300 gr .454 bullet feeding problem

[se3388]

So I should put a shim under the forward end of the cartridge guide that has the cartridge stop on it to make the ejector push it in far enough to release the cartridge?

Steve..............

[donhuff]

have you tried seating a dummy round deeper and deeper until it WILL function? I just don't think that wide meplat is going to allow you to seat it out as long as you are trying to do.

[Ranch Dog]

So I should put a shim under the forward end of the cartridge guide that has the cartridge stop on it to make the ejector push it in far enough to release the cartridge?

I'm not sure Steve because I haven't had this issue you are experiencing. Only trial and error can guide you. I bet it took two dozen take downs and assemblies before I diagnosed my issue.

have you tried seating a dummy round deeper and deeper until it WILL function? I just don't think that wide meplat is going to allow you to seat it out as long as you are trying to do.

I think this is a very good idea for the issue you are experiencing.

[se3388]

donhuff

It feeds the rounds (after tear down and smoothing) WHEN they are released from the mag tube. One or two rounds out of five are not released by the cartridge stop. It seems that the ejector (which triggers the cartridge stop) might be a hair short, that's what I'm thinking.

Steve...............

[donhuff]

OH, ok now I got ya.

The ejector really is not the part responsible for releasing the cartridge stop. It's actually the bottom left corner of those wings on the bottom of the bolt where the ejector spring stop is held in with the two pins. I just tried my 44 with the ejector not installed, and it worked fine like I thought. Look at the front of your bolt, and you will probably be able to see where it contacts the cartridge stop......... SO.


Have you had the LEFT cartridge guide OUT of your receiver?

[donhuff]

Hey, I just saw in the gunsmithing section where you said that you HAVE had everything out of the receiver. I suggest that you take the left guide back out and look hard at a drawing of the cartridge stop spring and guide. It is real easy to put that spring in wrong. I did it a couple of times. With it in backwards the cartridge stop will NOT work right and will cause sporadic feeding issues.

[se3388]

That's the part I was talking about, I just used the wrong terminology, spring is in correctly, I made sure of which way it went in even before I took it apart as I had read all the storys about it going back in wrong. It would not release rounds from the mag like it does now when new just a little worse. New it was not releasing maybe 2-3 out of five now it is maybe 1-2. I'm still thinking it's the ears on the bottom of the ejector that are causing the problem. I just need to get off my duff and put a layer of something on it to see if it will function correctly but with weather (minus 2* this morning at 8 am) and family stuff I just haven't had the get up and go to do it.

Steve............

[donhuff]

OK so let's start over with this and try a different approach......man 2* is cold. They are predicting 7 for us tomorrow night. were not use to that down here!


I have my 44 apart here in front of me with the bolt,lugs, and bottom tang all removed. Leaving the carrier and guides still in there. Take a few rounds and load the magazine full, dummies would be safer. Mine loads perfectly like this and you can see what might be causing any loading snags, if you have any. I used a pencil and pushed the last one, sitting on the carrier, on into the mag tube. Now, using your pencil (unsharpened works better) push forward on the cartridge stop to see how she's feeding. The round should zoom backwards to the stop on the carries surprisingly fast. Now you can shake that round out, or pry up on the pad on the bottom of the carrier where the lever hits it. And then pencil push the round into the chamber. Hold the gun level when tripping the next rounds, so gravity won't be helping the out. This will tell us if there are any problems with the mag tube and mag plunger or the spring. One of my guns had a big dimple in the tube where the drilled for the forearm band bolt, and it would cause a hang up, not every time just ever so often.

I put the ejector/spring/collar back together and slid the bolt in and attached the lever too. Loaded the mag and watched very close through the gap at the chamber mouth as the ejector got up to the cartridge stop. When it touched the stop, you could see the ejector move to the right a little followed by the bolt (taking up all the slack) and the ejector went right around the stop and DID NOT trip it. Moving the lever a little more bringing the bolt the rest of the way forward and the stop released the next round. This gun has the notches cut in the barrel mouth so it was easier to see but plainly showed that the ejector has nothing to do with feeding the next round.

What was really surprising was how close to home the bolt has to be before tripping that next round. I mean it is not more than .010-.020" best I could measure. I could see where just a little bit of missing metal or some extra slop in the system could make the thing fail to feed. A heavy build up of crud around the back of the barrel where the bolt goes against it or a dirty bolt face, even a dirty chamber that did not let a bullet rim fully seat might stop it. Assuming that the tolerances ganged up to cause it to be just barely touching in the first place.

Try out some of the things I'v suggested to see what really trips that stop. And if you find out that it is that wing and not the ejector, get back with me and I think I know of something you can try that will fix it.