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G43 Mag falling out when shooting

fal87

Member
I picked up a G43, after installing the shooters kit I test fired it. Everything is working ok other then the magazine falling out randomly when shooting. The magazine looks fine and locks into the rifle, I am unable to make it fall out by rocking it in the mag well. I jammed some flagging tape into the magwell behind the magazine by the magazine catch and this stopped the magazine from falling out.

Think the magazine catch piece is worn?
 
This is an airsoft video but it shows the correct way of inserting the magazine: Front hook first, then swing the magazine back until the magazine catch engages with an audible "click".
If that's what you did, either the front hook, the rear cutout for the catch/release lever or the release spring are worn. If it doesn't click when you insert the mag and swing it back, check for obstruction related to trigger guard or feeder lips.

 
Yes I inserted the magazine correctly it locks in similar to the FN FAL.

The magazine looks ok compared to pictures I looked at I don't see anywhere on that mag where they would be issues.

The weird thing is that the magazine locks in and seems to be ok by hand I cannot duplicate the problem without firing the rifle.

It doesn't always fall out either it seems to be random. It might fall out at the first shot or it might not happen at all and I can shoot off all the rounds in the magazine.
 
better yet why do you all insist on shooting collectible rifles, mag wont fall out if kept in the safe

oh thats right its your gun sorry
 
Possibly a weak mag catch spring that is overcome by recoil shock letting mag drop?
 
Problem solved.

The bottom metal plate that surrounds the magazine and trigger was bent, not allowing the magazine catch to fully engage to hold the magazine in.

Kind of a :facepalm: moment but I'm glad it was an easy fix.
 
That happened to me the first time I shot mine. Took an hour of gently bending to fit it right. Also found out the springs were too weak to cycle a round.

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The weapon is some 75 years old. That could account for it.

Honestly, I don't see anything wrong with shooting these old war horses once in awhile. Some people my lose their mind on shooting there's due to how expensive they are and collectability. I say have fun with it, buy the shooter kit and shoot lite loads. its like having the 70 hemi super bird just sitting in your garage. its got to breath sometimes.
 
Honestly, I don't see anything wrong with shooting these old war horses once in awhile. Some people my lose their mind on shooting there's due to how expensive they are and collectability. I say have fun with it, buy the shooter kit and shoot lite loads. its like having the 70 hemi super bird just sitting in your garage. its got to breath sometimes.

That you have to say “buy the shooters kit and shoot light loads” is a full explanation as to why these things shouldn’t be shot. If you can’t use original parts or spec ammo.... yea.

To compare it to your hemi argument: you can only drive the car using a kerosene powered aftermarket engine, and you shouldn’t take it over 50 mph.

The simple fact is that these guns WILL self destruct on a painfully short timeline.
 
That you have to say “buy the shooters kit and shoot light loads” is a full explanation as to why these things shouldn’t be shot. If you can’t use original parts or spec ammo.... yea.

To compare it to your hemi argument: you can only drive the car using a kerosene powered aftermarket engine, and you shouldn’t take it over 50 mph.

The simple fact is that these guns WILL self destruct on a painfully short timeline.

well do what you want with yours. but hey, if you get enjoyment by looking at, finger banging it, or picking up and aiming it around your basement then so be it. it yours to do what you please with it. me, I took mine and put the kit in it, got new springs , and bought the best original mag, and hit the range. if I ever wanted to sell it ill give them the original parts.

And that hemi remark was sinful. I don't know a single mopar guy that would replace their 426 with an aftermarket kerosene engine.
takes a mopar to catch a mopar.
 
That you have to say “buy the shooters kit and shoot light loads” is a full explanation as to why these things shouldn’t be shot. If you can’t use original parts or spec ammo.... yea.

To compare it to your hemi argument: you can only drive the car using a kerosene powered aftermarket engine, and you shouldn’t take it over 50 mph.

The simple fact is that these guns WILL self destruct on a painfully short timeline.

I said it once, ill say it again, these guns have made it 75 years without self destructing as you so aptly put it. I can tell my personal G43 was shot hundreds of rounds before I even got it, and thats without the shooters kit and most likely high power heavy ball. Just going by splashing on the action cover and carbon under the handguard. A single box of ammo run through it every few months with the gas turned down low isnt gonna turn it into a pipe bomb....

In reality its more like driving your hemi down the to the car meet and revving the engine a few times. Why not take the extra precaution of the shooters kit either....

Buy to shoot is my motto. If I wanted to make money off a hobby I'd invest more into the stock market. The fact that these things appreciate at all is just a bonus.
 
I said it once, ill say it again, these guns have made it 75 years without self destructing as you so aptly put it. I can tell my personal G43 was shot hundreds of rounds before I even got it, and thats without the shooters kit and most likely high power heavy ball. Just going by splashing on the action cover and carbon under the handguard. A single box of ammo run through it every few months with the gas turned down low isnt gonna turn it into a pipe bomb....

In reality its more like driving your hemi down the to the car meet and revving the engine a few times. Why not take the extra precaution of the shooters kit either....

Buy to shoot is my motto. If I wanted to make money off a hobby I'd invest more into the stock market. The fact that these things appreciate at all is just a bonus.

A rifle surviving being shot a few hundred times over the course of 75 years isn’t exactly an achievement. I’ve been known to put several hundred rounds through a gun over a weekend. I mean, there are articles of clothing that a centuries old... and they survived by not being worn.

And I don’t think a G43 is a pipe bomb. On the contrary, I think it’s a brittle and fragile design that likes to shed, break, crack and bend parts. If this wasn’t true, there wouldn’t be a cottage industry of people out there making parts and springs, and doing micro welding once a part eventually does break.

Feel free to shoot your gun. It’s yours, it’s your right, and I trust you’re educated and sophisticated enough to be aware of the risks and rewards. But it’s not a well designed or made gun, and that’s just how it is. The Germans had physical examples of dozens of automatic and semi automatic guns, and yet they chose to ignore most of them instead make the G43. This has always baffled me, but so it is.
 
well do what you want with yours. but hey, if you get enjoyment by looking at, finger banging it, or picking up and aiming it around your basement then so be it. it yours to do what you please with it. me, I took mine and put the kit in it, got new springs , and bought the best original mag, and hit the range. if I ever wanted to sell it ill give them the original parts.

And that hemi remark was sinful. I don't know a single mopar guy that would replace their 426 with an aftermarket kerosene engine.
takes a mopar to catch a mopar.

No disrespect to the mopar intended.
 
A rifle surviving being shot a few hundred times over the course of 75 years isn’t exactly an achievement.

I only said "hundreds" because I have no idea, could thousands down the pipe and I'd never know.


I’ve been known to put several hundred rounds through a gun over a weekend.

You and me both, I just pick and choose what guns to put those hundreds of rounds through. Not every gun that is shot has to be rode hard for it to be a candidate to shoot in the first place....
 
I get a good laugh at the guys that make it a deal to keep shooting these delicate and quite frankly designed to be disposable G43 rifles. You can take any issue M1 rifle and shoot it all day long. You can't do that with the Ersatz G43 as already pointed out on multiple points.
 
I said it once, ill say it again, these guns have made it 75 years without self destructing as you so aptly put it. I can tell my personal G43 was shot hundreds of rounds before I even got it, and thats without the shooters kit and most likely high power heavy ball. Just going by splashing on the action cover and carbon under the handguard. A single box of ammo run through it every few months with the gas turned down low isnt gonna turn it into a pipe bomb....

In reality its more like driving your hemi down the to the car meet and revving the engine a few times. Why not take the extra precaution of the shooters kit either....

Buy to shoot is my motto. If I wanted to make money off a hobby I'd invest more into the stock market. The fact that these things appreciate at all is just a bonus.

I cant agree more with this comment. these old rifles are not china dolls, but there not spring chickens either, so shoot with care and have fun with it. im not a dealer or a museums.
 
I get a good laugh at the guys that make it a deal to keep shooting these delicate and quite frankly designed to be disposable G43 rifles. You can take any issue M1 rifle and shoot it all day long. You can't do that with the Ersatz G43 as already pointed out on multiple points.

A bunch of bent M1 Op-rods from factory 30-06 would beg to differ. Ive seen what anything other than M2 ball can and will do and its not pretty. Ive also seen people use and a big market for "adjustable" Garand gas plugs. Is that any different?
 
A bunch of bent M1 Op-rods from factory 30-06 would beg to differ. Ive seen what anything other than M2 ball can and will do and its not pretty. Ive also seen people use and a big market for "adjustable" Garand gas plugs. Is that any different?

That is so true, I forgot about how the Garand is supper picky about ammo. In in order to true enjoy and appreciate these historical guns, we have to take extra precautions. Wether it be adjusted gas systems or using the correct ammo.
 

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