LC9s Pro and WalMart Federal 9mm Aluminum Cased Ammo

Has anyone had any problems with this ammo feeding in their LC9 or LC9s? I had not until recently. It appears the ammo is getting stuck in the magazine and then won't feed. Think I'm going to take the mags apart and FrogLube them on the inside and see if that helps.

Any other suggestions?

I would examine the follower in the magazine. I haven't had any problems but I noticed that this plastic seems pretty soft on these. I've got significant wear along the top of the follower, apparently where the leading edge of the case scrapes it as the round is being stripped from the mag, and I haven't got more than a few hundred rounds through the gun.

I have noticed that when the mag is loaded to full capacity the top round sits almost horizontally, while with 6 or fewer the top round is angled more nose up. I suspect that first round might be scraping the follower pretty good. You might try loading just six and see if it feeds normally, then.

Thanks OldePhart!

OldePhart said:

I would examine the follower in the magazine. I haven't had any problems but I noticed that this plastic seems pretty soft on these. I've got significant wear along the top of the follower, apparently where the leading edge of the case scrapes it as the round is being stripped from the mag, and I haven't got more than a few hundred rounds through the gun.

I have noticed that when the mag is loaded to full capacity the top round sits almost horizontally, while with 6 or fewer the top round is angled more nose up. I suspect that first round might be scraping the follower pretty good. You might try loading just six and see if it feeds normally, then.

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How could that be when that 1st round doesn't touch the follower??

Good point - long day. I do think there may be issues with that "flat" top round, though. Before I polished the washboard feed ramp I had some cases where the first round didn't feed when I racked the slide after inserting a magazine. After that it has been dead-reliable at flat-footed slow fire.

I'm losing faith in it after using it to shoot "BUG" at two local IDPA matches, though. Out of seven stages shot I've had malfunctions on four of them, sometimes multiple malfunctions, and with both reloads and factory ammo. Last night it malfunctioned three times on one stage with factory ammo (I was having a bad night and it wasn't all the guns fault, but the malfunctions didn't help). It seems to malfunction mostly when shooting around barricades, where the gun is at an angle. I've heard of guns that didn't cycle properly when held at an angle and it looks like that might be the case. I don't think I'm limp-wristing because I can shoot my G22 (.40) through the same kind of scenarios and I have never had a malfunction with a Glock even after thousands of rounds.

I also had a base plate come off a (Italian) magazine as I was putting it in my mag carrier last night. Fortunately I felt it sliding and jammed my thumb on the end of the tube so I didn't have a spring flying across the room. I checked the other three mags and one was loose and sliding. Apparently these mags don't like being dropped on the floor, the little "knob" is kind of rounded and will slip out of the hole in the base plate pretty easily.

Needless to say, I'm not too happy with the weapon at this point. Unless I can figure out exactly what is causing the problems soon I will probably be switching to a Glock or a small revolver for carry. I wouldn't really expect the LC9s to stand up to a LOT of IDPA style shooting but when it malfunctions this often just because it's at an angle or whatever I'm not willing to rely on it for carry, either. Having a gun wear out because of the rigors of IDPA is one thing, having a gun that is almost new but doesn't like to shoot around barricades is a whole 'nudder thing!

IDPA isn't totally realistic, of course, but it's probably a lot closer to what one might encounter on the street than standing at a firing line slowly shooting targets...I was really confident in the gun until the last two weeks. It makes me wonder how many people are carrying pistols (of any make) that they think are reliable because they've put hundreds of rounds through them standing at a firing line without having any malfunctions...

Sloman said:

It appears the ammo is getting stuck in the magazine and then won't feed.

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To clarify your problem, are you finding rounds in the magazine that have not been pushed up against the feed lips?

My only comment is I've never been comfortable with Aluminum cased ammo. Sloman, I've got some full metal jacket 115gr Georgia Arms Ammo if you need to try something different.

Thanks Hawkeye! I've got some.