[spacecoast]

OK, I've had a chance to tinker with the snail drum and have an observation and some questions -

Observation - as it came in the box, the spring was wound and secured at 32 rounds.

Question #1 - Is that the way it should have been? Or would you normally leave it unwound (and unloaded).

Question #2 - to wind the spring before loading, is there a preferred hand method? It seems like a very strong spring (maybe it relaxes over time) and I don't want to break something.

Question #3 - the strut says to put the top on first (over the boss) and then snap the delrin piece over the narrow area ahead of the cross bolt ear tabs. I adjusted the length of the strut to provide a snug fit with everything in place, but getting the strut back in place in the order prescribed seems to be very difficult. Is it OK to place the delrin piece first and then put the cup over the boss?

Question #4 - when I push the filler down and into place, the follower pops up out of the top of the magazine and I have to remove the lever. What do I need to do to ensure that doesn't happen?

Question #5 - I got the magazine filled and released the lever to allow the spring to settle on the rounds. But they were not easy to remove from the magazine, and didn't readily pop up when I did get one out. I finally rewound the magazine to "32" and allowed the untensioned rounds to fall out of the mag. Does this indicate a problem?

Sorry for so many questions... is there an FAQ for this?