1911 mag help

[XDKingslayer]

I need a class on tuning 1911 magazines. My buddy has a SA GI double stack 1911 and has two magazines from SA, both are Mecgar mags. One of the mags jams two to three times each load. The other runs flawlessly, so it's obviously the mag.

I've heard you need to adjust the feed lips, but I can see no difference between the two, but what happens is that the slide comes back, ejects the spent round, and that starts to travel forward and then stops with the round about 1/4 the way out of the mag. Pull the slide back, let it fly, and it chambers the round fine.

There are no visible impact marks on the magazine from the slide, and I didn't think of looking for out of the ordinary nicks and scrapes on the round itself.

 

[1911Tuner]

Mags

Dunno about doublestacks, but with the standard set-up, nose diving on the top round is generally either the fault of the spring...weak...or the follower angle.

 

[Azrael256]

Spring, no question.

The Mec-Gars that come with Springfield double-stacks have weak springs. Using the factory mag, I have seen two hi-cap GIs (one was mine) hiccup while feeding and fail to fully lock the slide. Stop using them pronto before the slide locking problem raises a burr on the corner of the slide stop notch and scrapes a nasty gouge out of the top of the frame. Ask me how I know about that

The two mags I ordered NIB from Mec-Gar had springs of identical design, but they were about 1/2" longer. I measured before loading a single round into any of them.

If you don't want springs straight from Mec-Gar (which may be expensive, I dunno), you can use Wolff's Para P14 springs with a slight modification. You can also order aftermarket P14 followers so you don't have to modify anything.

 

[XDKingslayer]

Thanks, I'll relay all this to him.

I wouldn't doubt it being weak springs. I was suprised at how easy it was to load those mags compared to my XD mags. You're lucky to get the last round in an XD mag.

 

[Azrael256]

A thought occurs to me... Tell your friend to call MecGar about it. I'll bet they'll be willing to make it right. I've dealt with them a few times, and they seem like great folks.