Mattog22 Posted May 20, 2010 Share Posted May 20, 2010 I'm shooting a S&W 1911 with CMC powermags and yesterday I noticed that occasionally the slide wouldn't lock back on an empty mag when pulling back the slide manually. I finally figured out that if the followers on the CMC mags get pushed back as far as they go against the back (spine) of the mag it will cause the bottom plate of the follower to miss the slide stop tab. It will do this with all 8 of my mags. I shot it today thinking that the feeding action of the cartridge sliding off the follower would bring the follower forward enough. It did most of the time but it did fail to lock back 2 times while shooting today. Any one else have a similar problem? Am I missing something here? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbbean Posted May 20, 2010 Share Posted May 20, 2010 I'm shooting a S&W 1911 with CMC powermags and yesterday I noticed that occasionally the slide wouldn't lock back on an empty mag when pulling back the slide manually. I finally figured out that if the followers on the CMC mags get pushed back as far as they go against the back (spine) of the mag it will cause the bottom plate of the follower to miss the slide stop tab. It will do this with all 8 of my mags. I shot it today thinking that the feeding action of the cartridge sliding off the follower would bring the follower forward enough. It did most of the time but it did fail to lock back 2 times while shooting today. Any one else have a similar problem? Am I missing something here? Double check your springs to be sure they are catching the tab on the bottom of the follower. While you're at it, how old are your mag springs? Are you resting your thumb against the slide stop? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattog22 Posted May 20, 2010 Author Share Posted May 20, 2010 (edited) I know my thumbs are not in the way since it also does it when cycle manually. Mags are brand new. I did add extended baseplates recently so maybe I didn't get the spring on the follower correctly.I will check that out. Thanks Matt Edited May 20, 2010 by Mattog22 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LPatterson Posted May 20, 2010 Share Posted May 20, 2010 I've noticed the tab on the bottom of the follower is not bent out enough to completely trap the spring in the latest batch of mags I bought and the springs are stiffer. Fix was to bend tab down and trap the spring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattog22 Posted May 20, 2010 Author Share Posted May 20, 2010 You mEan the small tab on the underside of the follower right? What did you use to bend it out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cas Posted May 21, 2010 Share Posted May 21, 2010 Mine do it when they're dirty. Actually the side locks, but the mags don't drop out for much the same reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LPatterson Posted May 21, 2010 Share Posted May 21, 2010 You mEan the small tab on the underside of the follower right? What did you use to bend it out? I clamped the follower in the corner of a vise and used the screwdriver I got with a Dawson sight set. It doesn't take much just enough so the spring is hitting an opening instead of the end of the tab. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattog22 Posted June 3, 2010 Author Share Posted June 3, 2010 my springs were attached correctly and I just shot the FNH Midwest 3-gun and didn't have a problem, did a little more practicing and no problem. Don't know what fixed the problem but it seems like it went away.... for now. Probably will start acting up again at an opportune time like in the middle of a big match. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Tompkins Posted June 3, 2010 Share Posted June 3, 2010 When I was shooting IDPA CDP I started out using a pile of the CMC Power+ Mags and a few Power Mags. After about a year I started having similar problems sporadically then more frequently. A good cleaning and polish of the follower helped some but did not solve it. All the followers seemed to be mounted properly but once I had the sense that a follower came off the spring but during clearing the jam it went back into place. I could not verify that. I was about to start replacing followers and springs in them when I picked up a stainless steel Wolff (a.k.a., ACT or Novak) mag off a prize table and I fell in love with the follower design! As a side note, I started to build up a pile of the Wolff but then the feed lips started to crack. Kudos to Wolff for refunding me on all the mags I purchased from them. I had read the feed lip problem was mostly in the stainless versions so I got some blued Novak’s. But by then I switched to shooting IDPS SSP with a Glock because there were more shooters locally in that division, so... If / when I shoot IDPA CDP or USPSA SS again I may look at putting the ACT style follower in the CMC bodies with new Wolff springs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattog22 Posted June 3, 2010 Author Share Posted June 3, 2010 I agree, it seems to be a follower issue, maybe Ill give that a shot. Thanks, when I get around to getting them Ill report back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now