Bad mags?.

[EBacon]

I have had a 90smodel hp in 9mm for many years, bought it new, a few years ago it started giving me trouble.. First, it would not load /cycle properly, I changed extractor and spring, then I blamed wwb ammo despite never having issues in the past. Then the slide would not lock back on an empty mag, I blamed it on a bad mag, and put the gun away. This has always gnawed at me.... I even took it to a local gunsmith -frank at f&d - who charged 350.00 to tell me it needed cleaning :-/<br /><br />Recently I bought some wwb, dug out some mags I purchased new with the gun but never used and headed to the range..... No feed issues this time, but the slide still isn't locking. also I sometimes find it difficult to pull the hammer back. <br /><br />I can't help but suspect there is something else wrong, maybe the main spring, as I seem to have ruled everything else out. It should be noted this all started when I took off the factory hammer for a brownells loop hammer...... <br />Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[chuntaro]

Sounds like you have ruled out about three of four common causes. Your main spring is most likely unchanged but I could see your recoil spring as a factor. If you changed hammers but kept the stock main spring I do not fathom interference with slide lock on empty from that move.

[EBacon]

Recoil spring may be the next option......

[GT40DOC]

Will the slide lock back if you manually cycle the slide on an empty mag?

[EBacon]

No it will not, I tried it with the keeper from my .40cal hi power and it locked back.... Guess that's the culprit.

[CWarner]

The most likely cause was the change of hammer. Some hammers drag inside the frame at the radius on the bottom rear corners. It could also be the hammer strut pin. These two areas can and do cause the problem you describe.
They can drag enough to short stroke the gun. Besides, the problem didn't start until you changed the hammer. Logic says start there.

.40 mags don't have as much tension on the slide, hence the full cycling , or lock back.

CW

[chuntaro]

Thanks CW. I did have the feeling there was something I was overlooking or was missing. Hammer drag, something I have not experienced or observed in these pages would do it. I have had all my new hammers installed by pros such as yourself that are equipped to detect something I can overlook.

[GT40DOC]

I love it when I can learn something new.....now if I can just remember it for more than 5 minutes!!

[chuntaro]

They in the medical community are hoping to make some advances in Alzheimer's treatment. They are currently conducting some test but there is a shortage of volunteers.