Mag Issue

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D.B. Cooper

D.B. Cooper

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Brand new, just out of the box, Mec-Gar, Made in Italy Beretta 92 magazine. smh. Loading it with an uplula loader. After the 9th or 10th round, it seems as though the follower sticks and doesn't want to take anymore ammo. I end up with the top 2-3 rounds loose in the magazine. shake the mag and the top round will fall out. Tip it upside down and 1-2 rounds will come out. Smack it against something and the follower will move up and put tension on the the top round. I can kind of force a couple more rounds in and then it will take the remaining 5-6 rounds. Once loaded, it feeds fine in the gun.

It's brand new, but I bought it over a year ago and don't have a receipt, so I own it. What can I do with this?
 
Funny you mention that. I just got a half dozen Mecgar 9mm 1911 mags, and have something similar going on with a couple of them. With those, the first 3 rounds load fine, but if it weren't for the Maglula, getting past that, is very difficult. Once past it, seems to be OK. Feels like the springs are binding.

I have a bunch of their mags for different guns, including Beretta 92 mags, and never had an issue.
 
My Beretta PX4 mags had a lot of preservative/packing grease/goo on them, enough that it was impeding the follower's movement in the tube. I disassembled the mags and cleaned them out. They function fine now.
 
Surprised to read that OP didn't disassemble to see what is going on. If follower is binding due to mag constriction, wedge apart or contact company. If there is goop inside, clean it out. If spring has issues, request replacement. If follower is tilting or apparently out of spec, contact company.
I agree, none of this should be necessary, but we are living in strange times and resourcefulness is more important than ever. Mec-gar has had an excellent reputation, but stuff happens on every manufacturing line and transport adds potential problems.
 
You need to disassemble the mag and try different ammo. It's entirely possible a 10 round mag got put in the wrong packaging (I'm assuming it's supposed to be larger than a 10-rounder).

I've had issues similar to yours. Things I have found:
*Pinched mag body - this can be harder to detect externally than you might think
*Bullet length too long for the mag (but only part way down)
*Wrong parts installed in mag body - variation on a theme, mag is actually built for 10 rounds
*Binding spring (I've never seen this on a MecGar)
 
I have had, occasionally, issues similar to what the OP describes when first loading a new double-column pistol magazine. In my case, the issues have never recurred after that first loading.

I would break the mag down, clean the follower and the inside of the mag body, maybe wipe the inside with a silicone cloth once it was clean, reassemble and see if the problem persisted.
 
More than likely, it is the packing grease from the factory that has hardened over time.

In any case, you can't really diagnose what the problem might be without first disassembling the mag and cleaning it. Make sure you get all the grease off the spring and the follower. I'd soak the stripped magazine tube in alcohol overnight and blow it out with an air hose before running a magazine brush through it
 
Thanks for the reminder! just got in 4 (10mm) metgar mags, better load them to test.
 
I pulled one of the 1911 mags I have trouble with loading apart. Nothing looks out of the norm, mag body looks fine, spring looks fine, and the couple that are hard to load all run fine once they are loaded.

One thing I noticed on all the mags is, they all have three evenly spaced punched dimples (outside to inside) down the backside against the spine of the mag. Nothing major or deforming, but maybe the spring hangs up on one as its being forced down as its loaded.

Its definitely doing it, and with the couple of mags that do, at the same point, round three. Once you get past that, they load as you would expect and without the need of any help.

I have seven of these mags, and the last three, which are the only ones that seem to have the issue, were bought at the same time, at the same place. Im guessing its a lot run, and has something to do with those dimples. New tooling, slightly softer steel, this and that, who knows?

Its annoying, but Im not to worried about it, as these are range mags and I load them with a Maglula anyway, which, with a little extra effort, gets you by the third round thing. I have a feeling, once they've been shot a bit, it will probably go away, but, we'll see.
 
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