Magazine repair question

[Tex1961]

I have an old Hungarian FEG 32acp. I’m having problems when the magazine is full of the rounds jamming up and the slide can’t strip them away to feed into the barrel. If I only load 2 or 3 rounds then it seems to work ok. I was thinking of pulling the spring and cutting an inch or so off to reduce the tension. I figured the mag is already almost useless to me so not like I could do much more harm.

[Tex1961]

Ok, never mind. Didn’t make any difference. I’ll just order another one.

[mr surveyor]

Just guessing, but it sounds like a classic case of "rim lock".

Are you trying to load the shorter coal hollow point cartridges in this magazine?


just asking ...



jd

[Tex1961]

Nah, regular ball ammo. Considering it almost 50 years old I guess it’s just wore out. I went ahead and ordered another one.

[mr surveyor]

I'd be interested in a progress update. Good luck with it.


jd

[mot7981]

I think replacing the mag spring is a good idea even if it’s not the ultimate problem. I’ve gotten to the point of replacing magazine springs on used guns most of the time. I expected new springs to be longer looking than ones that have been in mags for a while but I have been pretty surprised how much shorter some of them look upon inspection. I had an old Kel-Tec PF9 recently and ordered a new spring from the factory. It looked soooo much shorter that I actually called them to make sure they had sent the right spring. The service guy I spoke with assured me it was correct so I took it to the range and it ran great. Anyway, good luck with your FEG and let us know how it works out.

[mot7981]

Sorry, hadn't had my coffee yet. What I meant to communicate was that the NEW springs look much longer that the old springs that have been in mags a while. My bad.

[K-Texas]

Mec-Gar mags should be easy enough to find and very high quality as we know they make mags for many manufacturers in both Europe and the US. It's a real shame that FEG isn't in business today. I had one of the Hi-Power clones that had the rib on the slide and it was probably as accurate as any 9mm I've ever shot. I can't say for sure, but I've never read anything to suggest that Mec-Gar was making mags for FEG. I would, however, bet that they supply them to Walther. That's what I'd try if you could use some spare mags. Wolffe Springs if not.

[Tex1961]

There's no NEW production mags being made that I could find... I found a couple of Ebay.... Pricey too... $40.00 each... I think the mag has just deformed over the years..

[mrvmax]

I’ve never owned an FEG but every mag problem I’ve had on a pistol was due to a weak mag spring.

[flintknapper]

Sounds like the OP needs a new mag spring AND recoil spring.

[Archery1]

There's no NEW production mags being made that I could find... I found a couple of Ebay.... Pricey too... $40.00 each... I think the mag has just deformed over the years..

The old spring probably had some creep induced over time. Under light loading, it has some slight spring movement. Under any more compression, it quickly become just a piece of overlapped metal, little elasticity. Shortening didn't do anything to increase its working range between coils/belts. It's worth saving the mag and finding a spring to test, unless they too are hens teeth.

[K-Texas]

I suspect that your FEG is a Walther PP clone? Wolff should definitely have mag springs and if it is as old as it sounds, a new recoil spring as was suggested by flintknapper, would definitely be worth adding to the order.

Just an FYI, but the FEG clones of the Walther PP & PPk were very highly regarded. Some felt that they were as good as the Walthers, but had better triggers. Should be great fun if you can get it running right; I'm optimistic that you can.

[Tex1961]

Appreciate it.... When the other mag comes in I'll try the spring in both. That way I can determine where the problem actually is... It's a Hungarian FEG AP 7.65... Nice shooting little gun and your right, a nice clone of the Walther... I think I picked it up for around $225.00 a few months back... Took it to the range and worked just fine.. But last range visit was no joy due to the slide being unable to strip the rounds as they were sitting nose down in the mag....

[K-Texas]

I was kind of taking for granted that the FEG can take the Walther mags. They are very similar pistols and if there were one notch above clone, I think it would apply to the FEGs. The patents for the Walthers expired many years ago where any pistolmaker could copy them without legal issues.

If the mags are the same I'd look into some of the large retailers of mags twho might have the Mec-Gars for the PP and PPk. Some years ago when they were still available I could have picked one up for under $200. I regret not doing so.