My G20 Problem: I Created It

[WrongHanded]

My Glock G20.4 is relatively new....to me. But it was a range rental prior to that. It didn't see much use though and looked almost new when I bought it.

Being a lefty, I promptly switched the magazine catch/release around. That gave me new mating surfaces on both the magazines and the catch, so they were like new. But I found that due to the magazine release protruding so far from the frame and the relatively small travel distance needed to disengage it, I would occasionally bump a magazine loose, which isn't good at all. So I re-profiled it like this:



This seemed to solve any issues with accidental bumping of the release, though my confidence in it was still less than ideal. But the problem stopped and all was good. That is, until a few days ago.

The two original mags I got with the gun promptly became range mags and were marked appropriate. Well earlier this week I went to the range and worked some drills, which include frequent reloading. But I start getting failures to feed, failures to eject (stove pipes), and the magazine dropping part way out. Obviously cause for concern. At home I noticed this:


Not that bad, but not great. So I go back to the range today to work on some things, including reloads because I thought maybe I was doing something wrong (my log book says I hadn't shot it since March). And to give myself some confidence that the gun wasn't all screwed up somehow. And what happened was .....this magazine just kept falling out of the gun! Sometimes part way, but a couple times it fell out completely and hit the floor. I'd fire one round, and it would just drop. Turns out the other magazine worked just fine though.

So I get home, and inspect the magazine catch/release. Peering into the frame, it looked a little worn where it contacts the magazine body, so I decide to replace it with a spare I have. And when I do the catch/release spring looks funky. I pull it out and find this:


All of my problems caused by a bent magazine catch spring. And I can almost guarantee that I bent it when I switch the release around! What an idiot!

Fortunately I also had a spare one of these, and replaced that too. Problem solved. The magazine release is also significantly stiffer to depress now, which is thoroughly unsurprising.

 

[Col. Harrumph]

Gotta admire a man who admits his mistakes to himself... and to his critics.

 

[WisBorn]

Thanks for sharing your experience.
The magazine releases on some of the Glock models can be a pain for lefties. Watched a lefty dropped the magazine on a 45acp with every shot on a range rental.

 

[a5werkes]

The Glock magazine catch spring is difficult to manipulate when the magazine catch has to be replaced or reversed. The spring tip is nestled in a very small notch in the backside of the catch. A small profile right angle hook tool is handy and can be fabricated from an inexpensive set of small screwdriver blades @ Harbor Freight. Place the 1/2 the shaft of the flat blade screwdriver in a vise and tap with a hammer to desired angle; cut the notch with a Dremel tool. The S&W M&P pistols have a similar style magazine catch spring except the top 1/4" of the spring is exposed in the magazine well, so rather than grab it with needle nose pliers, I use a short piece of 1/8" steel hobby tubing, slide it over the spring to manipulate it in / out of its notch. No marring of the partwith pliers and doesn't bend the spring, which can happen. Can never have too many forked tools on the bench.

 

[BigBlue 94]

Gotta admire a man who admits his mistakes to himself... and to his critics.

If one says he doesnt make mistakes, he is a lying S.O.B.!

 

[FROGO207]

If one says he doesnt make mistakes, he is a lying S.O.B.!

Recovering gracefully is an art LOL.