Dropping magazine problem

[jimbullet]

I have had some issues lately where my magazines are falling away without me intentionally pressing the magazine button. This has so far happened twice on me during a club match and on a practice run, both in different magazines one was after only 3 shots and the other with the mag half full.

I've looked at my grip and tries to simulate it by rubbing my support hand if that would trigger a release but it does not.

Mine is a standard STI edge (unmodified).

I have read a couple of threads here with some saying that it could be a simple change of the magazine catch spring or replace the magazine catch itself.

My question is how do you know whether the magazine catch needs replacing? I would not have a clue what to look for even if it stared at me.

My grip does not have any cracks as I have inspected and have taken out the magazine catch which again, I cant really say if it is worn out or not.

Any guide would be appreciated.

[APL-G35]

I recently had the same problem. I heard the click like the mag seated but it hadn't really. Look on the right side of the gun, is the mag catch flush with the grip without a mag in it? Now seat a mag and see if it returns flush or is just like .020 away. Mine wouldn't return fully flush. I ended up lowering the shelf on the mag catch .020-.030 and this solved the problem. Also it didn't cause any feeding issues with the mag potentially setting lower in the grip.

[jimbullet]

I've checked this and yes they do appear flush. I also recall this accidental mag drop happening to me on the first mag on a stage, where I had all the time to seat it properly, heard the click and to double check, gently try to pull the mag out by pinching the mag base and if it is seated properly it shouldnt let go, which in this case it had not. But it was on that stage where it dropped on me only after firing 7 rounds.

[ChuckS]

Here is an example of a bad mag catch:

There should be a nice sharp edge where the catch enters the mag tube. You can see that this one is rounded off. One thing I did notice was that mags would only fall when there were many people watching the stage

Later,

Chuck

[40S&W]

Make sure your grip screws are tight.

[jimbullet]

Here is an example of a bad mag catch:

worn_mag_catch_2.jpg

There should be a nice sharp edge where the catch enters the mag tube. You can see that this one is rounded off. One thing I did notice was that mags would only fall when there were many people watching the stage

Later,

Chuck

Funny enough Chuck, there were 30 people at that time watching on that stage where I had that issue! With cameras too!

Should the catch have a certain length to it? (Dumb question but I have no clue on this)

[ChuckS]

Here is an example of a bad mag catch:

worn_mag_catch_2.jpg

There should be a nice sharp edge where the catch enters the mag tube. You can see that this one is rounded off. One thing I did notice was that mags would only fall when there were many people watching the stage

Later,

Chuck

Funny enough Chuck, there were 30 people at that time watching on that stage where I had that issue! With cameras too!

Should the catch have a certain length to it? (Dumb question but I have no clue on this)

Video guarantees it will happen! I am guessing someone out there knows the answer to the length question. I do not. Perhaps you could compare it to another gun? How I finally found this, is I inserted an empty mag into the gun and twisted and pulled and sure enough, the worn catch gave up the mag.

As mentioned above, the light mag catch spring could also cause issues. I played around with a light spring until someone suggested I put in a heavier spring and see if I notice it in a match. I did not. You know, sometimes, suggestions from those GM guys actually have some value...

Later,

Chuck

Edited December 2, 2013 by ChuckS

[feederic]

I had a mag catch spring go bad on me which caused my mags to drop on camera during an entire match. From now on if the mag catch comes out more than once or twice, a new spring goes in with it.

[Frankl03]

I've had this problem only with extended mag catches cause I bump them. The standard mag catch works fine for me. I hate dropping mags before there empty.

[paopao]

I had this same problem when im still using my stock grip. After changing to advance performance grip it just dropped free..dont know why

[Postal Bob]

Either a weak mag release spring, or a worn mag release. And I'm going on the assumption you're not accidently pressing while gripping gun.

[jimbullet]

Waiting on new spring which I am hoping will solve the problem....I have never thought that I ever needed to change this spring.

[jimbullet]

Just an update, changed the spring and its good as new, mags are snug and good to go again. Now Im beginning to think if I should actually have a spare mag catch among the spare parts that I bring along during competitions.

Edited December 23, 2013 by jimbullet