I had a chance to take mine to the range tonight. Sort of a rush deal so not a lot of time for problem-solving.
First of all it will not accept my normal 115 gr. FMJ re-loads because of length. They are at, as I recall, 1.132" OAL. The drum would not accept S&B 115 FMJ either, but would take Federal hollow points, so that's what I used.
At the range it would frequently not push the next round up into position fast enough. Sort of glitchy feeling, usually would pop one up in time or with light tapping. The last 15 rounds or so did feed correctly however.
Sometimes the spring plate/cover would show a slight gap along the lower edge. I tightened the axle bolt and that seemed to help.
I loaded the drum prior to leaving home and didn't have extra (short) ammo, so no reloads were possible at the range.
Back at home I took it all apart and used some white Lubri-Plate grease sparingly around the inside of the drum, but the actual drum spring is enclosed and not easily accessible. I also noticed that the wall thickness on the mag body was way thicker than a nickle plated WW1 mag. that was handy for comparison. Especially in the feed ramp area.
I squeezed some reloads down to 1.062" OAL and they seem to now fit the mag. body, however manually cycling them thru the drum and gun suggested that they were still slow to advance/feed.
I'll work on it as time allows and keep you all posted.
At this point I have considered returning it for a refund, but will probably keep it and try to sort it out. It does have a way-cool factor and may become a personal challenge. I do worry about breaking something and ending up with a pile of worthless parts with no spares available.
dju
|