Sauer 38h jamming

[Remington92]

My grandmother just gave me her dads old Sauer 38h which she said he carried in wwii and hasn't been fired in the last fifty years. After getting the gun home and cleaning it I went out to test fire it. The problem is that it jams every round regardless of which mag I use. It looks almost like the problem is with the breechface or the extractor being to tight. Has anyone ever dealt with these pistols and know how to fix this. Thanks

 

[Remington92]

No one knows anything about the 38h?

 

[dfariswheel]

Here's an exploded view of the Sauer 38H:

http://www.stevespages.com/ipb-sauer-38.html

Assuming the gun is failing to feed??? Possible causes are:

Magazines are dirty/dry:
Disassemble and clean the mags. Apply very light coat of lube on the spring.

Magazines are bad/worn out.
Not much to be done here, new magazines are poor quality replicas when they can be found.

Extractor is dirty/impacted with fouling.
Clean and lubricate.

Breech face is rough.
If the breech face has rough machine marks it can be lightly smoothed by a gunsmith.

Recoil spring worn or in backward.
Replace the recoil spring with a factory spec spring,. NO extra power.
Some springs have a smaller end that goes over the barrel and a larger end that faces the front end of the slide. Make sure it's right way around.

Gun doesn't "like" the ammo.
Some guns just won't work with some ammo. Try a different brand.

Feed ramps rough.
If the ramps are coved with rough machine marks, they can be lightly smoothed by a gunsmith. Repeat: SMOOTH, not polished like a mirror.

How to disassemble the Sauer 38H:

Remove magazine pull down the latch in the upper trigger guard.
Pull the slide to the rear and lift up the rear. Ease slide forward and off the frame.

Remove the grips to access the frame assembly for cleaning and lubrication.

Drive out the pin in the rear of the slide by driving it from the RIGHT side of the slide.

Drive the breech block forward and out of the slide

When reassembling the breech block install the extractor and indicator pin.
Use a short "slave pin" to retain the firing pin.
Drive in the breech block retaining pin from the LEFT side, which will push out the slave pin.

 

[Loosedhorse]

I own one and haven't fired it yet. I think photos would help. Of the type of jam (failure to extract, to eject, or to feed), and of the defects you suspect.

I assume you're using FMJ. Either the recoil spring, the main spring, or ALL the mag springs could be worn, too.

 

[Remington92]

Ok how do I upload pics on here. Also the problem doesn't seem to be with the mags it acts almost like the breech face is two small for the round. When it jams if I drop the magazine I can stick a pencil up through the mag well and push the brass up then the slide goes into battery.

 

[Remington92]

Also no matter how hard I try the breech pin wont come out. It moves I tiny amount and then stops and if lightly touch the pin on the other side it snaps back like some kind of decent is holding it in

 

[Remington92]

This shows how tight a shell locks into the breech face. Don't know if that tells hou anything


Sorry for the bad picture quality

 

[Loosedhorse]

It looks like the round is getting stuck on the loaded chamber indicator. Does it move when you depress it manually, or is it rusted or bent? Does the breechface ramp of the LCI need smoothing? It looks like it is sticking out to far, and presenting a flat ledge for the round to hang up on.

Good photos.

 

[Remington92]

The lci moves freely and if I stick something in over the top of a round and push the lci back the slide doesn't go into battery

 

[Loosedhorse]

If the lci blocks the round's rim moving upward, it will brake the slide. Pushing the lci in at that point may not reduce the jam, because the compression of the recoil spring is minimal at that point and the slide has no momentum.

Other candidates IMHO would be if there is an irregularity in the feed ramp or top of the chamber, weak mag and recoil springs, or--as you said--if the extractor is blocking the rim's movement up.

I'm still thinking lci. I wonder if you can manually expose it, place some tape on the exposed portion of the lci at the back of the slide to keep it in that position, and see if (with the lci out of the way for a shot or two, before the tape gives), it no longer jams.

 

[Remington92]

Ill give that a try and see if it helps at all

 

[Remington92]

Ok after holding back the lci the round still wouldn't go into battery. Like I said in the one picture above is the shell supposed to be wedged into the bolt face that tight. When I slid a round up into the bolt face it took more force than expected to kick it out the ejection port.

 

[Loosedhorse]

Well, I think you've convinced me. Extractor's looking like the culprit. Maybe got that way by someone dropping the slide a few times on a loaded chamber. eek Not sure how best to address it.

 

[Master Blaster]

Is it 9mm parabellum, or 9mm Kurz, marked on the slide?

Edit they were only made in 32 acp, and .380 9mm Kurz.

 

[Remington92]

It it 32 acp