Could a weak magazine spring cause this?
It almost seems like its not pushing the cartridge up high enough?

 

I had a Ruger P89 that constantly jammed. It would jam about every other round. Got rid of it quick. Tried different factory and reloaded ammo. Same same.

My only 9mm is the Taurus PT99. It has never jammed on me.

I'm sure others can provide more insight on a wider range of manufacturers.

Good luck

 

Well never having shot an auto before I just am worried about safety concerns?
I have been able to eject the jammed shell everytime by pulling back hard on the slide....
also maybe where I'm not used to an semi auto gun, but it seems the barrell is loose and has alittle bit of slop in it? and that when the slide moved fully forward that is what holds the barrell still/in alignment?
Thanks guys!

 

I haven't handled a Ruger for a while and I can't remember exactly how they're set up. What I'm saying is what I'd look at on a Colt 1911.

Sounds like the magazine follower isn't positioning the last round at the same angle as the rest or the spring is too weak to push the rim of the case up under the extractor. Is the front or back of the cartridge higher than the ones that feed? Sometimes the last round gets ahead of the extractor, and this usually means the follower is sliding ahead too. The magazine spring might be in backwards. The free end should be to the front. Hope I've given you some idea of what to look for.

The barrel tilts down out of the slide at the back as the slide comes back and some looseness is normal. You shouldn't be able to wiggle the barrel when the slide is all the way ahead.

Bye
Jack

 

Semiautos are a fun novelty and a passing fad, but stick with the revolvers - they're more powerful and more reliable! Learn to shoot 'em DA, Dennis

 

Another point for a revolver. One thing, 99GT, don't baby handle an auto. Slam the magazine (not clip) into place, pull back hard and fast and your locked and loaded. Also, when you are describing "jammed", do you mean the round will not feed or it is jammed (*stovepipe) and will not completely eject?

* A stovepipe round is a round that is stuck facing upward. It has to be swiped away with your hand in a forward motion, causing the slide to close.

 

Jack - There is no loosenesss when the slide is forward. It seems like the front of the cartridge is what is getting hung up.....

A.J - The round will not feed.....

 

Jack - There is no loosenesss when the slide is forward. It seems like the front of the cartridge is what is getting hung up.....

A.J - The round will not feed.....

Most often, jams in autos are due to the magazine, a bent lip, or bad spring. Sometimes autos just prefer different ammo. Try a different magazine, if you have one available, or try different ammo. If these two items make no change in the jamming, skip on the gun and look at something else.

Don

 

"It seems like the front of the cartridge is what is getting hung up....." Do you mean that the nose of the cartridge is in the chamber, but the base is still down in the magazine, and the bullet is stuck on the top of the chamber? Or is the cartridge trying to jump over the barrel? If it's trying to jump over the barrel, this is a stove pipe, and I haven't seen it happen with my 1911A1, but it can happen. I've seen empty cases stovepipe with very lightly loaded rounds. Trying to swipe one off will have you looking for a Band-Aid.

If the cartridge is jammed into the chamber at too steep an angle, it's a weak spring or bad follower. Will a round chamber if you pull the slide back and let it go ahead full speed? Be care with live ammo. I don't think it's the magazine lips, or you'd have trouble with more than one round in the mag. I'm afraid I can't help you all that much. The one fellow at the club that has a Ruger doesn't have a feeding problem with his KP94.

Ammo might be the problem, like Big Blue says. Try something with a different bullet shape, although a round nose non-hollowpoint should feed if the gun is in spec.

Bye
Jack

 

Its round nose FMJ.......
I striped the gun and lightly oil'd the feed ramp and that with not babying the slide seems to have taken care of it...
Keep in mind guys I'm not trying this gun out to buy it, just trying out to see how a 9mm feels....
If I like It i'll probably get a glock 17 for shooting..
Thanks guys! Heading to the range right aver I hit the post button

 

That might be normal for some low-dollar semis but not most, especially not HKs. It sounds to me like it is a weak mag spring. I'll bet you that the owner leaves the mag fully loaded for extended periods of time and the mag spring has taken a "set."

I carried revolvers for over 20 years because I could never find a semi that was 100% reliable. Until I stumbled into HKs. They are the only semi that I have used that are 100% reliable with any ammo you care to feed it right out of the box. Colt, Ruger, Smith, AMT, Para, SIG, and Glock have all given me a FTF or FTE at one time or another. My son and I have a total of over 7,000 rounds through 4 different HK USPs and USPCs without that first hang up. Match to +P+ they work. They are more expensive, but you get what you pay for IMO. I've retired the revolvers now and only carry the USPC .45 ACP.

 

Well I'm back.....
In 50 rounds I had 4 that failed to feed....
I think the culprit is magazine springs as well....

 

Am I correct on this? Your'e hand cycling live ammo through a gun and your not at a range ? At the risk of sounding motherly I don't think this is a wise practice regardless of how much care is taken on your part. Plus you are not duplicating the actual forces both frontward and rearward of the slide to duplicate how this ammo will perform as it is actually being fired . If I'm off base I apologize but I tend to be overly cautious+1 in these matters.


444fitch

 

Fitch Yes it was live ammo..... True being at a range would have been better However I did take precautions to try to make it as safe as possible.
Yes it was still a risk, and not one I reccomend however I didn't want to get to the range and try firing it and have something worse happen....
It was me choosing between the lesser of 2 evils I guess....

 

99GrandTouring
Well it sounds like you have a week mag spring- dirty mag or recoil spring is week. When you fired it how far did the spent brass go ? Should be going atleast 3' from you! If it's just falling at your feet it's the recoil spring is weak. If you want an auto get yourself a .45 ACP P90 -can't stand those 9mm wimp guns! I would ask you buddy if he messed wth the springs on that gun? Or had he cleaned it recently? Did he give you the ammo as well -maybe a weak reload not cycling the action all the way?

 

taurus has really impressed me with their new products. their line of revolver is very super, especially the ranging series, tracker, and their magnum lines. their autopistol has moved from "the cheap guns no one want" to very good guns. i like their blued guns very much now.

i am looking forward to see improving in their rifle.

my only guess is that your spring is quick because there sure is enough pressure to push all rounds except the last round. i experience this on very old surplus ak47 mags. i just take it apart and stretch the spring as far as i can at the base. i then add thick paper at the base area between the last few loops of spring. i do this to impress the amount of spring presure the mags will have. i have no encounter any problem with any of the mags i modified. the best part is that these mags are only 2 dollars a piece. they're mostly rough and have many rust spots along with small dints. however, they're pure steel and are as good as new if the spring isn't too used.

anyone who have ever tried to weld 2 ak47 30rders together to get a single 50rds can try my method. it sure works for me, but i would not suggest using the mags for self defense. invest in a fresh mags for that; a good postban is much better than a non-working preban.

 

Hi. New member, here. Anyway, my $.02... I believe your problem is with the magazine. On a new magazine, the spring may be overly-strong, pushing the follower up high enough to engage the slide stop, even though there is one round still in the mag. I have never had a "jam" with my PT99, but I have had a failure to feed, on the last round, with a brand-new magazine's stiff spring pushing the cartridge and follower up too high.

 

A lot of hit and miss advice here...but I thing Jack Monteith has the best handle on this. Many people will suspect ammo...and then mag springs (rightfully so)...but if you are having the brass "stovepipe" in which the slide is actually pushing the spent brass forward and horizontally...trapping or even distorting the brass...then look to the EXTRACTOR and how it's working in relationship to everything else (i.e. follower...mag springs etc.)

Best "free" advice (no return policy on free stuff)...
is to take it to a qualified gunsmith WITH the ammo that you are shooting...and he'll sort it out in a NY minute...

 

If you re-read his post, you'll see he can't be incurring a "stovepipe" failure, which is a failure to eject, as he is merely hand-cycling rounds through the gun, and not firing. What we have here is a failure to feed. Also, his "jam," as he calls it, is happening on the last round in the magazine, no matter how many rounds he loads and cycles. The Ruger P89 is known for it's reliability, and I don't think this very consistent failure to feed on the last round in the mag could reasonably be attributed to the gun itself. The above suggestion that it may be that a weak magazine spring is not pushing the last round high enough above the lip of the magazine is a good suggestion. Still, though, I don't think it would happen as consistently as we see here. I really think it is more likely the mag spring is overly strong, pushing the follower up too high (even pushing that last round almost up and out of the magazine) and causing the follower to engage the slide catch, as it is meant to do when the mag is empty. This could more plausibly be expected to happen as consistently as is with this guy's case. I have seen it happen.

 

Limp wristing?

Maybe you are limp wristing...it would cause this exact thing to happen...and you would have never noticed it in a revolver.

 

No, man, he's not limp-wristing. He's cycling the slide with his hand and the last round in the mag won't feed.

 

Fitch Yes it was live ammo..... True being at a range would have been better However I did take precautions to try to make it as safe as possible.
Yes it was still a risk, and not one I reccomend however I didn't want to get to the range and try firing it and have something worse happen....
It was me choosing between the lesser of 2 evils I guess....

Don't feel too bad: I always think 4 times before cycling live ammo thru my 1911.....but sometimes you can't drop everything after working out a problem, take an hour or two off, and drive the umpteen miles to a range just to check a feed problem. (I'm sure someone will nanny me with, " thats just how accidents happen")

Yes, be careful. Be VERY careful. Take every procaution you can. Point the barrel at a sand pile in front of an earth berm outside (my solution).

And rather than nit-pick you, here's a suggestion: ask the owner if he has any dummy rounds. I use 5 for all repair and mantainance checks, and only cycle live when all else fails.

RDS
______________________________________________
"The 1911 is the chevy smallblock of pistols......"