Magazine spring and follower

[funflyer]

I agree. We definitely need to let them know our frustrations but I wonder just how many owners shoot enough to even worry about it.

[Chokejug]

I am in, set the date!

BTW Blackie, shot the 9mm bbl on the RIA 1911!
Nice!  Ran perfect!
It thinks it's a 70 yard gun!

Jug

[SCurmudgeon]

Lube seems to be pretty important too.

Previously I ran between 200 and 250 rounds of American Eagle through mine without any failures or cleaning.  Then I cleaned the gun and was careful not to over-lube it, which is to say, it was probably under-lubed.

For the purpose of these range sessions, I am only putting 5 in the mag, so when the gun is running well I can use the slide lock lever to release the slide.  With reduced pressure on the spring and proper lubrication, the slingshot method isn't necessary.

Last night, when the gun was a bit dry, there were plenty of instances where the slide would get hung up and need a bit of a boost to close when I was manipulating the slide lock lever.  I also had 3 stovepipes out of 20 mags.  The failure always occurred on the last round.

So I'll clean it again tonight, grease 'er up good, and let you know how it goes next week.  Otherwise, my mags seem to be holding their own.

[funflyer]

I also had 3 stovepipes out of 20 mags.  The failure always occurred on the last round.

So I'll clean it again tonight, grease 'er up good, and let you know how it goes next week.  Otherwise, my mags seem to be holding their own.

One of my mags has the same issue with stovepiping the last round and I believe it's caused by a weak spring. The problem mag's spring is 10oz weaker on the last round than the good mags spring.  One way to check if it's a weak spring is to use a spent case under the bottom of the spring when you put the mag together then load 5 or 6 rounds to give it a test. I was going to do this today at the range but forgot to take the problem mag along. It was my 22lr day but took the R51 along anyway just to test the shorter front sight, which worked like a charm being .040" shorter by the way.