Odd .40 Limited magazine problem..

[RevolverJockey]

Ok, so here goes.. today at a match, a fellow witness shooter expereinced a magazine malfunction, the follower shot out the top of the magazine, and an unfired round was bound between the top two coils. We all had our laughs picked up the follower, and set it in the "????" pouch in the range bag and carried on.

Fast forward, I got home tonight and took my mags apart to clean them (first time in about 1,500 rounds or so), the same 4 mags I used all day with no problems or noticeable lack of capacity - all have new springs and only get 20 rounds easily. All were loaded at some point in the past week to 20. Below is a picture of what I found in two of the four. Same problem, same load, same gun, same coil, same orientation, same mag age and usage, you get the idea. Anyone have any idea what causes this and what might fix it?

Tanfo 10mm tubes, Henning pads, Gram followers and whatever spring Henning sell with them. These are barely broken in and are unmodified from the condition I got them in about 2 months ago. As always, any help would be appreciated.

Edited August 16, 2009 by Mitch_Rapp.45

[GrumpyOne]

Yeah, the thingamabob got caught in the whatdoesit and it don't work no more. We need to see the pic to see what you are talking about!

Edited August 16, 2009 by GrumpyOne

[RevolverJockey]

Yeah, the thingamabob got caught in the whatdoesit and it don't work no more. We need to see the pic to see what you are talking about!

Technical difficulties, I have been trying since I posted to upload an image, not working. Everytime I click UPLOAD, it times out and says I didn't select a file. Two different computers and 3 different file formats, file is 540kb. Not sure what is going on. If someone who can upload wants to PM your email address, I can send it to you. Thanks.

Lee

[Glk21C]

I re-sized the picture for Lee, here it is.

[J-Ho]

I didn't know you could ghost load a Tanfoglio.

I've never had the problem, but have seen it on occasion with other Tanfo shooters.

[NoSteel]

Have not had this issue with my mags. It appears that at some point in time the follower is twisting allowing a round to pass by it on the way up which is the lodged in the top coil. Since the follower has no "Legs" it can do this. I was just able to duplicate it on one of my mags with a few rounds loaded and striking the base pad sharply on my bench. Is it possible this happened when the mag was dropped with rounds in it during reload?? Just a guess on my part, and no idea why it would do it.

[RevolverJockey]

Have not had this issue with my mags. It appears that at some point in time the follower is twisting allowing a round to pass by it on the way up which is the lodged in the top coil. Since the follower has no "Legs" it can do this. I was just able to duplicate it on one of my mags with a few rounds loaded and striking the base pad sharply on my bench. Is it possible this happened when the mag was dropped with rounds in it during reload?? Just a guess on my part, and no idea why it would do it.

I talked to Henning today about it, I think it is a combination of the thin footless follower, using a loader, and striking the pad too sharply. I can't I am going to load by hand, but I will be a lot more careful and empty and reload each time to recount rounds.. If one only goes to 19 - I can guess where the 20th is. Henning said he has seen it before, just carefully loads.

Something to keep an eye one.

Lee

Edited August 17, 2009 by Mitch_Rapp.45

[NoSteel]

I've only been reloading to 19 since 20 is very tight and the mags seat very hard. Oddly, I start with my stock nickel mag with the 140mm spring/follower and base pad upgrade and I easily get 21 in that.

[JorDanO]

I had a follower turn over on me during a stage before, I had loaded to 21 with an UPLULA.

[RevolverJockey]

I had a follower turn over on me during a stage before, I had loaded to 21 with an UPLULA.

I am using an UPLULA too, getting the capacity wouldn'y a problem, keep my finger from getting sliced open by the machined rear portion of the feed lips - that is a different story.

Lee

[CHA-LEE]

Mitch_Rapp.45> Take a dremel to the back portion of the magazine feed lips to round off the sharp edges. This will keep most of the flesh attached to your thumbs while loading the mags.

The Grams follower gets cocked sideways and jammed against the side of the mag wall when you load rounds into it. If there is excessive friction between the follower and the mag wall it will turn fully sideways and allow a round to drop below it. I use a "Dry" bike chain lube on the inside of my magazines and it helps a lot with follower to mag wall friction the same for the rounds friction against the mag wall. It is a lot more maintenance to keep them clean and free of dirt and dust though. But the way I see it, that is a small price to pay for 100% reliability.

I bring 8 mags to a match that are all cleaned and lubed up. When I drop a mag in the dirt from a reload, I will decommission it for the day and move onto using the next magazine. Then when I get home I will fully clean up the magazines I dropped in the dirt to get them ready for the next match. Since the feed lip width also very important to proper feeding this is also a good time to double check the feed lip widths and readjust them as needed.