Holdopen problems

[Bill Cullen]

I recently bought a shooter grade as part of a larger purchase. It is a 1918 Erfurt. I am experiencing very sporadic functioning of the holdopen. I have several questions that hopefully those more knowledgable can answer.

1. If mag is removed, should holdopen still function?
2. Assuming the holdopen is bad, is it's replacement relatively easy for a non-gunsmith?
3. Where can holdopens be purchased? Note, numbers are irrelevant, the gun is already a mismatch.
4. The wood bottom mag that came with gun is sloppy. it looks like someone manually enlarged the slot in mag where mag catch engages. Woudl this have anything to do with holdopen functioning? Note I have tried a spare mag that fits better but holdopen still was not reliably functioning.
5. Can the issue be as simple as a spring replacement? I looked at the exploded view but did not see a separate spring associated with holdopen. Therefore, I'm assuming the shape of the part acts as a spring by itself.

Thanks

Bill Cullen