Jam-o-Matic Para Ordnance P12-45

[Drakejake]

My 12-45 continues to jam--often. Today I noticed two main types of jams: 1. failure to load into chamber (nose of round gets hung up on feed ramp), and 2. failure to feed a round from the mag (the empty shell is gone but the next round is just sitting in the mag). I started out today using the original recoil spring. But I immediately had jams on the feed ramp and swtiched to the stronger Wolff spring. Then I had a mixture of the two failures described above. I am getting very discouraged with this pistol even though I like everything about it except these jams. Any ideas? The jams occurred with two different 12 round factory mags. My P14-45 was very accurate today and continued its perfect record of never having jammed.

Thanks,

Drakejake

 

[wally]

P12 is the worst!

You need much stronger mag springs. IMHO a stronger recoil spring is probably the wrong way to go -- you need to slow down the slide to give the mag spring time to work. I think Para is using as light a recoil spring as practical to start with. The stronger recoil spring is likely closing the slide before the mag spring can get the round up enough to "catch", hence your new failure mode with the stronger recoil spring.

The full capacity 12 rounders Para is shipping from their "pro shop" are junk!
So I doubt you got better with your gun. Maybe after the AWB expires we can get Mecgar to make good PO mags.

Buy the Wolf Para Ord extra power custom length springs. Cut off 1/2 turn at a time and stop as soon as you can load full capacity and insert it into the gun with the slide forward (requires a firm "slap" on the bottom). If you've only got 10 round mags, P14 extra power springs will probably do the trick without any cutting (there is more free space at the bottom when loaded). A mag loading tool really helps -- I use the one that came with my Taurus PT145.

Also make sure the magazine's interior surfaces are highly smooth and polished, mine had very rough seam welds :-( any hesitation of the rounds moving into position will lead to failures.

Sometimes the feed lips need to be squeezed in a little tighter but I'd not mess with this until you've changed the mag springs, yours might actually need to be opened up a bit if the nose doesn't come up. Can't really tell if the mag spring is not moving the rounds into position in the short time alloted, so fix this problem first.

--wally.


Edit PS:

You can do a little test before spending time and money on mag springs. Load the chamber from the mag and then shoot with 1 round in the mag. If it never jams doing this, the gun is probably OK as are your mag's feed lips.

Also try your P14 mags in your P12 -- I'm betting they will also jam despite working perfectly in your P14 -- as the P14 slide lumbers along compared to the P12.

 

[Drakejake]

Thanks for all the good ideas and suggestions. I tried stronger mag springs but couldn't load all 12 rounds. The original mag springs seem pretty strong. But I will try cleaning and polishing the mag insides.

Drakejake

 

[wally]

If you gun is failing to feed when only a single round loaded into the mag send it and the mags back to PO for warrenty repair. Their customer service is supposed to be very good.


I would say if you can load your P12 mags without a tool, strong as the springs may seem they are probably too weak.

--wally.

 

[JCM298]

I bought a Carry 12 in early April. It came with one 10 round mag. (What happened to the two 12 rounders that were supposedly shipped with it is the subject of a number of posts, e-mails, phone calls, etc. to Para)

I found one used P 12 magazine and ordered two new mags. When the new ones arrived, only one would lock the slide. It was replaced with another new one, and it wouldn't lock the slide.

I ordered new springs from Wolff and now all four mags work perfectly.
I replaced the springs in the two new mags and the used P 12 mag. I used the spring from the used mag in the 10 round mag.

It is hard loading the 12 round mags but I did not cut any of the springs. After about 5 loadings of the mags, it became easier to load them.

Personally, I only cut coils after I've tried everything else,

John

 

[Drakejake]

OK, guys, I just installed three higher power Wolff springs into my P12 mags. I did so with great cursing and gnashing of teeth. I found it very hard to get the followers on the springs. The rest was easy. I was also able to get 12 rounds into each mag. I will head to the range soon and see if this helps. I have also put the original recoil spring back in. I have read that the PO mags are the weak link in the product. (I thought that the P10 was the worst, not the P12. My P14 ihas been great--very accurate and reliable.)


Thanks,

Drakejake

 

[wally]

Personally, I only cut coils after I've tried everything else

The coil cutting I was talking about is for the Wolf "custom" PO mag springs that are extra long and need cutting to fit. Says so on their site when you order them. They are intended for P14 mags with extended base plates, but did the trick for my P12 mags.

--wally.

 

[JCM298]

wally,

I was not aware of the need to cut coils on P 14 mags. I ordered the three spring pack for the P 12/Carry 12.

I hope I didn't offend you. That was not my purpose,

John

 

[wally]

I'm just trying to clear up confusion. Wolf sells extra power P14 mag springs that are the proper length for a P14 mag. They also sell a longer spring for "enhanced capacity" P14 mags with +2 floorplates etc. This longer spring will let you get the maximum force to move the rounds in a P12 (or other) mag once you've "cusomized it. This is what I used in one of my P12 mags. Wolf P12 springs didn't quite do it, a Wolf P13 spring and one of the extra lengths I had on hand along with some interior polishing let me get my P12 mags going right in my gun.

--wally.