I've searched here at TT and elsewhere for posts related to my problem but not found any.
First, a quick intro:
I've been shooting a used Walther GSP .22/.32 for a few months. My previous shooting experience has been with .22, .38., .44., .45acp pistols and revolvers, as well as a bunch of c.f. rifle calibres. I do all my own reloading, except for .22lr ;), and have done a bit of my own gunsmithing as well, with pretty good results. My competitive shooting experience is pretty modest, mostly in my local club, but in future I hope to compete more at the provincial level. I also shoot air pistol, recently acquired a used Steyr LP10, which is a joy to shoot.
Recently, my GSP in .32 SWL has been misfeeding in a way that is very predictable. I load 5 rounds, shoot 4 and the last one does not feed but stays jammed in the magazine. Removing the magazine, I can see that the rim of the last round is snagging the back edge of the hinged follower. It is possible to re-adjust the last round so that it then can feed, but clearly this is not a desirable feature during duello competition!
Note that both of my magazines behave in the same manner.
I've uploaded a couple photos of my magazine followers, as well as the parts diagram from Walther: http://s1093.photobucket.com/albums/i433/nilsek/GSP
It appears to me that the tab on the back of my followers is bent in. I'm normally pretty aware of the state of my guns, but I'm not sure just how this happened. It's possible that the "ears" at the front of the magazine got spread apart just a bit too much, allowing the follower to pop up too far after the last round ejected. What has happened is that the bolt, instead of sliding over the follower, slammed into it and bent the tab.
It would seem that if this tab were angled correctly, as in the Walther parts diagram, the problem of the cartridge rim snagging would be solved.
Unfortunately, if I were to bend the tab back to correctly angle it, it would almost certainly break right off, because the metal is already cracking.
Question: Has anyone else had this problem? If so, is there any remedy aside from buying a new magazine and/or follower? If that's the case, perhaps I may as well try to repair at least one of the followers myself. It does seem like a rather weak part.
GSP .32 magazine follower woes
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If those pics are of your mags how you are using them they are assembled wrong. The follower shouldn't stick out the top of the mag like that when it's empty. The top of the follower should stay below the mag lips at all times.
Like this: http://www.champchoice.com/detail.aspx?ID=2461
Remove the mag bases, re assemble them properly and try again.
Like this: http://www.champchoice.com/detail.aspx?ID=2461
Remove the mag bases, re assemble them properly and try again.
Thanks for the reply. Yes indeed, the pictures show up the problem. I did search extensively to find clear photos of the correctly-assembled mags, but no luck. I'd never disassembled them before, just flushed them with brake cleaner. So whoever used them before (at least two owners previous) messed up.
Anyway, even though they're now correctly re-assembled, the problem still remains, namely that the rim of the last cartridge snags the back edge of the follower. I've succeeded in bending back the tab, but there's enough of a crack that it still catches. Perhaps the rims on my casings (Starline) are also too sharp. I could round off the rims a bit. But it looks like I need to order some replacement followers from Walther.
In the meantime I may be able to improvise something with the ones I have.
Anyway, even though they're now correctly re-assembled, the problem still remains, namely that the rim of the last cartridge snags the back edge of the follower. I've succeeded in bending back the tab, but there's enough of a crack that it still catches. Perhaps the rims on my casings (Starline) are also too sharp. I could round off the rims a bit. But it looks like I need to order some replacement followers from Walther.
In the meantime I may be able to improvise something with the ones I have.
j-team wrote:If those pics are of your mags how you are using them they are assembled wrong. The follower shouldn't stick out the top of the mag like that when it's empty. The top of the follower should stay below the mag lips at all times.
Like this: http://www.champchoice.com/detail.aspx?ID=2461
Remove the mag bases, re assemble them properly and try again.
damaged follower
I also had a problem with my .32 GSP not ejecting the last round in the magazine. It turned out that the follower was slightly burred and was scoring the last round and the underside of the bolt. I honed the from edge of the follower just enough to remove the burr and round the front edge slightly. I no longer have this problem, the last round is ejected everytime now.
what happens when the cross pin is UNDER the follower instead of BETWEEN the follower parts.metman wrote:...http://s1093.photobucket.com/albums/i433/nilsek/GSP...
got one in today that exhibited the same appearance;
- disassemble
- position follower in line with hole in magazine body, base below hole and the rest above hole
- insert cross pin
- insert spring (flat end down, angled end up to match follower angle)
- base on and pin in
All my .32 GSP magazines (1970s to current production) have the hinged followerTonyT wrote:I sold my GSP 32 a numbedr of years ago but I never saw magazines as pictured in your photos. What is that hinged portrusion? Mine looked every bit the same as the 22 mags except for the difference in size no hinged portrusion.