1911 Magazines sticking

[Laughingdog]

Okay, at first I thought my Google-fu was just too weak when i couldn't find any answers to this problem at first. But on talking to someone that compete a lot, his response was along the lines of "Huh, that's weird. Never heard of that before."

So here's the issue. I have a stock Springfield Operator, and I am using CMC Power Mags. I've put about 3000-3500 rounds through it since I started using the Power Mags, and didn't have this problem earlier. About half of the time, after the slide has locked back on the empty mag, I'll hit the mag release and the magazine will only pop out about half-way, so I have to throw it out the rest of the way with my other hand before putting in a fresh magazine. I tried an experiment, and found that if I immediately put that same magazine right back in, that magazine will shoot out like a rocket when I hit the magazine release.

Not sure if this is a heat issue because I'm putting a lot more rounds through it now that I'm starting to get into IDPA, or if it's something else entirely. Has anyone seen this before? More importantly, have they seen it and then figured out how to correct it?

[John Ralston]

Are you letting the mag release button out too soon and catching the upper portion of the mag body?

Have you changed the grips recently? Thinner grips need shorter screws or the end of the screw will protrude into the mag well.

[SecondsCount]

The follower in the CMC mags may be riding forward and catching the inside of the magwell. I really like the ruggedness of the CMC mags but the follower can act a little funky sometimes.

[David Pennington]

This is a common 1911 issue. Most likely the interior portion of the magazine release button needs to be relieved slightly.

Field strip the pistol and look into the magazine well. Now fully depress the magazine release. If, upon fully depressing the release, you see that the side that you are pressing with you thumb protrudes into the magazine well channel, you have found your problem.

The area you see protruding into the magazine well channel needs to be removed so that it can not protrude into the magazine well channel no matter how hard you push.

Another quick test is to insert an empty magazine into the pistol and lightly depress the release. The magazine should shoot out. Now reinsert the magazine and manually hold it in place. Now depress the magazine release as far as you can and then stop holding the magazine in. If it stick, the above issue is your problem.

This issue occurs on more 1911s than not.

[YVK]

All of the above are excellent points. Another, often overlooked, reason is magazine feed lip spread. CMC mags are actually less prone to that, but no 1911 mag is immune.

[Laughingdog]

Half of the magazine is hanging out of the bottom before it catches, and it only happens after firing the last round, so Secondscount's suggestion is seeming the most likely at this point. Unfortunately, if the follower is the issue, I suspect the only fix for that will be new magazines. Since I have slowly built up to having 11 CMC magazines, replacing them all would kind of suck.

I have found before that pressing down too hard, too quickly, on the magazine release will result in the mag not really dropping at all. I trained that one away, since I didn't know how to open up the gun enough to fix it. But obviously what Doug has mentioned is something I need to correct as well. But it's not as likely to be the biggest issue.

[YVK]

Since I have slowly built up to having 11 CMC magazines, replacing them all would kind of suck.
.

Look into Tripp Research upgrades. You'll lose one round from capacity, but get better follower at 1/3 of price of new mag replacement.

[3-7-77]

The follower in the CMC mags may be riding forward and catching the inside of the magwell. I really like the ruggedness of the CMC mags but the follower can act a little funky sometimes.

I have had this issue before and it was traced back to the CMC follower. Shouldn't be an issue with a Wilson mag as their follower doesn't move around in that fashion.

[SecondsCount]

Half of the magazine is hanging out of the bottom before it catches, and it only happens after firing the last round, so Secondscount's suggestion is seeming the most likely at this point. Unfortunately, if the follower is the issue, I suspect the only fix for that will be new magazines. Since I have slowly built up to having 11 CMC magazines, replacing them all would kind of suck.

I have found before that pressing down too hard, too quickly, on the magazine release will result in the mag not really dropping at all. I trained that one away, since I didn't know how to open up the gun enough to fix it. But obviously what Doug has mentioned is something I need to correct as well. But it's not as likely to be the biggest issue.

If the issue is the follower, I would give CMC a call before doing anything and see if they have a suggestion to alleviate the problem.

[JFK]

Are you letting the mag release button out too soon and catching the upper portion of the mag body?

Have you changed the grips recently? Thinner grips need shorter screws or the end of the screw will protrude into the mag well.

In addition if you changed screws to a hex or something like that it is possible that the screw is extending further than the grip bushing. I had this problem when I went to thin grips. You can diagnose this by using a china marker on the mag. Paint it up and see if it is rubbing by where the bushings are. If so back the grip screws off a 1/4 of a turn and see if that fixes it. If not new shorter screws.

1911's can be great carry guns but you learn about these weird little things that will drive you to Tupperware.