Mauser HSc assistance, please!

[lrrifleman]

Greetings!

I have recently acquired an Interarms Mauser HSc in 380 ACP, and managed to get to the range for it's maiden trip Sunday a week ago. While I admire the accuracy at 5 yards, I experienced some very disheartening failures. According to specifications, this pistol should load 7+1.

When I loaded 7+1, I experienced a combination of FTE/FTF with almost every shot. When I downloaded the magazine to 6 rounds, I had FTF just about every other shot (bullets jammed nose down in the magazine) and an FTE on about every third round. I was using Sellier & Bellot ammo with the 92gr (?) FMJ bullet.

I had read of shooters experiencing difficulties with their Interarms HScs, but I am convinced that these are issues that can be overcome.

Typically, when I got an FTE, it seemed as though the slide "short stroked". It could be this, or the S&B ammo was under powered.I don't think that the recoil spring is too heavy for the ammo.

With respect to the FTFs, and the fact that most of the rounds "nosedived" as the slide stripped the round from the magazine leads me to believe that the magazine springs need to be replaced. What is inflicting a degree of doubt on that suspicion is that it is occurring with all 3 Mauser magazines (not all came with the pistol.

While I suspect that a spring pack from Wolff may correct the issue, I was hoping to hear from any other forum members owning the Mauser HSc that may have experienced these problems. Ideas from all are welcome!

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[walter o]

re the mags marker with the trade mark of mauser ? I have not had that problem with mine but do use ball ammunition.Hope the feed lips on the mags are n't bent .I did remove 1 coil from the hammer spring .
Guess i am not much help

 

[moosedog]

Try another factory original magazine. I've got several of the HSC's and have owned others and never had any problems like your experiencing.
Factory mags are marked Mauser as the previous poster says.

 

[lrrifleman]

Walter, all comments are welcome! These are bona fide Mauser manufactured magazines. Feedlips are good.

When I just disassembled a magazine, I noticed that on the top coil there is a bend resembling a giraffe's neck. I suspect that this could be a major contributor to my problem. This could be shifting the fulcrum point on the follower.

 

[lrrifleman]

Try another factory original magazine. I've got several of the HSC's and have owned others and never had any problems like your experiencing.
Factory mags are marked Mauser as the previous poster says.

Moosedog, I have 3 factory original Mauser magazines. At $70+ a copy, I can't/won't drop more money on magazines. I am having similar results with all 3.

 

[JohnRippert]

I am assuming that you cleaned the pistol and magazines while applying fresh lube?

I do not believe that you have a magazine problem since it happens with 3 disparate mags.

I have one but it is pretty much a safe queen since it is in pristine condition. I have not fired it and do not plan to, so I am not much help with function knowledge.

 

[LVSteve]

I would be surprised if S&B ammo was underpowered. Try and pick up some Fiocchi, that has been 100% for us in several pistols. I would be tempted to get new mag springs anyway.

 

[27 Man]

I had one too. It was a .380 and was a jam-o-matic with both magazines. Had the box, manual and other paperwork as I recall. Traded it for a near mint pinned model 10 with box.

 

[2152hq]

Walter, all comments are welcome! These are bona fide Mauser manufactured magazines. Feedlips are good.

When I just disassembled a magazine, I noticed that on the top coil there is a bend resembling a giraffe's neck. I suspect that this could be a major contributor to my problem. This could be shifting the fulcrum point on the follower.

I'm thinking the mag spring is installed up-side-down..

...'Giraffe's neck' sounds like the small sharp bend to the short section of the end of the mag spring wire that is supposed to be at the bottom of the magazine to hold the floor plate in place.

I'm not familiar with the post war Interarms edition HSc.
If the magazines are like the WW2 HSc, the floor plate of the magazine is held in place by the end of the magazine spring. The single short tail of the mag spring wire is bent less than 90* and it sits in a slot in the floor plate and mag body side rail.


The top end is a full loop of the mag spring wire that fits under the follower. The high end of it faces the front and keeps the front end of the follower up. The follower as a leg underneath at both the front and back to guide it smoothly up and down the front and back spine of the mag inner walls.

If the mag spring is in upside down,,the follower will dive downward a bit at the front from lack of spring pressure.
The little bent piece of spring meant to keep the floor plate in place can drag on the inner wall if it skips outside of the underside of the follower in this upside down install.

The loop at the other end will put pressure on the floor plate and hold it in position fairly well. But the floor plate can be pushed out of position and off of the mag body with some effort..

If the feed lips are turned downward just a bit especcially at the front end of them,,the cartridge being stripped off will nose dive as it trys to run underneath the narrower opening betw the lips.

The Mauser marked magazines in Interarms mfg pistols are most likely made for Mauser by some other company or companys. Just a fact of modern mfg'g.

First I'd make sure the mags are assembled correctly and work smoothly.

If that doesn't do it,,

Then I'd try some other ammo. Stick with some FMJ perhaps.
Then if still having the same problem I'd take one of the magazines and try adj the feed lips to get the rds from diving down on feeding.
Remember that semiautos rarely work correctly when manualy operated in slow motion. But you can often see where a problem is by carefully watching the operation over and over.

About all I can think of...

 

[Andyd]

The Mauser HSC was developed for .32ACP and works well with a broad array of .32 ACP ammo but like the Walther PP/PPk, the HSC is picky when it comes to ammo in .380 ACP.

 

[lrrifleman]

I am actually impressed by the floorplate lockup! It is rather impossible to install the magazine spring backwards with that little locking pigtail!

If you look at the picture, the top partial coil has a pronounced lift up, which I suspect has weakened the spring.

 

[Erich]

Walter, all comments are welcome!

Well, I sincerely wish you the best of luck. My WWII .32 HSc worked perfectly, but the next Mauser .380 HSc I hear of functioning properly will be the first. Of course I've only been around them for maybe 35 years, so I may have missed something . . . I sure hope you can get it to work. I got excited and tried and tried with one a few years back, but no joy.



And S&B would be my go-to: I've chrono'd that as hotter than everything else for a couple decades now.

 

[Scharfschuetzer]

Mauser HSc

I hope that you get to the bottom of your problem. I too have an Interarms Mauser HSc and I have never had a jam with it... with either of the two mags that came with it. That said, I've only used factory 380 FMJ bullets in it.

 

[Walter Rego]

I have a 1970 vintage Mauser HSc in .380. I have owned it since around 1976 and can't ever remember a jam with any brand of FMJ that I tried, with either the flat floorplate or finger rest floorplate mags that came with it.

Hollow points are another story. The only ones I can remember working were the old Remington loads with a small hollow point and a bullet profile that resembled a round nose FMJ. They probably wouldn't expand much. Any jams I got with hollow points were failures to feed.

 

[clsimmon]

I too have a Mauser HSc Super that I got from my grandfather. It's been shooting great, then all of a sudden upon a mag reload my slide would not chamber upon the clip re-insertion.

After further investigation there is a magazine safety bar that seems to have several functions 1) magazine ejector 2) trigger safety if magazine is absent 3) when slide is pulled back gun will chamber when magazine is inserted.

What I don't understand is that for some reason my mag is no longer pushing this bar up (orange) enough to release the slide lock (red) to chamber. Nothing appears to be bent. In order to release the slide I have to remove the magazine and lift this tab manually through the ejector. Any ideas what the problem could be? It's as if my magazine has shortened an 1/8".

 

[bgrafsr]

My HSc was made in 1943.

 

[Vistula]

I've owned several .380 HSc's over the years from Interarms and have occasionally experienced the same problem. One of the ways I've had success fixing it since it's a locked breech instead of a simple blow back, is making sure there are no burrs or mill marks on the feed ramp of both the barrel and frame. Set the barrel in place on the frame feed ramp and you may see a problem. I generally polish the feed ramp and that usually fixes the problem. Much like the Interarms Walther PPK's, they are ammo sensitive. Ball ammo is the best, but I've had good luck with Remington Golden Sabers. Another problem I've found which can cause FTF are weak magazine springs. Wolff offers a replacement in a +5% which I would recommend.

Interesting side note is H&K's P4 is modeled after the HSc. Good luck!