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Finger extension mag problem (PICS & VIDEO)
My LCP had been wonderful prior to the recall. I have no complaints about the recall. I sent my pistol to Ruger on a Monday and received it back the following Friday (that's just four days) with a free b-ball cap and a free extra magazine with the finger extension.
I fired my LCP at the range yesterday and it performed flawlessly with the three standard magazines I have for the gun. I fired Winchester white box ball ammo and the Winchester Silvertip Hollowpoints I carry in my LCP. All went well!
Then I tried the new magazine with the finger extension. The first problem I had was that my big fingers caused it to pop out when firing. This happened twice. I think there is just too much pressure on the bottom of the magazine from me squeezing my middle and ring fingers into the space under the trigger guard and on top of the finger extension on the magazine.
The first and second rounds fed and worked well from this new magazine with the finger extension.
The third round did not chamber. Of course, I didn't know this so I pulled the trigger and the LCP went click instead of bang. I resorted to training and racked the slide. A live round did not come out. I pulled the trigger again and it simply went click. I paused and then racked the slide again. I saw the third cartridge in the top area of the magazine. I racked the slide repeatedly but the darn cartridge would not chamber. It just appeared to sit there in the magazine. What the...?
I tried my other standard magazines and all worked fine.
At home, I cleaned my LCP and then found wessyk87's reply post on the Ruger Forum about the new metal inlay on the recalled LCP magazine catch. Hmmmmm.
I inserted my standard magazine, loaded with six rounds, into my LCP's frame without the slide attached. I used a plastic tool to strip each round out of the magazine. Everything was fine.
I then tried the same thing with the new magazine with the finger extension. The third round would not raise up after I stripped out the first two. It appears that the magazine catch is snagging on something inside the magazine's little "window"...most probably the spring wire. The follower cannot raise up. The third round sits loosely on top of the follower without any spring pressure. I was able to dump out the remaining four rounds by turning the frame upside down. The follower remained compressed, held down by the magazine catch.
I tried this numerous times and it happened every time.
Here's a video of what's happening (click on the video):
This effectually makes the LCP a two shot pistol with the finger extension magazine. Not good. Not good at all.
Here's a photo of the first round in the magazine the way it should rest, with the spring pushing up on the follower and positioning the cartridge to enter the barrel:
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Here's a photo of the third round in the magazine with the follower not being pushed up by the spring because the spring is apparently caught by the magazine release. Notice that the third round is loose and not able to be stripped out of the magazine by the slide:
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Here's a photo looking down into the empty magazine while the follower is still stuck way down in the magazine. Pushing the magazine release causes the follower to rocket back up with extreme speed. Don't let anything come out of that mag and into your eye!
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One time during my experimentation, I had a round still in the magazine while the follower was stuck way down in the magazine. I inadvertantly hit the magazine release and the compressed spring launched the .380 cartridge (which had been loose in the magazine and pointing upward) right out of the magazine and toward the ceiling with a great deal of force. I coulda lost an eye! Geez!
I have three standard magazines for my LCP and they all work fine. So I'm happy with that. I really don't want to send my LCP back to Ruger again. I could try filing down the little metal part that seems to be entering the window of the finger extension magazine and grabbing it, but I am afraid that somehow that might make my standard magazines not work.
I hope I've put the problem down in words, pics, and video so that everyone can see the problem. Even though my three original mags work fine, I am concerned that 10 years from now, I will only be able to get newer magazines that will not work in my LCP.
So what do you all think needs to happen? It would seem that it's not just my LCP that this is happening to....
-Steve
My LCP had been wonderful prior to the recall. I have no complaints about the recall. I sent my pistol to Ruger on a Monday and received it back the following Friday (that's just four days) with a free b-ball cap and a free extra magazine with the finger extension.
I fired my LCP at the range yesterday and it performed flawlessly with the three standard magazines I have for the gun. I fired Winchester white box ball ammo and the Winchester Silvertip Hollowpoints I carry in my LCP. All went well!
Then I tried the new magazine with the finger extension. The first problem I had was that my big fingers caused it to pop out when firing. This happened twice. I think there is just too much pressure on the bottom of the magazine from me squeezing my middle and ring fingers into the space under the trigger guard and on top of the finger extension on the magazine.
The first and second rounds fed and worked well from this new magazine with the finger extension.
The third round did not chamber. Of course, I didn't know this so I pulled the trigger and the LCP went click instead of bang. I resorted to training and racked the slide. A live round did not come out. I pulled the trigger again and it simply went click. I paused and then racked the slide again. I saw the third cartridge in the top area of the magazine. I racked the slide repeatedly but the darn cartridge would not chamber. It just appeared to sit there in the magazine. What the...?
I tried my other standard magazines and all worked fine.
At home, I cleaned my LCP and then found wessyk87's reply post on the Ruger Forum about the new metal inlay on the recalled LCP magazine catch. Hmmmmm.
I inserted my standard magazine, loaded with six rounds, into my LCP's frame without the slide attached. I used a plastic tool to strip each round out of the magazine. Everything was fine.
I then tried the same thing with the new magazine with the finger extension. The third round would not raise up after I stripped out the first two. It appears that the magazine catch is snagging on something inside the magazine's little "window"...most probably the spring wire. The follower cannot raise up. The third round sits loosely on top of the follower without any spring pressure. I was able to dump out the remaining four rounds by turning the frame upside down. The follower remained compressed, held down by the magazine catch.
I tried this numerous times and it happened every time.
Here's a video of what's happening (click on the video):
This effectually makes the LCP a two shot pistol with the finger extension magazine. Not good. Not good at all.
Here's a photo of the first round in the magazine the way it should rest, with the spring pushing up on the follower and positioning the cartridge to enter the barrel:
Here's a photo of the third round in the magazine with the follower not being pushed up by the spring because the spring is apparently caught by the magazine release. Notice that the third round is loose and not able to be stripped out of the magazine by the slide:
Here's a photo looking down into the empty magazine while the follower is still stuck way down in the magazine. Pushing the magazine release causes the follower to rocket back up with extreme speed. Don't let anything come out of that mag and into your eye!
One time during my experimentation, I had a round still in the magazine while the follower was stuck way down in the magazine. I inadvertantly hit the magazine release and the compressed spring launched the .380 cartridge (which had been loose in the magazine and pointing upward) right out of the magazine and toward the ceiling with a great deal of force. I coulda lost an eye! Geez!
I have three standard magazines for my LCP and they all work fine. So I'm happy with that. I really don't want to send my LCP back to Ruger again. I could try filing down the little metal part that seems to be entering the window of the finger extension magazine and grabbing it, but I am afraid that somehow that might make my standard magazines not work.
I hope I've put the problem down in words, pics, and video so that everyone can see the problem. Even though my three original mags work fine, I am concerned that 10 years from now, I will only be able to get newer magazines that will not work in my LCP.
So what do you all think needs to happen? It would seem that it's not just my LCP that this is happening to....
-Steve
