Shadow 2 mag questions and issue

[NHGunowner]

First comp with my Shadow 2 last weekend. Had a good day and shot ok. First time shooting USPSA, I shot a little IDPA and Steel before, fun time.

I did a full Cajun kit- hammer, firing pin, T3 disco, springs etc. The full kit they sell, except haven't done the bushing yet. Came out awesome. 

Couple things I didn't notice in dry practice.

First, mags not dropping. Mag catch is scraping/ dragging like crazy. When dropping mag if I momentary push-release/don't hold the botton until it drops out, mag gets stuck. I must have been holding button longer drilling, it didn't show up there. I also load/seat HARD, so I didn't feel it. I can now clearly see that it's an issue, its apparent when I load in slow, it feels awful. Smooths right out if I hold the button, the catch must be an issue. Anyone had to fix this? Polishing? I haven't removed the mag catch at all yet. I did a Cajun kit but saw no reason to pull the trigger bar spring and mag catch. 

Second, if I load at slide lock (rookie here, lol), when I smack mag in I get slide auto-forward. Not I "feature" of the gun I realize, but it happens. And when it does I find it often doesn't strip and feed a round. I have the 3 factory MecGars and 4 more MecGars I bought. All 17rd blue followers. Was factory base pads, and hadn't numbered them yet. I did just get in 6 Springers, numbered. Havent shot them yet. Suggestions? Stronger mag springs? I see that mentioned alot, and not sure what the benefit is supposed to be. They're cheap enough, I thought about trying them. 

Thx for the help!

 

[NWfront]

I think your mag dropping issue is normal as it sounds like the notch is barely cleared and the release is closing on the material above it.  The combination of the spring breaking in, heavier base pad and punching the the crap out of the button should clear it up. 

[uewpew]

I had a similar issue with a new S2.  I pulled out the S2 mag catch spring and bend it inwards just a bit, which helped with the scraping/draging.  I also run the wolff +10% with springer pads.  since making these two changes, mag drops are nice and consistent.  

[Trinimon]

Remove the slide and insert a mag into the mag well. Look and see if the mag is binding against the sear cage.

 

That "auto" slide release is a nice feature if it works in your pistol.

[magpulled]

Make sure the mag brake is in correctly. The pin hole should be facing rearward. If it’s backwards the mags will bind up and would also cause some funky trigger problems possibly. 

[WxGuy]

To keep any mag issues from happening, I also installed the SS mag break from CZC.  It's also in my 75 Shadow.  I switched to the slick metal 16 round mags with Springer base pads and relegated the 17 MecGars to backup duty.  They pop out real well!  Try a dry spray coating up in the magwell and spray on the mags.  I use a sailing product called SailCoat.  Spray on, wipe it down, and watch the mags drop.

[George16]

I buffed/polished the mag brake on my shadow 2 and TSO. I also spray the exterior of the mags with dry Teflon or graphite lube I bought from Home Depot. Cheaper compared to other places. It’s the same Dry lube biker and bicyclists use on their chains. Its Dry lube so it doesn’t attract and gather dust or grime. Works well for me.

[NHGunowner]

Mag catch is super rough. Big sharp edge sticking out, like a burr. I haven't worked it yet, but that's the cause, for sure. 

Edited May 24, 2018 by NHGunowner

[NHGunowner]

Any other input on the mag springs? Why the change/upgrade? Will they help the gun strip a round on that auto-forward?

[WxGuy]

Both my Shadows auto forward with +5-10% springs and a little work to the slide stop.  No problem getting the round to chamber.  The auto forward works well for IDPA (the slide lock game) and I want my Shadow 2 to also do that just in case I loose track of the round count in production.

[PRanta]

15 hours ago, NHGunowner said:

Mag catch is super rough. Big sharp edge sticking out, like a burr. I haven't worked it yet, but that's the cause, for sure. 

Mag release looks quite beaten. Try to use less force when inserting mags.

[NHGunowner]

8 hours ago, PRanta said:

Mag release looks quite beaten. Try to use less force when inserting mags.

This gun is a month old... Maybe 300 rounds though it. 

It looks like it was shaped with a dremel cut off wheel. I can see rounded shaped gouge cuts in it. 

[slavex]

I see a bit of a malformed tab on that mag catch, but no bur. can you take it out and take some better pics?

[NHGunowner]

Yeah, I will. I'm going away, it won't be till after the holiday. I wanted to at least diagnose it, was bugging me.

[NHGunowner]

Best pics I could make. Hard to see but where those cuts are the burr sits just a tiny bit proud of the surface. 

Edited May 29, 2018 by NHGunowner
Pics

[rowdyb]

my mags have their finish completely worn off there around their full circumference within months. no worries.

[NHGunowner]

One more

[NHGunowner]

It doesn't need anything crazy, just a little nicer bevel there. Help the mags fall. 

[slavex]

that is slightly mangled I'd clean that up for sure

 

[RedHand1911]

Picked up a S2 and I have found that mine also has issues with the auto forward of the slide a couple of times.  So far i've been lucky and it has picked up a round each time it did it.

[rowdyb]

ok, pet rowdy peeve time.

 

if you could lock your car door in a so-so neighborhood by slamming the door hard instead of using the button to lock it, would you do so? i mean, it's simpler and one less step. oh, but it has to be slammed just so to work. no you wouldn't. but a person is doing the same thing in my opinion by depending on and making the auto forward their primary method.

[IHAVEGAS]

36 minutes ago, rowdyb said:

ok, pet rowdy peeve time.

 

if you could lock your car door in a so-so neighborhood by slamming the door hard instead of using the button to lock it, would you do so? i mean, it's simpler and one less step. oh, but it has to be slammed just so to work. no you wouldn't. but a person is doing the same thing in my opinion by depending on and making the auto forward their primary method.

 

And it tends to be slower if you time yourself shot - reload - shot. 

 

But it looks cool.

 

And then there are folks who are left handed & some guns without ambi controls. 

[rowdyb]

there are methods for lefties for any gun that don't rely on auto forward. but yeah, just my personal thing hahahaha. sorry to threadjack.

[robert.a.brewer.]

 

 

 

I had a similar issue with a new S2.  I pulled out the S2 mag catch spring and bend it inwards just a bit, which helped with the scraping/draging.... 

 

This^^. I think this may be a common problem, if I remember correctly.

[slavex]

Disagree with the car door analogy. I've been shooting these guns for more than 10 years, with more than a million rounds down range through them. I've yet to see any wear and tear pop up that is a result of my slamming mags in to get the slide to auto forward, which is what I do. Even though I don't trust that it will auto forward, and have a back up plan, it does 99.999999% of the time. And it's really not even necessary to slam the mags in, though I do, to make sure they seat, you just need to do it forcefully enough to bounce the slide. The mags should be stopped by the basepad from over insertion and that prevents the mag catch or the notch from getting beat up.