snail drum question

[Ray]

I have a late model snail drum that appears to be missing the bolt and nut holding the cover plate on the angled plate on the straight portion of the drum. Instead the bolt and nut are replaced by a pin. Was this typical of the late model drums because of a factory ease of manufacturing?
Or perhaps, this represents a repair for a lost bolt and nut? Your comments would be appreciated.

Ray

[spartacus38]

I have never seen a pin,only the screw and nut.

[lugerholsterrepair]

What is the serial #?

Ray, regardless of the serial #..this drum was not made with a pin in it. It was made with a bolt and a nut. Yours has gone AWOL and some bubba has shoved a pin in it.

Also, your winding handle is over on around 30-32 rounds capacity.. Is there ammunition in this drum?
Swing the handle open and try to move the handle to where the locking pin & spring will lock it in the nearby slot. If there is no ammunition in the drum something is causing a jam.

Jerry Burney

[Vlim]

Jerry is right,

I think that this magazine has been blocked in some sort of way. The pin- or weld hole visible on the top of the mag body is not supposed to be there either.

[Ray]

The serial number of this drum is 230,xxx The "pin or weld hole" that is referred
to is that to the right of the slot that locks the winding lever wound up?

when I crank on the winding lever, it will go clockwise about 1/2 and can be locked
in the locking slot if you depress the spring loaded button. However, if you release
the winding lever, it always returns to a position at about 28 indicated loaded rounds.
There is no ammo in the drum.

[lugerholsterrepair]

There could be a broken arm inside the drum. You are fortunate in that the drum must be wound and locked in to take it apart.
I know a fellow in California who might be willing to look into it. He knows a lot about these drums and is willing to open them up and see what's wrong? His name is George Fortier. Goes by kitkat here on the Forum I think?

Jerry Burney

[lugerholsterrepair]

Vlim, The pin- or weld hole visible on the top of the mag body is not supposed to be there either.

If this is the pin to the left of where the magazine enters the round face of the drum, it is on all of my drums? A very small pin that juts up. There are photo's on the Forum of a drum opened up..some fellow posted them in a sticky so we could see the inside. You can see this pin outside and inside. On the inside it appears to be a fairly large circle, almost like a washer. George Fortier tells me it's not holding a washer but thats what it looks like in the photos. I am still trying to clarify why it's there..what it's function is.

Jerry Burney

[John Sabato]

I don't know much about the inside of these drums, other than the blueprint that is part of the CD I sell. But from the discussion in this thread, I was wondering if this drum may have been modified to limit its ability to hold ammunition intentionally... for instance in a location where hi-capacity mags are prohibited... I don't know what the rules are in Canada concerning hi-cap mags, but maybe this trommelmag has a history in a location like that?

whatyathink guys?

[lugerholsterrepair]

John, That's a good thought. I suspect not though. There is no indication on the outside of the drum that it has had any modification at least. The drum is in a position to be loaded with up to 32 rounds presently in it's locked state. If say you were to load 12 rounds then release the lever the lever would rotate to the 12 mark and stop. If it can be locked open as it is now...it will accept all 32 rounds.
Apparently the owner has decided to ship the drum to Geroge Fortier for a looksee. I am sure George will figure it out and I will be anxious to hear the results. I suspect a broken interior part, perhaps the winding arm.

John, These diagrams, the CD you sell..It has the drum? Are all the parts named? Measured out or what? How about the drum loader? Is it on there?
Thanks my Friend, Jerry

[Vlim]

Jerry,

Yes I was sleeping. Just noticed the little pin on my TM08 as well

[lugerholsterrepair]

George Fortier sent me some good photo's of the inside of his drum I now know the function of this little pin. It is a rivet that holds onto a round flange that comes off of the end of the cartridge guide inside the drum to stabalize it. It could only exist on one side otherwise the drum could not seperate.
Thanks George!

Jerry Burney

[alamar]

John

This magazine is specifically exempt from mag capacity laws in Canada, apparently due to the historical value of it. Although many Canadians do not know about this exemption and have had theirs modified to limit capacity.

Ray

There is a sticky at the top of this section that shows a drum completely disassembled. Done by a good friend of mine on a magazine that i sold to him.