T Hound Posted February 19, 2015 Report Share Posted February 19, 2015 (edited) Now you're getting technical. I'm somewhat new to this and not sure what all your nomenclature means. .Okay, understood. First if you are so inclined I heartily recommend that you purchase a copy of the Thompson's Armorer DVD from the American Gunsmithing Institute. It is excellent for both full-auto and semi-auto Thompsons. It goes into detail on both types of Thompson mechanisms and disassembly and reassembly of the Thompson parts which includes nomenclature of course. That said, the catch face is the round metal in the middle of your picture. It is shown in your picture in a roughly oval hole which is an oval hole in your trigger frame/lower receiver. This hole is situated in front of your actual trigger and is filled with the magazine catch. I think, at this point, that, even though it is unlikely, that your magazine catch face is too short. You will see a tiny bit of whitened metal on the round mag catch face where the blueing has been rubbed off. The fact that this wear does not extend across the entire rounded face of the catch seems to indicate that the magazine catch is not far enough forward to catch the magazine. I would be even more suspicious if you were to tell me that the magazines routinely fall off your Thompson when full. See the picture I uploaded. Although the trigger frame shown is actually for a full-auto it is still very similar and I have labelled the parts I am talking about. The mag catch face is surrounded by the trigger frame. I measure the distance from the trigger frame magazine channel to the very edge of the rounded magazine catch face upper edge (the part that would hold your magazines in place) on my Kahr Thompson to be 1/8 of an inch. I will try to get a drawing of what I am in particular talking about since even a photo would be difficult to explain that little distance. Edited February 19, 2015 by T Hound Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T Hound Posted February 19, 2015 Report Share Posted February 19, 2015 Okay, after thinking about this I will try to make it easy. When you put in a fully loaded new magazine (a Kahr magazine for instance) does it immediately drop out? And does it do this with other magazines you have? If so then it is probably the magazine catch and you will need to replace the magazine catch. If it does not immediately drop out, but immediately drops upon firing then does it do this every time? If so, does it do this with all magazines? If so then it is still probably the magazine catch. If it only drops with one fully loaded magazine and not other fully loaded magazines then it is probably the magazine. Two things hold the magazine in place: Friction from the metal on metal contact of the magazine slide and the magazine spine channel of the trigger frame; and, the magazine catch face inserted into the hole on the magazine spine. Friction will only keep a magazine in if it is not too heavy. So a magazine that slides down immediately is a sign that the mag catch face is not functioning as necessary. John/T Hound Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas D Gunn Posted February 19, 2015 Report Share Posted February 19, 2015 Thanks for the explanation , now it's pretty clear. I'll have to look into the DVD I'll have to measure the catch, but don't think it sticks out quite 1/8". Since I already lightly filed the mag I have, it no longer "slips" out. I have to double check, but I don't think I can simply push the mag and click it into place ...I think I have to check the mag catch pushes in all the way because things are tight. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T Hound Posted February 19, 2015 Report Share Posted February 19, 2015 Thanks for the explanation , now it's pretty clear. I'll have to look into the DVD I'll have to measure the catch, but don't think it sticks out quite 1/8". Since I already lightly filed the mag I have, it no longer "slips" out. I have to double check, but I don't think I can simply push the mag and click it into place ...I think I have to check the mag catch pushes in all the way because things are tight. .It is great that filing worked with the mag. But do you have this slip out problems with all mags? That is the real question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas D Gunn Posted February 19, 2015 Report Share Posted February 19, 2015 (edited) I only have my 30 stick and 50 drum right now, so won't know til I start buying more mags. Wondering if Kahr is the best place to get them now or if someone makes them better? . Edited February 19, 2015 by Thomas D Gunn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas D Gunn Posted February 19, 2015 Report Share Posted February 19, 2015 (edited) edit . Edited February 19, 2015 by Thomas D Gunn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T Hound Posted February 20, 2015 Report Share Posted February 20, 2015 I only have my 30 stick and 50 drum right now, so won't know til I start buying more mags. Wondering if Kahr is the best place to get them now or if someone makes them better? .Kahr is the only place unfortunately unless you find some West Hurley semi-auto Mags somewhere, somehow. You might find some Kahr magazines for sale at a gun-shop but quite frankly the pricy cost of the Thompson would probably make that a rare occurrence. John/T Hound Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas D Gunn Posted February 20, 2015 Report Share Posted February 20, 2015 Thanks for the info. I don't really have an issue w Kahr, just don't like to think I have to modify all the mags to fit possibly. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T Hound Posted February 21, 2015 Report Share Posted February 21, 2015 Thanks for the info. I don't really have an issue w Kahr, just don't like to think I have to modify all the mags to fit possibly. .Well then, all you need do is buy at least one more magazine from Kahr and then try it out. If you get the same result as before then you can either send your Thompson back to Kahr to have another mag catch put in, buy one and do it yourself, which voids warranty I believe, or live with it and modify your mags as you have already done. John/T Hound Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas D Gunn Posted February 21, 2015 Report Share Posted February 21, 2015 Like I want to go through the hassle of sending in the gun. You would think after spending such money for something you wouldn't have such an issue. Kahr isn't winning any future buyers from me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T Hound Posted February 21, 2015 Report Share Posted February 21, 2015 Like I want to go through the hassle of sending in the gun. You would think after spending such money for something you wouldn't have such an issue. Kahr isn't winning any future buyers from me. Yeah, I understand the sentiment, but you don't yet know if it is the catch or the magazine. I wouldn't send it in either even if it was the mag catch. I would do it myself. With the DVD you easily and quickly learn to do things like change the mag catch out for a new one. You could also find a gunsmith. I believe Deerslayer is a Thompson gunsmith. But that would entail shipping him the rifle unless you lived near him. John/T Hound Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas D Gunn Posted February 22, 2015 Report Share Posted February 22, 2015 In these discussions, I'm thinking that the mag catch is not shaped/bent correctly. Not knowing anyone locally to check it out... And with further research and possibly watching the DVD on disassembly/reassembly I could get to the mag catch...and modify to fit correctly. Wondering if heating the part and bending to fit properly would be proper practice for such a thing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StooperZero Posted February 22, 2015 Report Share Posted February 22, 2015 (edited) just from pics.. your mag catch is crap. get a new spring too. Edited February 22, 2015 by StooperZero Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas D Gunn Posted February 22, 2015 Report Share Posted February 22, 2015 Spring? I gotta find a breakdown pic. lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StooperZero Posted February 22, 2015 Report Share Posted February 22, 2015 well, theres a spring behind that catch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T Hound Posted February 22, 2015 Report Share Posted February 22, 2015 (edited) In these discussions, I'm thinking that the mag catch is not shaped/bent correctly. Not knowing anyone locally to check it out... And with further research and possibly watching the DVD on disassembly/reassembly I could get to the mag catch...and modify to fit correctly. Wondering if heating the part and bending to fit properly would be proper practice for such a thing?The trouble with that is it looks exactly like my mag catch position in the hole. Perhaps mine is off, but I haven't had any issues with it except for an old Tsmg mag I modified. And the issue went away when I corrected it. Stopperzero is correct that you will need to change the magazine catch spring too if you replace the Mag catch. The spring is not visible from outside, but when you pull it off it is spiraled around an axle that goes out on the right side. It is what provides the spring tension for the magazine catch. John/T Hound Edited February 22, 2015 by T Hound Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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