Mecgar magazine falls out while shooting
 

Getting my 1917 DWM reblued/mismatched shooter dialed in. New recoil, firing pin, extractor and trigger springs (Wolff, standard "factory" strength.

Another problem (which it's always had) is the magazine tends to fall out while shooting. Ideas? (New mag release spring?)

This is a MecGar magazine.

Take the mag. release button out and look it over. Sharp edges or rounded? I just had to replace on that was looking rather tired...
dju

My mag release looks fairly sharp. It's not my favorite design for a mag release, but Lugers were designed with pencils and tracing paper about 100 years ago. Very tight tolerances.

I think the mag release spring had shifted a little so the little edges on the button
were not engaging with enough pressure on the mag. I bent the spring a little and carefully
reinserted it and it seems to engage the mag better now.

I also noticed the repro grips that came with my Luger can push on the mag release spring, if you push on the grip just right.

Here's the button and here's a good video on how to work on it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDcr_Z0Ko4Y

I found on a couple of my aftermarket mags that the mag catch slot in the mag body was not shaped correctly for the mag catch. It was close, but not close enough and would release the mag when firing the luger. A very small amount of work with the correct needle file and the mag notch matched the mag release perfectly. They no longer fall out when firing. It might be something for you to check if you continue to have problems with your mags.



You may also want to remove the left grip(very carefully) and relieve a bit of wood in the area of the mag catch spring.