Problems Handling New Gun

[Tweaker]

I've just moved from shooting L-10 with a G35 to Single Stack with a SA TRP. I have a couple questions. How in the world do You get the mags out of this thing in a timely manner? They don't just fall free like I'm used to. Am I missing something or is it just a fact of life I have to live with. I have to shake the gun back and forth as I reach for the new mag and hope that it falls free. Maybe I need a tungsten base pad

[open17]

Something is not right. Mags should clear the TRP faster than the G35.

Does it do it with ALL of your mags? If so it could be the gun. Tight magwell, mag

release pushing through too far and dragging on mag? "Paint" a mag with a magic marker. Insert/remove and look for the shiny spot.

If it's not all of the mags, it's probably an out of spec mag tube. Same drill, look for the mark and adjust as needed.

[Guy Neill]

If the magazines are not falling freely, you need to find the area that is binding and eliminate it. Take te slide off and insert the magazines looking for areas of contact. The trigger bow is often rubbing and can be adjusted.

There can also be problem with the magazine catch. Check if it is releasing cleanly. There can be instances where the magazine catch is pushed in so far taht it grabs teh magazine and interferes with it dropping. Check that out as well.

Another area that can be a problem is the grip screw escrutchions. If they are protruding to far into the magazine well area, they can bind the magaazine. This should be fairly evident by markings on the magazines.

In the old days, before the magaazine quality was as good as today, we commonly used fine sandpaper or stones to smooth up the magaazine bodies to allow their falling freely. That shouldn't be an issue today.

You didn't mention waht magazines you are using. There are also cases where the magazine feed lip area have spread apart so that it causes drag in the magazine well as the magazine falls.

Guy

[Tweaker]

There is no bind on the mags. Because it's not a slick plastic finish, they just don't fall out as easily. I'm using the stock mags which are Mecgar, as well as a couple from CMC. They are all new. They have all been upgraded with followers and springs from Tripp.

Edited April 12, 2006 by Tweaker

[lynn jones]

i'm no expert on glocks, but i have a g22 and some of the older mags were designed not to drop freely. the newer ones i have now work great.

lynn

[Guy Neill]

Glad to hear the magazines are not binding. However, if they are not binding, they should fall free easily.

Does the problem occur with empty magazines, magazines with a couple of rounds left in them, or what? Our test in the past was to be certain the empty magazines would drop freely with the slide locked open.

If the problem is with magazines with a round or two remaining, it could be the top round was slightly pushed forward when the round above it was chambered. The top round would then need to be pushed back in the magazine before it would allow the magazine to drop freely.

Guy

[Flexmoney]

Am I missing something or is it just a fact of life I have to live with.

You are missing something. And, no...you don't have to live with it.

The 1911 mags ought to jet out of the gun in comparison to the Glock mags. Something is holding them up.

[Tweaker]

I guess a little inspection is in order. Maybe after I finish my taxes tonight:) I appreciate all your input.

[iweiny]

I don't think this is your problem but sometimes I get lube/dirty lube down the mag well and this can cause the mags to stick. I have a mag brush which I run in the mag well and I use gun scrub to clean the mags so they are completely free of any chemicals...

Also, although I am not an expert on mag tuning sometimes when I am dry firing the force of a mag hitting the floor will cause my dummy rounds to push up and make the "lips" of the mag flare out. I have to bend them in... BUT be careful as if they are to tight it will cause feed issues...

Again I am not a gun smith, just sharing what happens with my Single stacks,

Ira

[XRe]

The 1911 mags ought to jet out of the gun in comparison to the Glock mags. Something is holding them up.

+1 My SS mags fly out of the gun, even compared to S_I mags in my race gun...

I had a binding problem in my Trojan when I first got it - turned out that the frame area just below the trigger bow was the problem - slightly oversized. A little time with a file corrected that....

[bountyhunter]

I've just moved from shooting L-10 with a G35 to Single Stack with a SA TRP. I have a couple questions. How in the world do You get the mags out of this thing in a timely manner? They don't just fall free like I'm used to. Am I missing something or is it just a fact of life I have to live with. I have to shake the gun back and forth as I reach for the new mag and hope that it falls free. Maybe I need a tungsten base pad

Mecgars should drop like shot ducks out of any 1911 frame thats in spec.

I did get some CMC mags that had to be filed on the backside because the dragged a bit in my STI.

One thing to check: a common cause of "mag dragging" is the mag release itself. If it is pushed "too far", it will release the mag then drag on it.

I have an oversized mag release that did this and I ended up shimming under the head of the button to limit how far it got pushed in. Just far enough, perfect drop. Too far, the mag drops part way and hangs up.

[Catfish]

One thing to check: a common cause of "mag dragging" is the mag release itself. If it is pushed "too far", it will release the mag then drag on it.

I have an oversized mag release that did this and I ended up shimming under the head of the button to limit how far it got pushed in. Just far enough, perfect drop. Too far, the mag drops part way and hangs up.

+1. Could just be how you're pushing the button! I've noticed folks switching from one platform to another have the same problem on occasion. Sometimes it would seem if they pushed the mag release all the way, and didn't release it, or released the mag release too quickly, it would bind up on the new mags. Would be an easy fix and the first place I'd check before you start with the dremel.

[Loves2Shoot]

Might be just me, but I sand the inside (where the magazine goes) with 300 grit then 600 grit sand paper to a fine polish after making sure it has no friction points.

I have found that sometimes the sear spring tab is too long or the trigger bow is not fitted properly and drags on the mag, so visualy inspect the well with the slide off and a full mag as well as and empty mag. The mags should fall freely with both.

Any drag is bad IMO. sometimes I sand/file the mags too if there is a high spot. When you get fast the falling mag may have only cleared the magwell by an inch or two before the new one is on it's way in, so anything that slows the ejection of the mag can cause really bad things to happen.

[Harmon]

if i hold my single stack anywhere away from vertical, the mags come out slowly.

many other times a 1911 ejects a mag slowly is when the grip screw bushings are rubbing on the mags and the trigger bow...perhaps the magazine catch is binding on the mag tube..

[lynn jones]

dude... do what john daily does.. just grip it and rip it

lynn

[stockton]

Most likely, its either the trigger bow dragging the mag or the mag catch.

Take the mag catch OUT of the gun. Do the mags have resistance/drag going into and out of the grip? They should have NONE. If they do, its most likely the trigger bow. Pull it and check it out of the gun. Does it bind on the mags? If so, reshape and reassemble. If not...

Put the mag catch back in. Carefully press it in PARTIALLY. Can you press it in so that there is some point where there is no dragging? If so, you will need to GENTLY recontour the catch where is grabs the mag. What is happening is you are pressing in the button far and fast enough that it is releasing the mag, but binding on the otehr side as it pushes through.

One other thing to check is your sear spring tab. There is a tab that inserts into a small slit in the frame (in the backstrap, under teh mainspring housing). Does that tab push thorough too much where it is dragging the mag? If so, file a bit off the make sure it is flush inside the grip (mag chute).

Hope that helps...

[Shadow]

Another thing you might check is that the tab on the sear spring is not sticking slightly through the back of the magwell (the slot about a half inch up from the bottom of the magwell).

[Newguy]

Take out the sear spring and see if the mags drop freely. If they drop easily, then the sear spring is the problem. IME, two things have affected mags not dropping free -- the sear spring pushing out of the back of the frame and binding the mags, and the mags rubbing on the trigger bow. Some sear springs simply won't work right in some guns since the back slat on these guns are cut too wide.

[Flyin40]

I just went through this. For me it ended up being the trigger bow. The mags were rubbing on the bow. Just took it apart and widened the trigger bow some. Took care of the problem. I built a single stack over the winter and had to do alot of filing and used alot fo sandpaper to get it to drop free. I inserted the mag in the Caspian lower and it wouldn't drop free with no other parts in it, no trigger bow, no mag catch etc. Hit it with a file on he sides and back and then used sandpaper until it didn't drag anymore. I used a dowel rod and a small piece of wood and just wrapped sandpaper around them and used it to rub down inside the magwell on the sides/back and the dowel rod on the front. I also used the blue marker to color the mag and find the high spots.

If you bought yours already complete from the factory it shouldn't need a file at all, maybe just some sandpaper to clean it up a bit.

Flyin40

[raz-0]

There is no bind on the mags. Because it's not a slick plastic finish, they just don't fall out as easily. I'm using the stock mags which are Mecgar, as well as a couple from CMC. They are all new. They have all been upgraded with followers and springs from Tripp.

It has nothing to do with a slick plastic finish or not. I shoot a trp operator, and unless I let my mags or gun get really dirty all my mags (and those I have borrowed) drop free.

Things that have screwed up the drop-freeiness for me.

1)Putting on the pierce undergrip to get finger grooves. They have a thin rubber insert you put under the grip, and they were getting squished in enough to cause drag.

2)Using too long screws. I had a set of hex-head screws I purchased that when used with a mid-thickness grip protruded too much. A dremel tool to the screw fixed that. (also had essentially the same situation with ultr-thin grips an thin-grip screws that werent short enough.

3)When new, I had some crud stuck in with the mag catch that kept it from operating right, and mags would hang up and have to be pulled out.

4)Bad mag tube. One of my CMC 10 rounders has a slight s-shape to it. This mag would never drop free unless empty, and even then it hung up about 60% of the time.

5) rough spots on aftermarket mag catch. I switched ot an aftermarket mag catch. It looked like it was MIM and has a rough spot where it was injected. SOme sandpaper fixed that.

the magick marker on stainless mags trick worked very well for tracking these problems down.