It jams!!!

I had a friend of mine (maybe) ask me last Thur. if I wanted to buy a gun?? Who can say no to that. He had a S&W 457 .45 that he wanted $225.00 for. I loved the feel and size and S&W makes great guns, so I bought it. I took 200 rounds to camp this weekend for a get to know each other session. The first thing I noticed is that model will not shoot without the clip.

2nd with a full clip in it when you cycle the slide and load it, if you take the clip out a shell will fallout. It seems to be out of the clip already. I got 3 clips with the gun and they all did the same thing. 3rd it jammed. A run 2 clips fine on the 3rd shot 3 jammed. I cleared it, shot once, jam!! hmmm.

Another brand of ammo 7 jams through 3 clips thats 21 shots. So, I cleared it looked it over, broke it down, put it back together. Fired 3 more clips with 2 jams. I was done. It may be the clips , I'm not a gunsmith so I wasn't sure what it needed, but I was sure I would never carry it. I currently carry H&K USPc .40. 2,000 rounds and 1 jam because the clip was loose (my fault) . 3 rounds bad ammo.

As soon as I got home I called a friend (kinda hehe) And told him I found him a fixer upper .45 for the low low price of $325.00 . He took it. Now I would not have sold this gun to someone to depend on, he loves his 92F. I told him I would take it to a gunsmith before I took it home. I had a Sig SP2340 that never jammed 1,000 rounds (it melted in my truck). How many jams would you let your best friend get away with...

Are the rounds sitting too high in the magazine when loaded? The feed lips may need to be squeezed in a bit, but you should check with a known good magazine to verify.

I told him the first thing is shoot a new mag thru it first.

The top round falling out when you extract mag tells me that the mag feed lip/follower or both are mis formed allowing the round to shift as the first round feeds. This is not real uncommon, and usualy is just an aggervation . The jamms are a different thing all togeather . If possible take your camera to the range and post pics of any jams to help diagnose what is going on , however new mags are most likely a good start on fixing the issue . Mags are normally not made in house , but sub contracted to mag makers , and needless to say some are better than others and almost any of them can turn out a bad run of mags .

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Originally Posted by cdwolf

The first thing I noticed is that model will not shoot without the clip.

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Your gun probably has a magazine safety in that it will not fire unless a magazine in in the gun.

Sounds like two of the three MAGS work and the third does not. Check them against each other and see what is different. The other issue on the jamming could be a weak recoil spring or limp wristing. Have someone else shoot it to see if that might be a problem.

Last question... is the mags S&W or generic? If generic dump it and if Smith it may need a new spring.

The S&W autos, particularly in .45 ACP, are known for being ultra-reliable and feeding anything including even empty cases. I've carried my 457 for 11 yrs now including a few years as my backup when I was commanding drug task forces. Never had a lick of trouble with mine. Additionally 2 of our guys on our full time SWAT carry 457 as backups and you can't make them jam.
First thing to do is clean it. Then lube it. S&W autos are not Glocks. Failure to function is usually a sign of not enough lube. Lube the rails, barrel locking areas and any place that moves.
Another common problem is limp wrist. Yeah, I know. You're a big guy with a strong grip so you can't have a limp wrist. But it happens to even big strong Wheaties eating he-men. It happens if you don't grip it correctly. I've seen a lot of guys grip them too low when using the straight narrow backstrap in models like the 457. When gripping too low it causes the gun to rock too much in recoil resulting in the limp wrist malfunction.
RE the rd popping out when you remove the mag. That happens with some models, ie S&W, Walther PPK line, etc. When the slide picks up the top rd and chambers it the next rd will move forward just a bit. When you remove the mag the nose of that rd catches on the frame and will pop out of the mag. Nothing to worry about. It's normal.
RE not firing when the mag is removed. That is normal. S&W autos and some others have mag disconnects which perform exactly as you describe.

I've had a 457, a 4013 and a 3913. The mags ALL had problems with rounds falling out when a partially full mag was released. It's a mag problem, the guns otherwise would feed and function fine.

I guess it's not a problem if you don't do tactical reloads. The 457 is a neat little gun.

What kind of jams are we talking about though? Is it failing to feed the next round? Failing to extract the previous round? Stovepiping the rounds? Rednecks' suggestion of a camera is probably a good idea too. Take a few pics next time and post them here.

Sounds like a magazine problem. I'd get rid of those clips ASAP

Austin

I don't own and won't own a Smith&Wesson&Clinton. I lost all respect for the company when they sold out to the Clinton regime.

I'll be honest with you, I've never seen a factory mag using the proper ammunition do what you're describing. Were they Pro-Mags or something? Did your former buddy "work on them" at all?

Are you sure that they were meant for that gun in that caliber, and not something jury rigged to work with it?

HK Dan

Ps--I'd offer the new buyer full disclosure and a refund if he found the disclosure unacceptible. It wasn't fair when the first guy did it to you, either. You seem like a decent guy, so please consider it. ;)

I hate to do this to you, but this one drives me nuts!!

http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/152...ckmagazah2.jpg

Remember, clips load magazines and magazines load guns.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by wht06rado

I hate to do this to you, but this one drives me nuts!!

http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/152...ckmagazah2.jpg

Remember, clips load magazines and magazines load guns.

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THANK YOU!!!!!!!

You beat me to it.

Go to gunsprings.com and order replacement mag springs. It is a cheap fix. Get the plus 10% if they have it for that model.