SA 1911 Won't take full mags.

[Mr Kablammo]

Hello All,
any advice here? I have a LNIB Springfield Armory 1911 that won't take full mags with the slide forward. If I fill an 8-rounder to 8 it won't go in the last 1/4 inch w/o a hard shove. Seven bullets in an 8-round works fine. Same with a 7-round magazine. With seven bullets the mag has to be shoved hard to fit. If the slide is back, it fits fine.

A guy at the gunstore said its an easy fix. Another at the range said it just has to be worn in. What is the verdict?

 

[Ewok_Guy]

That's how they're suppose to fit. You'll get used to it.

 

[Old Fuff]

1. Field strip your pistol and then put the slide stop back into the frame. Insert the different magazines and see if they hang up. With the slide assembly out of the way you should be able to see what’s going on.

2. Make sure a too-long grip screw isn’t catching on the magazine

3. If the magazines go in O.K. then the magazine spring and/or follower may be at fault. See what happens if you substitute a spring from a 7-round magazine in an 8-round one.

4. If nothing seems to work contact the manufacturer. Most likely they'll know what too do.

 

[Andrew Wyatt]

how hard a shove?

I load all of my magazines with 7 rounds under any and all circumstances anyway, but my 7 round colt brand magazines don't slide in without resistatance, but don't require a particularly hard shove.


my 8 round wilson, on the other hand, requires i flip the pistol upside down and press on the floorplate with my thumb quite briskly.


with seven rounds it goes in easy.

 

[Soap]

Take 1K rounds through you gun and the mag and call us in the morning Mags need a little extra shove for the last fraction of an inch. My 1911 is the same way.

 

[goon]

It comes from the extra space that that one more .45 round takes up. The spring can compress a little more with the 7 round mag, or with only 7 in the 8 rounder. When the top round hits against the bottom of the slide, there is nowhere for it to go, hence the resistance.
I just got three Wilson 8 rounders that do the same thing. They do go in, but it takes a little more effort.
The best way to eliminate that is to stick with 7 round mags.
They are generally more reliable anyway, on account of the fact that they have a longer follower.
The Wilsons have a plastic follower, and they seem pretty good, but I have seen others that really suck.

 

[cratz2]

Over on the 1911forum we see this question from time to time. My reposonse is always, 'Does it need this hard shove when inserting the full magazine with the slide is retracted, or just when the slide is fully in battery?'

All my 1911s need a bit of force to load with the slide down. With the slide back and depressing the mag catch, even 8 rounders loaded with 8 rounds fit with relatively little effort.

 

[Mr Kablammo]

With the slide back so that the slide release is aligned with the notch on the slide, the mags slide right in. It is only when full that a mag needs some effort to fit that last 1/4 inch. It seems to be a normal occurence. Usually I just load one bullet less than the capacity of the mag. Recently I was shooting competition and needed all 8 bullets for each release and reload.

Andrew, your description seems most appropriate to the situation.

 

[Jim Watson]

Insert excess capacity magazines (8x.45, 10x.38) or even fully loaded standard mags under a closed slide with a manly push of the heel of the support hand. That is, ram it in HARD. You will not hurt anything (except maybe your hand, that is what those little pads for the bottom of the magazine are for.)

Sorry, Andrew, I just have trouble visualizing you turning your gun upside down and seating the magazine with your thumb. I was taught to maintain a firing grip on the gun at all times and to handle the magazine with the off hand. Guy in my IDPA club shifts the pistol to his left hand to rack the slide to load or unload. Drives me nuts.

 

[Lone_Gunman]

This is normal for some mags, especially new ones.

There is nothing to fix here, just give it time.

Load a mag full with 8 rounds and let it sit for a few days, and I bet you won't have this problem anymore.

I have seen this with Glocks as well as 1911s.

Don't worry about it, don't try to "fix" anything, and there isnt any need to call the manufacturer.

 

[SodaPop]

New mags? They'll break in. Just slap it in harder. I had that problem when I started carrying 8+1 in my 1991.

 

[cratz2]

Am I missing something? Except on rare occasions, why would you need to insert a full magazine into a 1911 with the slide fully in battery? If you're loading the pistol to shoot it, then retract slide, insert loaded magazine and drop the slide. If you're getting it loaded up for long term storage where you happen to want the gun to be ready to go after pulling the slide back and dropping it, then the one time shove shouldn't be much to worry about.

 

[Jim Watson]

I don't know about Mr K but I am shooting IDPA and I am required by the rules to have a loaded chamber and a FULLY loaded magazine for any stage that requires or might require a reload.

 

[cratz2]

Oh... well... I hadn't considered that. I was thinking more real world, non competition situations.

 

[JPM70535]

This happens with a lot of pistols of all different manufacture. I have a S&W 40 TSW that requires extreme force to seat the magazine loaded to its nine round capacity. Once seated, it works just fine, and that's the bottom line.