Weird mag problem

[LeviSS]

I have a Limited .40s&w with factory K40 magazine tubes, Henning 140mm basepads, and Grams followers/springs.  They hold 20 rounds.

 

I've had this problem twice now, and it screwed my match this weekend pretty hard.

 

The follower got stuck after a few rounds we're fired.  I had to shake all the rounds out of it, then smack it on a table a few times to get it to release and shoot the follower to the top of the mag.

 

When I took the mag apart, there was a bullet in the bottom of the mag, under the spring.  I have no clue how this happened.

 

Any ideas how to remedy this?

[Tampa-XD45]

6 hours ago, LeviSS said:

I have a Limited .40s&w with factory K40 magazine tubes, Henning 140mm basepads, and Grams followers/springs.  They hold 20 rounds.

 

I've had this problem twice now, and it screwed my match this weekend pretty hard.

 

The follower got stuck after a few rounds we're fired.  I had to shake all the rounds out of it, then smack it on a table a few times to get it to release and shoot the follower to the top of the mag.

 

When I took the mag apart, there was a bullet in the bottom of the mag, under the spring.  I have no clue how this happened.

 

Any ideas how to remedy this?

I have the same setup but with stock followers and never had that problem.

[LeviSS]

15 hours ago, Tampa-XD45 said:

I have the same setup but with stock followers and never had that problem.

 

How many rounds can you fit?

 

I think I tried this and could only get 19.

Edited August 23, 2017 by LeviSS

[Sc0]

Interesting, i am intending to use the same mag setup in the same caliber...

[SoCalShooter69]

Call Bevin tomorrow. He'll get you straight asap. 

[johnbu]

It shouldn't happen,  but...

 

I think when jamming in 20 the thin gramms follower tilts and one can get behind it and fubar the mag.

 

Definitely contact Bevin, he is s great person and will get you fixed up

 

Please update us with progress too

[LeviSS]

I called Bevin.  He was very helpful.  He said it was probably when dropping a mag, the weight of the ammo can compress the spring and make the follower do wonky things.  He said he's seen the top round flip over.

 

He said it could be a spring messed up, but said to start with dropped mags.

 

So I guess if a mag hits the ground, I need to unload it and take it apart.  He said it was standard operating procedure, but I guess I was unaware of that standard.

[SoCalShooter69]

24 minutes ago, LeviSS said:

I called Bevin.  He was very helpful.  He said it was probably when dropping a mag, the weight of the ammo can compress the spring and make the follower do wonky things.  He said he's seen the top round flip over.

 

He said it could be a spring messed up, but said to start with dropped mags.

 

So I guess if a mag hits the ground, I need to unload it and take it apart.  He said it was standard operating procedure, but I guess I was unaware of that standard.

 

After every stage of limited or open, I always pull the baseplate, spring, and follower - run a micro fiber through the tube and re-assymble. I know many people that do the same. Disclaimer: we shoot in very dry and dusty conditions. 

[LeviSS]

This is my first season shooting limited and second season total.  Actually, most of this season was set out of USPSA due to an injury and I just shot Steel Challenge.  

 

Maybe just didn't pay attention to other people doing that.

[MemphisMechanic]

I've had to do that even shooting a Tanfo in Production: they lined all of our bays with gravel last year, and it results in a wonderful "moon dust" covering the follower and remaining round or two in an almost empty dropped mag.

 

Gotta roll the rounds in a rag and then wipe a brush through the magazine body to get that grit out of it, or eventually the follower gets crunchy sounding and begins to stick. Even in Glock perfection, if you neglect it long enough.

[LeviSS]

I've had this happen again, without the round going under the follower, without dropping the mag, and with a clean mag.  A couple shots out of a full mag, the follower binds.

 

I looked in and the follower with the last round in the mag (the one touching the follower) was canted hard to one side of the mag and stuck hard.  It took a long flat head screwdriver and some work to get it dislodged.

 

Here are my two theories:

 

- The follower is getting hung up where the mag and basepad connect.

 

- The mag is slightly swollen when fully loaded and after a couple rounds are expended, the mag body relaxes and binds the follower in a weird way.

 

I'm thinking it is the first theory.

 

I think I will take the mags apart and look for sharp edges on the followers and maybe radius off anything that could catch.

 

Thoughts?

[johnbu]

I smoothed out the inside edges of the extended bases and had a long run of no problems. Then used some longer OAL rounds that were made for a 1911 SS 9mm. Bound up at the bottom.  read where others have had similar thoughts about long OAL causing issues. Now i still use those rounds, but put short OAL rounds in first and long ones on top.

 

 

[LeviSS]

I'm loading 1.125.  They feed great.  The gun has been utterly reliable, if it weren't for this.

[LeviSS]

Today it happened with 5 or 6 rounds in the mag.

 

I had just loaded the mag up, it had not been dropped.

 

I looked in there after shaking the rounds out and the follower is vertical instead of horizontal with a round stuck beside it.

 

I gave it a whack on the table and the round went under the follower.

 

This time it definitely had nothing to do with the mag extension/mag seam.

 

I don't get it.

Edited October 27, 2017 by LeviSS

[OPENB]

Is it with one mag, or several? Number your mags so you can identify a problem child. If you isolate one mag, try swapping in parts from a known good mag to see if you can isolate the problem, or start over with a new spring kit. You could swap back to stock springs, but loose one round. 

[johnbu]

13 hours ago, LeviSS said:

Today it happened with 5 or 6 rounds in the mag.

 

I had just loaded the mag up, it had not been dropped.

 

I looked in there after shaking the rounds out and the follower is vertical instead of horizontal with a round stuck beside it.

 

I gave it a whack on the table and the round went under the follower.

 

This time it definitely had nothing to do with the mag extension/mag seam.

 

I don't get it.

 

To be clear...

 

You were firing from the mag, everything was great, then with a half dozen rounds left... it fubar'ed?

 

Were it mine, i would;

 

Be sure the correct follower was used. Not a 9mm in a 38s or 40sw in a 10mm for instance.

 

Clean the mag, follower and extension.

 

Smooth the extension/mag interface so spring coils could not catch and flip.

 

Inspect the follower for signs of rubbing.

 

Inspect the inside of the mag tube for signs of rubbing.

 

Measure a known good tube in the front to back and side to side dinensions. Measure along the entire height. Compare to the bad one. It might be bulged or compressed or even dented.

 

If i found nothing out of whack  i would flatten it with a 16 pound sledge hammer and buy a new one. (Seriously, they are only 15 bucks at cdnn.)

Edited October 27, 2017 by johnbu

[JROTTY]

On 10/15/2017 at 2:52 PM, johnbu said:

I smoothed out the inside edges of the extended bases and had a long run of no problems. Then used some longer OAL rounds that were made for a 1911 SS 9mm. Bound up at the bottom.  read where others have had similar thoughts about long OAL causing issues. Now i still use those rounds, but put short OAL rounds in first and long ones on top.

 

 

I had FTF issues when loading to 1.135 in (.40 S&W) but I see were LeviSS is loading to 1.125 which is where I'm at - and no issues at all.  I've had this issue with other model guns (Glock) and it was always the mag spring (with Taran Tactical +5 pads).  A new spring would last about 1,000 rounds before the FTF would start.  Replacing the spring fixed it every time.  Try pulling all the springs and line them up - see if all are the same length.  Grab a new spring and compare.

[LeviSS]

Ok.  I just had the last match of the year, so now I have time and feel comfortable tweaking stuff.

 

I'll report back.