Rhineland 45 ACP Kit

[W.R.Buchanan]

played with mine for a couple of hours yesterday. Made a small feedramp extension to try to cure the nose diving of a full mag. It didn't work!

The problem with more than 5 rounds in the mag the top round is not supported sufficiently to keep it from tipping forward when the bolt pushes on it. This is caused by too much spring tension when the mag approaches full. As a result the round pivots forward on it's rim and picks up the front of the feed ramp and jams.

It picked up the front of the extension just as easily and it was even with the front of the mag.

Mine feeds great with 5 or less rounds in the mag, so I'll probably try reducing the spring pressure in the mag.

I also started lapping the action to get some kind of smoothness out of it. Got a ways to go on that part of the build, but after one application of coarse lapping compound it is better. So I will continue trying for complete contact of the bolt luggs which will make closing the bolt much easier.

Also deburring the rear of the bare bolt so it rotates in the bolt shroud better is helping cut the drag down. I also radiused the front of the firing pin keeper/sear piece so it would not hang up on the bolt shroud, it works better too, but still not the way I want it. I have several Mauser rifles, and all of them except this one are glass smooth.

This one is like broken glass.

I am also going to cut my firing pin spring for a lighter trigger pull which will make it run smoother as well.

Lots of little tweeks to do on this one to get it nicer. I am still working on the feeding issue, and when that is good I need to work on making a new ejector box and bolt stop.

Randy

[badgeredd]

Your experience with a full magazine mirrors mine. I just received the magazine I had ordered for experimentation purposes. HOPEFULLY, lightening up the follower spring will cure the full magazine feed problem. I do have my doubts though. I figured that if it comes to it, I'll just block the magazine for a 5 round capacity and learn to live with it. I was half tempted to buy a high capacity mag at the last gun show to see if I could at least increase the total I could have available, but the mag I saw was a bit pricey to mess up if it didn't work.

Edd

[W.R.Buchanan]

Ed: the whole idea is to get the follower to not tip forward. If the follower was to run strait in line with the mag and not tip this would not be a problem. The way the spring is wound is the other problem as it it situated so it pushes on one end of the follower and not the other.

As the round count goes up the ability of the mag follower to stay strait goes down. Even the Novak mag I have which has the best follower I have found still does this.

Maybe a solid follower that cannot tilt would be the answer, otherwise we might just as well use Govt mags and down load them to 5 rounds.

I wouldn't consider taking this rifle to a gun fight so the fact that it has feeding issues is not as big a deal. I would like to be able to have a higher relibility but there is too many things inherant with the short cartridge working against this gun.

Still,,, I can make it better, I just doubt I can make it prefect.

Randy

[dano440]

I have done some playing with mine over the last couple of weeks I took some bedding compound in filled the gap in front between the feed ramp and magazine adapter so the bullet don't have anything to catch on it help with some flat nose bullet, round nose bullets are no problem. I still need to do something with the well in the back of mag adapter.

[badgeredd]

Ed: the whole idea is to get the follower to not tip forward. If the follower was to run strait in line with the mag and not tip this would not be a problem. The way the spring is wound is the other problem as it it situated so it pushes on one end of the follower and not the other.Exactly what I perceive to be the problem.

As the round count goes up the ability of the mag follower to stay strait goes down. Even the Novak mag I have which has the best follower I have found still does this. I was thinking that since the compressed spring seems to be a portion of the problem that perhaps a larger capacity magazine would allow one to load a couple or more rounds without a problem. The problem with that is a longer magazine wouldn't improve the appearance of the firearm IMHO.

Maybe a solid follower that cannot tilt would be the answer, otherwise we might just as well use Govt mags and down load them to 5 rounds. I believe you are correct. Something solid and long enough to resist tipping should work.

Still,,, I can make it better, I just doubt I can make it prefect.

Randy

I have some super cheap mags that may end up being part of the experimenting with follower configuration. One thing I have found is the old GI magazines seem to function much better in general than many newer ones. There is a noticeable difference in the feed lip shape and design. I recently bought a new Colt magazine which function perfectly...as long as I loaded only 5 rounds.

Edd

[Larry Gibson]

Edd

My experience is also that the GI mag performs best. I believe it is because the GI mag holds the round in the mag longer giving it better chance of slipping under the extractor and putting the bullet nose closer to the chamber.

Larry Gibson

[W.R.Buchanan]

So the GI mags have longer feed lips? That would make sense.

You see this is only a problem with short rounds. With the standard Mauser 8mm bottleneck round the bullet was into the chamber a good ways before the feedlips transfered control of the round to the extractor.

With this setup the magazine has to spit the round up under the extractor as it goes by and we all know this is a hit and miss arraingement wiht the short round. If the round was further up into the extractor before it was released it would have a much better chance of being caught.

I have also noticed that if the round maintains it's "angle" IE the angle in the mag, that it will be usually be accepted by the bolt face, if the round tilts forward at all then the top of the rim is forward of the extractor.

I have a question for the more experienced among us. Why is it, or more properly what prevents the Mauser Extractor from snapping over a rim of a cartridge unless it is fed from the magazine? A Mauser must feed from the magazine, IE controlled round feed. However newer designs like the Springfield or even my RGS77 which are still CRF will feed anything thrown into the breech. What is the difference between the two styles of extractors? I can see little difference on the ones I have . But obviously there is some difference.

It would serve to reason that any round that was pushed into the breech and actually made it into the chamber would be able to go to battery if the extractor would snap over the rim.

As it sits the Mauser extractor preevents this from happening. Even my Husqvarna .30-06 1951 mfg. will not feed except from the mag.

All opinions are welcome I will sort and figure out which reasons are actually valid and get back to you. I'll even consult my Mauser book by Kuhnhausen to see if he has any answers.

Randy

[Pirate69]

Looks like a lot of activity with the 45acp kits. Has anyone done a .308 barrel or seen any type of review on a .308 project?