OK, I had to put the drum, loading tool and loading assist strut down for a few days but was able to spend some more time with them early this morning and I think I might actually have a chance of getting this to work.
We'll find out when I get out to the range this weekend.
Like Don, I find it easier to load a round or two first by hand to discourage the follower from popping out the top of the magazine. I also used a drop or two of oil every few rounds per a how-to I read by George Anderson.
It was instructional to take apart the drum and see exactly what is going on inside. As usual, I managed to do things the hard way by forgetting to wind the spring before this morning's disassembly. It made for a bit of a greasy mess getting things back together (the issue being taming the mag spring back into place with some compression), but I managed to get it done and all seems well after a follow-up disassembly and re-assembly (after
WINDING THE DRUM SPRING FIRST).
While I was in there I took a few pictures to hopefully enlighten some of you on the innards of the drum. You can see the generous amount of red grease inside. I believe that some of the areas where the bluing appears removed may be those polished by G.T. during the tuning process.