97 Magazine Extension

[crc4]

It doesn't appear any of my mags have dimples, so that is good.

What edges did you smooth on the follower? The Henning site says the front top of the follower. Is this in reference to the front edge of the follower that would be right under the bullet of the first shell loaded into the mag? Is it just knocking the edge off?

Thanks,
-pg

Knocking the edge off. Think of it as knocking the edge off a wooden table with a severe edge that catches your clothing whenever you brush against it.

It doesn't take much effort with a fine-toothed file. Just a few strokes will do it.

[puddleglum]

Knocking the edge off. Think of it as knocking the edge off a wooden table with a severe edge that catches your clothing whenever you brush against it.

It doesn't take much effort with a fine-toothed file. Just a few strokes will do it.

Did you knock off the edges on the bottom of the follower as well, for a smoother transition into the baseplate cavity?

Thanks,
-pg

[crc4]

Knocking the edge off. Think of it as knocking the edge off a wooden table with a severe edge that catches your clothing whenever you brush against it.

It doesn't take much effort with a fine-toothed file. Just a few strokes will do it.

Did you knock off the edges on the bottom of the follower as well, for a smoother transition into the baseplate cavity?

Thanks,
-pg

rounded on top and bottom like a table top. A smooth rounded transition. The metal is thin - just a few strokes.

[ffr1910]

Thats it. I did not do anything to my spring. Bill

[hammer_fired]

Got it printed. Due to the strong design of the CZ bases, I printed it in PETG. Looks pretty good, and easily takes 12-rnds. Cycled rnds 10-12 from the mag, and all fed fine, and the slide locked back after the last round. I'll still give it some range time, but I think it will be fine. If all goes well, I'll carry a mag with this base as a backup, and in the pistol when I carry it in the M7 holster.

I"ll post some photos when I get into IMGUR. Haven't used it in quite a while as most sites now have it where photos can be added drag 'n drop, or by navigating into the local file system.

[hammer_fired]

I'm working on a revised backplate (not shown). I'll post another photo if I get something that looks o.k.

[hammer_fired]

I now have a new back tab:



I have an actual photo of the new tab, but it doesn't look right because of how the shiny petg catches the light. Where the original has a hole in the middle, I assume to aid in removal of the tab, and is recessed, I added a raised texture and brought it up flush with back of the base.

I haven't decided if I'll actually use this extension. The fully loaded pistol is already pretty heavy and tall, but it has been interesting to tinker with on the cold and windy days we've had the past few days here in Palmer, Alaska!

I can send out the *.stl file to anyone that would like to print one off. I can remove the texture if someone would like a smooth back.

[puddleglum]

Installed the Henning extension and gave the follower a mild smoothing all around. Ran 4 mags without issue, so it appears to be working.

More experiments will be required though, in the name of science.

[crc4]

Glad it worked for you. The Hennings are solid and vastly better than the printed extensions for my purposes.

[puddleglum]

I got a second one of the Hennings and went to the range with both extended mags. I had a lot of failure to feeds with Remington 230 UMC Hollowpoints. The slide would get stuck open, with the round at about a 45 degree angle to the chamber.

I assumed this was a hollow point feeding issue. I then bought some FMJ at the range to see how that ran and it gave me a few of the same failure to feeds. This was with cheap PMC Bronze ammo, so maybe both issues were ammo related, although I think I have run the PMC with factory mags in the past.

My next step is to bring some Federal Eagle ammo, and see how it runs in the extended mags, as well as try the PMC and some Remington UMC in factory mags and sort some things out.

[crc4]

Did you clean your mags? I use dry lube inside. I've also never had a problem with my Hennings extensions or any JHPs in my 97. It's been dependable since day one. I also did not stretch the mag spring. Did you?

Did you round the follower? Maybe you did it incorrectly.

Try a mag without the extension.

[puddleglum]

I did stretch the springs by just a tiny amount.

I knocked the edges off the followers with a fine file. Maybe I took too little off. I was also thinking I could use some fine sandpaper to make the edges extra smooth.

What kind of dry lube do you use on your mags?

[crc4]

I did stretch the springs by just a tiny amount.

I knocked the edges off the followers with a fine file. Maybe I took too little off. I was also thinking I could use some fine sandpaper to make the edges extra smooth.

What kind of dry lube do you use on your mags?

WD 40 Specialist Dry Lube. I do this same treatment with every mag, even new ones.

Removed the baseplate, spring, and follower. Clean all parts with a solvent, wipe dry, spray the parts and inside the mag with dry lube (it drys almost instantly), and reassemble.

While some will say that's not necessary with new mags, I view it the same as cleaning a new firearm before shooting as I now have an established base with which to accurately judge the firearm and/or mag. New and used firearms get the same treatment. Otherwise, if a problem arises, I might be chasing ghosts due to not having properly cleaned the mag/firearm.

It takes only a little while, but provides peace of mind.

Stretching the spring might be the culprit and/or being heavy-handed in smoothing the follower.

Good luck.

[puddleglum]

I cleaned and dry lubed the mags. Ran through a box of Federal without issues. One of them ran fine with the Remington cheap-o hollow points and the cheap PMC FMJ. The other jammed on the first round a few times, when I slingshotted the slide forward. This makes me think the spring tension might be just a hair too high on that one. Since I had tightened (stretched) both of them, I loosened (compressed) them both a hair, maybe I need to loosen the one that is still having feeding issues a hair more.

Another thought I had was the feedramp was as dirty as could be. Would polishing it so it doesn't collect carbon as quickly be advantageous?

Thanks,
-pg

[crc4]

I've owned 12 CZs and it was never necessary to polish the feed ramp and I've never had feed problems. I guess that by stretching the springs and over-filing the followers, you've created the problem.

If all else fails, you can get new springs and followers. Install them, shoot the pistol, and you may not need to do anything.

For future work, start very conservatively, test, and judge. Make one adjustment at a time, then test. Changing two things at one time and you're not sure what worked or caused a problem.

More problems in firearms are created by over-doing than by gradually proceeding.