Mag release wobble

[blacklab]

Two weeks ago my 2011 open gun decided it didn't want to work. The bullets wanted to nose dive down into the mag so I took it all apart and thoroughly cleaned it but it didn't help. It was doing it with 8 different mags and no consistency, sometimes on the first round and sometimes half way through the mag. It didn't matter if the mag had 5 rounds or 25 in it. So after reading a post on here I found someone who was having the same problem. One person said that the mag release could have moved and that was causing the bullets to nose dive, so I just checked my mag release tonight and with a mag in the grip the release will move up and down (spins) when you pull or push on the mag. Its a unmolested STI plastic grip with a Dawson release and the gun only has about 5k through it. I put a different release in the grip and it still moves, not as much but it does move. So my question is, is this normal or did something on my grip wear? I checked my 1911 and there is no movement in the release at all. I didn't have a chance to shoot it yet to see if it solved the problem, but I would like to know if the release is supposed to have a little play in it and if the mag should move up and down about a 1/16th of a inch.

One other thing , last week for the first time ever I had a mag that didn't drop free. Could this have something to do with the release button too?

Edited August 19, 2016 by blacklab

[mro111lland]

Had the same isue if your r good with a tig welder I welded the bottom of the mag catch and reformed it to fight hi and tight in the grip 

[Glock26Toter]

Are all the screws tight?  Maybe a grip screw is loose?  If that happens the entire thing will flex weirdly and the grip can crack or cause the mag release to wear the hole out to an oval. Plus all kinds of other odd things... it moves around a lot if things aren't tight.  Hell, it moves around a lot when things ARE tight.  Especially that little tiny screw in the front of the trigger guard.  That thing doesn't look like much, but can cause crazy flexing when gone.  I lost one just last month.  

Inspect it carefully and check all the screws.  Sounds like the damage is done and the hole is probably too big now.  I'm just speculating here... that's why I'm never late with my gunsmith payments.

The thing with Open is EVERY screw will come loose at some point... just a matter of when you notice.  Try to make that time when you are cleaning it and not shooting it.