1911 magazine release not working right

[Cheeseybacon]

I open carried my Colt 1911 to the court house today to Greg's hearing only to encounter a nasty surprise as I was attempting to clear my weapon before entering the courthouse. Naturally the first step I take to clear any semi-automatic pistol is to first drop the magazine before racking the slide to clear the chambered round. For some reason or another today my magazine release button would not work one damn bit! I pushed on it with all my might but it absolutely would not budge on little bit! Eventually I ended up pulling the slide back and engaging the slide stop in order for the magazine release to cooperate with me.

Is this normal? Now mind you I have never carried my 1911 before, it's always been nothing but a range gun so whenever I put a full magazine in, it never came back out until the magazine was at least less than completely full or expended all together, which might explain why I've never noticed this. The problem is happening with both original Colt magazines as well as Wilson 47D magazines.

Since this was the first I've ever had to remove a fully loaded magazine from my Colt, I was just curious if this is an intended design feature or if there is something likely wrong with my 1911 or magazines? None of my other semi-autos have ever had a problem like this.

[Skullz]

All my 1911s drop the magazine whenever the mag release is activated.

Is this the factory mag? Does it do exactly the same thing with your other mags?

I have 10 7rd metal form mags with slam pads and 10 10 round standard mags. Never had a problem with any of the 7 rounders. One of the 10 rounders wouldn't engage the slide lock when it was empty, even though they were all purchased at the same time from Springfield Armory. To this day I have it marked with a red piece of tape and will not use it.

Some guns are finicky (especially 1911s), some magazines are too.

[Lycanthrope]

It's not normal. It should drop free easily.

If it works fine with the slide to the rear it would appear that the magazine is binding and under pressure. Does the magazine release work with half a mag....or just when full?

[Charlie B]

1911's should drop the magazine whenever the magazine release is pressed.

But, when my Springfield was new, the second round would sometimes move forward in the magazine as the first round chambered and the gun went into battery. This would not allow the magazine to drop freely; if I pulled the magazine out the round would kind of stove pipe in the magazine lips as it came out.

I assumed this was due to the magazine spring being so tight. I noticed almost every time I would pull the slide back and lock it with a full magazine in it, it would eject the chambered round and I would see the next round about 1/8” forward toward the feed ramp. All 6 magazines work normally now that they are well broken in.

Try loading 1 less round in the magazine to see if it still happens. Also, does it happen with empty magazines?

[hzox221]

Have you changed grips or had the grips off? Sometime with slimmer grips you the screws will protrude a little and will affect the mag releasing. Also, if you take the grips off and put them back on you can over tighten the screws and get the same problem.

[Cheeseybacon]

This issue doesn't happen with a partially loaded magazine, it only happens with a fully loaded magazine. I can't even press the magazine release button in, it simply will not push in with a full magazine in place. The magazine button pushes in and the mag drops as soon as the magazine is at less than full capacity.

[hzox221]

This issue doesn't happen with a partially loaded magazine, it only happens with a fully loaded magazine. I can't even press the magazine release button in, it simply will not push in with a full magazine in place. The magazine button pushes in and the mag drops as soon as the magazine is at less than full capacity.

Is this the original mag release?

Have you changed or modified anything?

What is the make of the 1911?

[Charlie B]

Mine was due to the magazine spring being so tight. It sounds like you have the same problem. Keep them fully loaded when stored, but strip 1 before carrying until they break-in. They will loosen in time.

[Cheeseybacon]

It's a Colt 1911 series 80. Modifications include a Wilson skeletonized hammer, Wilson beavertail grip safety, Wilson match trigger, Wilson match sear, EGW barrel bushing, Pachmayr American Legend Grips and a custom barrel. I performed all modifications myself except for the fitting of the new barrel.

I suppose it's possible that I somehow incorrectly reassembled the magazine release after doing all of that work to it, but if the mag release otherwise works perfectly with an empty or less than full magazine or with a full mag and the slide open, then isn't it safe to say that it was probably installed correctly?

One other idea that came to mind. What is the likelihood that it's ammo related? This gun has been fed almost completely of FMJ. Since I was carrying today, I picked up some Winchester Silvertips for it. They seem to be shaped just a little bit differently than FMJ (obviously) and I can't help but wonder if it isn't causing clearance problems for the mag release when it attempts to go into the slot on the side of the magazine.

[Cheeseybacon]

Just made another interesting observation. I noticed that when I insert a fully loaded magazine on a closed slide that the mag release button then protrudes farther out of the frame from it's original position. The moment I pull the slide back and lock it or chamber a round, the magazine release button returns to it's normal height as some of the tension in the magazine spring is relieved. It's as if the rounds are packed so tightly together in the magazine that there is no room for the mag release to fit into the designated slot on the side of the magazine. This is really weird. These magazines are all very much broken in, why would this be happening now? Any ideas folks?