S&W CS40 Oddity

[migoi]

I recently purchased a CS40 and have discovered an odd thing. I was wondering if anyone else has noticed this or if it is a fluke of my particular example.

When I brought it home, I decided to load the magazine to see how difficult that last round or two was to load (a bit difficult but nothing spectacular). When I went to download the magazine I discovered that the third round down would 'stick' in the magazine. After playing with that magazine and verifying the same situation in the other two I was able to determine that the 'sticking' was being cause by two small ridges inside the magazine that are apparently meant to ride in the groove at the base of the cartridge and guide them at the top of the magazine.

All three magazines have this same problem, every third round will hang up when downloading the magazine by hand. A quick tap of the front of the magazine on the palm of my hand allows the cartridges to un-hang and move normally.

I went to the range with it yesterday expecting it to be a jamomatic and was already sorting out my plan of action for calling S&W/ visiting my gunsmith. To my suprise I ran a tad over 200 rounds through it without a single burble. Not once did it fail to feed. My theory is that the recoil acts as the "tap on the palm" that fixed the problem when hand downloading.

Several more trips to the range will be required before I move this gun into the "goes bang everytime" category in my head but I was pleased with yesterdays experience with it.

Has anyone else run into this? Thanks for your time....

migoi

 

[wingman]

I have seen this in other pistols, like the makarov with "certain ammo" often wide nose hollow points that are too long overall and the nose of the bullet will rub on sides of mag causing 3-4 round to hang up. I would suggest try a different ammo to start, round nose if possible.

 

[JBP]

I've never had that problem, or any problem with my CS40. Had to the range yesterday and ran my normal 100 rounds through the two mags that came with it and each round loaded exactly like the one before it.

 

[JNewell]

I think that what you're seeing is that the mags are working as designed under operating condx -- the fact that cartridges hang up when fed without normal recoil isn't really disturbing. Everything I've heard about the CS autos has been very favorable, including their being very tolerant of feeding different ammo configurations, so subject to T&E of your own pistol, I would not worry.

 

[migoi]

Yep, it seems to be ok...

under normal operating conditions. As I said, not a single burble during actual operation, just when I'm sitting on my couch downloading by hand. Just an oddity.

I fully expect my CS40 to run as well as my 5906, if I do my part it always does its. I doubt I'll be disappointed. The only reason I haven't moved it into the "goto" column is that I just got it and don't have the requisite 1000 or so rounds through it that is required before my brain lets me feel make that move.

Thanks to all for the input.

Migoi

 

[fastbolt]

For violent recoiling, subcompact pistols like the CS40 & CS45, S&W uses some additional magazine body indentations to help prevent the top round from being displaced under recoil. During shooting, the increased slide velocities of the decreased mass slides can really create some interesting "timing" considerations, and S&W has engineered their magazines to help mitigate such problems when it comes to .40 S&W and .45 ACP subcompact pistols. The CS9 doesn't require similar magazine designs ...

The increasing tension of a magazine spring during loading, and the increased friction & pressure of the magazine body against the cartridge, using the S&W CS40 magazine design, is probably something that feels new to you ... I know that as I load 6 rounds into my CS45 magazines, it feels a bit different as the magazine spring compresses further with each new round, and I have to overcome the increased pressure of loading each new round past the dimples in the top of the magazine, where they encounter the case rims.

Loading my CS45 magazines creates much the same feeling as what you're describing (if I understand you correctly), and is more difficult than loading my 4513TSW magazines, which are also 6-round magazines, but which lack the additional indentation of the CS45 magazines. Also, in my CS45, the extra machined "dimple" in the magazine body sides creates so much extra pressure against the cases that they'll "stick" down below the lips, at least momentarily, if I decide to manually unload them for some reason. Naturally, manually unloading them is more difficult than unloading the 4513TSW magazines which lack the additional dimples.

I'm not pretending or implying that I can see exactly what you're talking about on your pistol, however ... but I thought I'd offer the info about their CS series, large caliber magazines ...

One thing you might want to consider, depending on how much you shoot, is to order some extra recoil springs for your pistol. Since the CS series uses a single recoil spring, and the larger caliber models generate some respectable perceived recoil, I decided to start changing my recoil springs sooner than I do with my other pistols. I picked somewhere between 800-1000 rounds for my purposes. If I remember right, Kahr recommends a much shorter spring replacement interval with their little subcompacts, too ... and it seemed as though it wouldn't hurt.

The CS series pistols are very underrated. I own both a CS45 & a CS9, and like them both.

If you have any questions or concerns about your pistol, though, you can call and ask to speak to a customer service warranty rep ... they're very friendly folks.

 

[migoi]

Fastbolt

Thanks for the additional information. When I first discovered this quirk about the magazines I was a bit worried because it seemed like a malfunction. After going to the range and having no problems I am no longer worried by it.

I will take your advice and order spare recoil springs. It is my understanding that the CS40 has been discontinued (I couldn't find it on the S&W webpage as currently being offiered) but the CS9 and CS45 are still in production. I'm thinking that those two guns should be in my future somewhere.... just to complete the set.

Thanks again for the information...

migoi