Magazine spring and follower

1911SHOOTER · January 12, 2018, 10:57:13 AM

I have noticed that there is no clearance where the spring fits into the mag follower.
The spring can get cocked under the follower and blocks the seventh round!
This is what I now believe anyway.
To get around this, I insert the spring into the bottom of the follower and
while holding the mag vertically I insert the follower and spring into the mag
as a unit. Then when you compress the spring into the mag, the spring
stays inside the follower.
FunFlyer's idea of beveling the inside sharp edges of the follower also helps.
Blackie

R51Fan2017 · January 12, 2018, 09:34:26 PM

Interesting Blackie. I have never noticed that before. Then again, I have never seemed to have that problem with my mags. I wonder if I just got lucky putting them back together or if I just glossed over it. Will have to pay more attention next time.

funflyer · January 13, 2018, 09:51:14 AM

Yep, the entire spring has to compress inside the follower when there's 7 rounds loaded. Initially one of my mags hung up on the last round until I took the excessive twist out of the spring. Worked fine but got even smoother once I beveled the inside edge of the followers. Just because things work good doesn't mean we shouldn't blueprint them so they'll work even better.

1911SHOOTER · January 13, 2018, 03:31:04 PM

I may go down to The range in Killeen that is inside and see how these mods to the
mags #6 & 7 work.
Getting tired of this arctic whatever the Media calls it this week.
Blackie

R51Fan2017 · January 13, 2018, 05:39:29 PM

Quote from: 1911SHOOTER on January 13, 2018, 03:31:04 PM
I may go down to The range in Killeen that is inside and see how these mods to the
mags #6 & 7 work.
Getting tired of this arctic whatever the Media calls it this week.
Blackie

Blackie, its global warming. It isn't cold it's the product of the earth heating up!

GrandpaX12 · January 14, 2018, 07:59:59 PM

Are there photos or video available to illustrate the mag changes people are making?

Chokejug · January 20, 2018, 07:32:58 PM

Quote from: R51Fan2017 on January 13, 2018, 05:39:29 PM
Quote from: 1911SHOOTER on January 13, 2018, 03:31:04 PM
I may go down to The range in Killeen that is inside and see how these mods to the
mags #6 & 7 work.
Getting tired of this arctic whatever the Media calls it this week.
Blackie

Blackie, its global warming. It isn't cold it's the product of the earth heating up!

Yeah, warm snow in all 50 states!
Idiots!

No, I guess they think we are the idiots!

GrandpaX12, there are a few pics around, but most of it is pretty well described.

You have me beat, I am grandpa and even great grandpa, but it barely surpasses 12 when I add up both of them!

1911SHOOTER · January 21, 2018, 05:16:32 PM

Whoopie!
Temp in the low '70s tomorrow, gonna go out and shoot Smokey. Also gonna
eval all 8 mags and keep logs on them. Each mag has different mods on them.
My last mag #8, I got from Big Green has no mods at all. Gonna try it in Smokey first,
then Blackie.
Blackie

R51Fan2017 · January 21, 2018, 06:17:31 PM

Quote from: 1911SHOOTER on January 21, 2018, 05:16:32 PM
Whoopie!
Temp in the low '70s tomorrow, gonna go out and shoot Smokey. Also gonna
eval all 8 mags and keep logs on them. Each mag has different mods on them.
My last mag #8, I got from Big Green has no mods at all. Gonna try it in Smokey first,
then Blackie.
Blackie

Can't wait for a range report on Smokey.

crosstrains · January 22, 2018, 11:14:58 AM

Looking forward to the range report, too. I've modded my magazines as described in these posts, beveling follower legs, trimmed a couple of springs a little to get the 7th round in, and straightened the lip on the front of the mag. Now if I can just get some range time, too!

Chokejug · January 22, 2018, 01:41:51 PM

There it is!
The "haste makes waste" mentality.

Who ever said to "bevel" the follower legs?

And "snipping" spring loops when the problem is more likely the recess in the follower not letting the compressing spring to enter smoothly?

I am a firm believer in doing nothing, until a particular magazine fails to perfom well.

And then, and only then, very carefully try to figure out just what might be causing that particular problem.

Modifying just on account someone else had a problem with theirs is asking for worse problems.

It appears that there is any given number of DIFFERENT problems and just modifying helter skelter may do more damage than good.

I surely hope you had particular reasons to make the said alterations.
And good luck, whatever.

1911SHOOTER · January 22, 2018, 02:19:50 PM

Jug,
I made the modifications to my magazines as symptoms arose. Not each mag
required the same mods. I just got back from a trip to the range, and all 8 of
my mags ran like "Man O' War" in both Smokey and Blackie. I and several others
on this forum have proven out our theories on our own mags.
Blackie

1911SHOOTER · January 22, 2018, 02:27:39 PM

Quote from: R51Fan2017 on January 21, 2018, 06:17:31 PM
Quote from: 1911SHOOTER on January 21, 2018, 05:16:32 PM
Whoopie!
Temp in the low '70s tomorrow, gonna go out and shoot Smokey. Also gonna
eval all 8 mags and keep logs on them. Each mag has different mods on them.
My last mag #8, I got from Big Green has no mods at all. Gonna try it in Smokey first,
then Blackie.
Blackie

Can't wait for a range report on Smokey.

Range Report on Smokey.
Took the Smokey to the range today and ran all 8 mags through it 3 times. Only one failure to feed, and that
was due to my dumb thumb on Blackie Which I also ran all mags through twice. .
In all, 168 rounds through Smokey, and 112 through Blackie.
Oh! And lost one screw and O-ring from Smokey. Guess I need to contact Remington.
All in all, both guns ran like "Man-O-War"!
Blackie

R51Fan2017 · January 22, 2018, 02:37:13 PM

Glad Smokey ran well Blackie! Irritating loosing the grip screw however. Oh, well, at least she didn't blow up. That would have been worse. Loctite should solve your problem though.

crosstrains · January 22, 2018, 03:25:12 PM

Quote from: Chokejug on January 22, 2018, 01:41:51 PM
There it is!
The "haste makes waste" mentality.

Who ever said to "bevel" the follower legs?

And "snipping" spring loops when the problem is more likely the recess in the follower not letting the compressing spring to enter smoothly?

I am a firm believer in doing nothing, until a particular magazine fails to perfom well.

And then, and only then, very carefully try to figure out just what might be causing that particular problem.

Modifying just on account someone else had a problem with theirs is asking for worse problems.

It appears that there is any given number of DIFFERENT problems and just modifying helter skelter may do more damage than good.

I surely hope you had particular reasons to make the said alterations.
And good luck, whatever.

Chokejug,
I didn't do all the modifications at once. Trimming the follower has worked for lot of people both in and outside this forum. When I still couldn't get the 7th round in, I resorted to trimming the spring.

The front lip bend was to alleviate the nosedive I got with all the mags. They are working better when I'm using snap caps.

I don't get to the range very often, so I do the best I can in the workshop trying to get everything working for my trips to the range, then try again after the range. These weren't helter skelter changes.