Hi,
I purchased 4 new in box (current stock) S&W magazines for my model 41 and they won't stay in the gun. One of them seem sot want to stay - but that is tight in the mag well and that might just be helping it to stay in (its not jammed in but i have to pull the mag out).
Sometimes they (the 4 new mags) click in but as soon as I release the slide forward the mag drops out. (like it has something to do with the magazine disconnect mechanism or the "shock" of the slide causes the mag catch to disengage from the magazine slot...)
I have not done this when firing it - but there appears to be an issue with the mags.
I have 2 magazines that came with the firearm and they do stay in and shoot without dropping out- they feel a lot more like they are fitting in the magwell.
I have done a load of measurements with a Vernier callipers and can't see any thing inconsistent between the old and the new. (one of the old mags is one with a metal follower.)
Both the working mags have only a small slot for the magazine catch. this is mainly on the side of the magazine where it mates with the slide catch. (i.e. old magazines).
The new magazines have a slot that goes around from the side to the front of the magazine.
I was also looking at the thickness of the old vs new mags- the new don't seem to be any looser in the mag well than the old. But maybe they are a small bit?
There is a small protrusion (above the magazine follower button) on all magazines where the magazine disconnect seems to engage. It might be my imagination - but this protrusion on the right hand side at the top - on the side (like its crimped outwards of the magazine tube) seems to be a little smaller on the new magazines than on the old magazines. That the little hook from the disconnect mechanism doesn't appear to fully seat into this crimped out notch (if your getting my description).
My other thoughts are that the slot (on the magazines) mentioned before that engage with the firearms magazine catch needs a small bit of filing to fit as maybe the magazine catch is not fully seating into the slot?
Or if I could somehow widen the body of the magazine tube this could help seat the magazine in the mag well better (get rid of any play ?) and this could aid the magazine catch fully engaging.
Or my worst nightmare would be that the magazine catch (in the firearm) is worn (but then the two old mags would not feel as solid in the mag well???). How the heck would I dissemble the mag release and catch??).
It is not possible to return the Mags as I don't live in the same country as where they were purchased. and I think if I know from someone else's experience what to do to get them to fully engage in the fire arm I could get them working.
They were also not cheap to get (not as cheap as they are in the US... :-( )
Is this a common issue and is there a relatively easy fix to get them working?
I was thinking if it was a magazine thickness issue that I could dismantle the mag and insert a flat head screw driver and turn the screw driver inside the magazine tube to widen the middle of the magazine...
The model 41 is from the late 60's
Help!!
.
I purchased 4 new in box (current stock) S&W magazines for my model 41 and they won't stay in the gun. One of them seem sot want to stay - but that is tight in the mag well and that might just be helping it to stay in (its not jammed in but i have to pull the mag out).
Sometimes they (the 4 new mags) click in but as soon as I release the slide forward the mag drops out. (like it has something to do with the magazine disconnect mechanism or the "shock" of the slide causes the mag catch to disengage from the magazine slot...)
I have not done this when firing it - but there appears to be an issue with the mags.
I have 2 magazines that came with the firearm and they do stay in and shoot without dropping out- they feel a lot more like they are fitting in the magwell.
I have done a load of measurements with a Vernier callipers and can't see any thing inconsistent between the old and the new. (one of the old mags is one with a metal follower.)
Both the working mags have only a small slot for the magazine catch. this is mainly on the side of the magazine where it mates with the slide catch. (i.e. old magazines).
The new magazines have a slot that goes around from the side to the front of the magazine.
I was also looking at the thickness of the old vs new mags- the new don't seem to be any looser in the mag well than the old. But maybe they are a small bit?
There is a small protrusion (above the magazine follower button) on all magazines where the magazine disconnect seems to engage. It might be my imagination - but this protrusion on the right hand side at the top - on the side (like its crimped outwards of the magazine tube) seems to be a little smaller on the new magazines than on the old magazines. That the little hook from the disconnect mechanism doesn't appear to fully seat into this crimped out notch (if your getting my description).
My other thoughts are that the slot (on the magazines) mentioned before that engage with the firearms magazine catch needs a small bit of filing to fit as maybe the magazine catch is not fully seating into the slot?
Or if I could somehow widen the body of the magazine tube this could help seat the magazine in the mag well better (get rid of any play ?) and this could aid the magazine catch fully engaging.
Or my worst nightmare would be that the magazine catch (in the firearm) is worn (but then the two old mags would not feel as solid in the mag well???). How the heck would I dissemble the mag release and catch??).
It is not possible to return the Mags as I don't live in the same country as where they were purchased. and I think if I know from someone else's experience what to do to get them to fully engage in the fire arm I could get them working.
They were also not cheap to get (not as cheap as they are in the US... :-( )
Is this a common issue and is there a relatively easy fix to get them working?
I was thinking if it was a magazine thickness issue that I could dismantle the mag and insert a flat head screw driver and turn the screw driver inside the magazine tube to widen the middle of the magazine...
The model 41 is from the late 60's
Help!!
.
