Weak Hold-Open Feature...
 

One of my luger shooters has a rather inconsistent hold-open feature. Some times the toggle stays fully open when the original magazine is empty but other times the toggle does not catch in its full recoil position.

I think the problem may exist at the top of the magazine, on the right side, where it contacts the hold-open lever.

The problem goes away completely when I replace the shooter's magazine with a "new" 1970's Mauser magazine...

Can anyone give me some tips to "fix" my old magazine ?

Thanks !!! <img src="graemlins/yltype.gif" border="0" alt="[typing]" />

Pete, I have the same problem with one of mine. I have found that the magazine follower does not operated smoothly. By squeezing the magazine, front to rear, the follower will snap into position which indicates to me that it is binding on the sides. I am still working on this, if I can find a simple solution I will post it here. At first I thought it was the spring on the holdopen device, but after trying different mags, that is not the case. If you solve it first let me know.

Pete,

Your magazine spring is probably weakened from age and use. Replace it with a new "10 per cent plus" spring from Wolff and I bet it will solve your problem. <img src="graemlins/bigok.gif" border="0" alt="[thumbsup]" />

Oddly enough I have the opposite problem--I have one aftermarket magazine which operates the holdopen on the -next- to the last shot! I shoot with a handful of magazines, so I haven't gotten around to tracking this problem down yet...

--Dwight

Pete,

There are undoubtedly countless things that could be wrong with a magazine and I'm sure that you have eliminated the obvious. I had a brand new Mec Gar magazine that failed to engage the hold open consistently. After much fussing I discovered that the forward edge of the follower button (the button that pushes the hold open up) was scraping against the slot for it in the frame. Lightly filing it down fixed the problem. You might try checking the magazine out with the right grip removed. KFS

Hello All,

Thanks so much for all your great replies.

I will be home in a few days and will work on this with your suggestions...can't wait to get this solved.

Appreciatively,

Pete