Mags won't drop freely

[PastureOfMuppets]

I am having an issue similar with one of mine, for some reason the magazine disconnect is getting in the way of dropping a magazine with a round or more in it. I can see the pin/wire interfering.


If it's magazines being out of tolerance, I have a fix but it's a little brutal. You haven't somehow squashed the magazine well have you?

I pressed mine for a holster and forgot to put a magazine with snap caps in and it squashed the grip/mag well just a tiny bit. The fix is a bit brutal and should be a take it to a gun smith deal, but I'll tell y'all anyway just for interest sake.

I put a couple of wraps of masking tape round the magazine and warmed the inside of the grip with a heat gun... then jammed the magazine in and let it cool down. Once removed, nice smooth magazine drop.

Pure FYI, I'm not recommending it!

 

[George9]

That's a great idea!! George

 

[Rastoff]

You haven't somehow squashed the magazine well have you?

I don't see how a regular user could do this. The polymer is extremely resilient. Unless it is heated, it will retain it's shape.

I could see how you did yours if you were using it to form some Kydex. Most people don't do that.

I put a couple of wraps of masking tape round the magazine and warmed the inside of the grip with a heat gun... then jammed the magazine in and let it cool down.

This is a good idea and I hadn't thought of it before. It's much better than sanding the inside. However, this must be done extremely carefully. Make the magwell too large and you'll have feeding problems.

 

[PastureOfMuppets]

I don't see how a regular user could do this. The polymer is extremely resilient. Unless it is heated, it will retain it's shape.

I could see how you did yours if you were using it to form some Kydex. Most people don't do that.

Yeah, that's why it's more an FIY. There is some metal in there, but it takes a fair bit of pressure - more than sitting on it for sure.

This is a good idea and I hadn't thought of it before. It's much better than sanding the inside. However, this must be done extremely carefully. Make the magwell too large and you'll have feeding problems.[/QUOTE]

I was heavy on the disclaimers for that reason

My worry was moving the sides out might make the front and rear close up, but we are talking a very small amount and the front and back are the strongest parts.

I also found that using some emery cloth on the magazine will just slick it enough and some very light silicon oil helps with a crisp drop.

I have no idea what I am going to do about the magazine disconnect, I actually like it and don't want to take it out... I guess it's going to a gun smith.

 

[CarlMc]

New to this forum, so hi, my name is Carl and my wife only lets me buy S&W handguns now...
That said, after this problem firsthappened to me, on just one of my carry guns (I have a pair of M&P9C's) and it obviously wasn't the magazines, I took a very close look at the problem and I think I understand what's going on.
For starters, it's not the magazine. The tab that engages the follower is slipping off as shown in the photographs. By comparing the two firearms, I realized something important:
It's a subtle manufacturing defect in the way the slide stop is made.

Take the slide off your M&P that you're having the problem with. Now look carefully at how the slide stop part is made. It's a very complex bent piece of sheet metal that has a hook-like feature on both sides that sits over the plastic frame. Look at the right side and note the amount of clearance between the outside of the plastic pocket and the inside of the slide stop tab button thing. Note that it's just a little bit of clearance, but enough that if you push it some, it will move some.
Now look at the left side. You won't see the same amount of room to move. In fact, you'll notice that it actually drags on the frame. This is the cause of the problem. If you were to open this gap up, you'll find that the stop actually moves inwards and the follower tab then moves inward.
Now, the scary part is that you actually need to open the gap up by bending this very hard part, but the since I didn't feel like taking the gun apart, I jammed the slide stop up and used a well worn screwdriver to open the slide stop tab bend gap up, then a pair of pliers to adjust the bend near the tab (forgot which one) which made the aft leg straight relative to the world again.
Back in business.
I know this is hard to explain, but since I only needed to do it once, I didn't take pictures, but perhaps the next person to do this could take pictures. You can take the gun apart, but the problem exists in the interface between the plastic and frame assembly, so it's harder to understand (but easier to fix) with the gun apart.
Commentary?

 

[Rastoff]

Interesting Carl, but you haven't explained how the slide stop causes the mag to stick. Even if the slide stop wasn't installed, the mag should still drop freely.

 

[CarlMc]

Interesting Carl, but you haven't explained how the slide stop causes the mag to stick. Even if the slide stop wasn't installed, the mag should still drop freely.

The slide stop lever has a tab on it that rests on the magazine follower. Because the stop is a little to the left of where it should be, instead of pressing down on the follower (which pushes the mag down so it can drop free) it actually slips off the top of the follower, causing it to be stuck on the side, preventing the magazine from dropping out easily.
It looks like this. Your picture, actually:
http://smith-wessonforum.com/137791151-post28.html

Too many people think they have to modify the magazine follower. Since the problem isn't really the magazine, you aren't solving the root cause.

My adjustment moves the tab to the right about .030" or so which is just enough to keep it from slipping off the follower.

 

[Rastoff]

Yes, the slide stop will put pressure on the follower, but that's not why it does that. It's the follower that puts pressure on the slide stop, not the other way around. The only reason the follower and slide stop make contact is to hold the slide open when the mag is empty. S&W redesigned the follower for this purpose and no other.

Let's take this to the next logical conclusion; cartridges still in the mag. If there is even one cartridge still in the mag, the slide stop will not contact the follower no matter what adjustment you make to it. That's how every semi-auto pistol is designed to work.

So, if the mags are not dropping free, when they have a round in them, it's not due to the slide stop.

 

[MCorps0311]

I had that problem with a couple of my pistols,mag's now dropping freely when I press the release.Thanks for the post!

 

[Boundarywaterz]

Well, this is my experience with this issue, and it just about drove me nuts, the solution is simple. In my case I had new grips on my pistol. It happens that ONE of the screws was protruding into the mag well just a TINY bit. Enough to cause every mag to hang. Hope this helps.

 

[Rastoff]

Boundrywaterz,
I can see that you just joined. Welcome to the forum.

Thanks for the thought, but the M&P does not have any screws associated with the grip. So, it's impossible for this to be an issue in my case.

Also, this thread is almost 7 years old. It's generally considered bad form to drag up old threads like this. It's better to start a new one.