an un-measurable amount of metal.

Look at the ramps on 10 or 50 different lugers, they are all different- and some would benefit from a little polishing. As always, JMHO.

Maybe so, bot most noobs dont know when to stop and i have seen many a 1911 barrel scrapped because a novise would try to improve what JMB has perfected.

[Chickenthief]

Here is some wisdom i have scrounged somewhere on the interweb:

Ammo is too strong (usually the case).

Ammo is too weak (usually not the case).

O.A.L. of ammo is too short for proper feeding through the magazine (this is the number one Parabellum performance killer). This spec. is absolutely critical to proper function!!! IF THIS SPEC. IS MATERIALLY OFF, A LUGER CAN NOT BE EXPECTED TO FUNCTION PROPERLY!!! Original German Luger ammo was loaded out, for round nose, to 1.173 inches, (29.8mms), for conical flat point, to 1.142 inches, (29 mms). As you will see, if you measure them, modern commercial 9 mm ammo is loaded much, much too shortly to ever properly fuction in a Luger!

Bullet configuration is incorrect for the magazine interior or feeding ramp. Many modern Hollow Point bullets work perfectly, many just do not.

Magazine spring is too weak (usually not the case).

Magazine lips are bent or have been "modified" in the past.

[DonVoigt]

Originally Posted by Chickenthief

Maybe so, bot most noobs dont know when to stop and i have seen many a 1911 barrel scrapped because a novise would try to improve what JMB has perfected.

I thought we were talking about lugers?

If JMB was building all the 1911s, I might agree, but he is not. The 1911 benefits from polishing if one wants to shoot anything other than ball ammo.

As far as noobs go, someone can screw up anything, and has- sometimes over and over again.

[Olle]

Originally Posted by Chickenthief

Maybe so, bot most noobs dont know when to stop and i have seen many a 1911 barrel scrapped because a novise would try to improve what JMB has perfected.

There's a difference between polishing and the ramp adjustment you probably saw on the 1911s. A careful polish removes a minimum of metal (in the 1/1000" range), so it's not detrimental to the function. You can really get in trouble if you change the geometry though, not to mention a ham handed throating of the chamber.

[Sergio Natali]

I would never polish a ramp of any collectible, but if you've got a shooter grade to have fun at the range why not?