Max 9 locking back slide with rounds still in the magazine

[buckwheatpaul]

I have an early Ruger Max 9 and as of late the slide is locking back as if all the rounds were gone but there is always one or two rounds left in the magazine....If ya drop the slide, on the partially empty magazine, she works till the magazine is empty, i.e., you cant perform the rack, tap, and bang drill that was taught to me when I was still active in L.E.

I do not know which magazine it is; however, this next week I will mark the magazines and record when and if they lock back while still having rounds in the magazine.

Several months ago I put a Galloway Precision flat trigger into the gun and it ran perfectly until the last month. So I did order a new guide rod and spring with a plus 10% over factory spring and this has helped but it is still not running to the extent that I would trust it for everyday carry.

I appreciate your thoughts and will get back with the results of my test on the magazines.

Thanks in advance....Paul

[Bigslug]

The two main handguns at work are Glock 9mm's and 1911-based double stack 9mm's. Prior to that it was Glock .40's and Springfield 1911's in .45. Generally with either, failure to lock open on an empty (on either) or early lock back (mostly Glocks) was often found to be a matter of where the shooter was placing his thumbs. If the gun lacked an ambi slide stop, I'd have the shooter run the gun left handed, and when the gun ran fine, it was a dead giveaway that the thumbs needed to move away from the lever.

One of the post-detail strip function checks for the Glocks is to ensure the slide stop has downward spring pressure pulling it against the frame. Not so much an issue with the new Gen 5, but the Gen 3 and 4 guns could either have their slide stop lever spring break (which left the lever floppy under recoil), or be reassembled incorrectly with the spring on top of its bearing point instead of below, which caused the lever to default upward every shot instead of down. I doubt either of those apply to the Ruger, but the spring pressure test is valid all the same.

What ammo are you shooting? A lot of .45 bullets were designed or require seating so that their shape clears a 1911's slide stop lever as they feed. Could be you have a bit of ogive or bullet shank forward of the case actuating your slide stop.

[kerplode]

Several months ago I put a Galloway Precision flat trigger into the gun and it ran perfectly until the last month. So I did order a new guide rod and spring with a plus 10% over factory spring and this has helped but it is still not running to the extent that I would trust it for everyday carry.

I arsed up a perfectly good LC9 with Galloway's junk parts. Their trigger was an absolute dumpster fire of mystery malfunctions and nonsense. $100 in the garbage, but like my old boss used to say "Education is expensive no matter how you acquire it"

Take that crap out and put your factory parts back in.

[376Steyr]

Looking at the exploded parts drawing for the Max 9, I see the slide stop spring is a wimpy looking thing that looks like it sits in a recess in the frame. I bet the spring is either broken or misaligned, so the slide stop is bouncing up under recoil.

I got a good deal on a Kahr CW9 whose previous owner said it was always jamming. When I took it apart I found the slide stop spring, a tiny hairpin-looking spring, was broken. I assume it happened when he reassembled it after cleaning and forced the slide stop into its hole. A $5 spring later, and it was up and running again. I bought a couple extra springs and keep them in the box with the pistol.

[reddog81]

Looking at the exploded parts drawing for the Max 9, I see the slide stop spring is a wimpy looking thing that looks like it sits in a recess in the frame. I bet the spring is either broken or misaligned, so the slide stop is bouncing up under recoil.

I got a good deal on a Kahr CW9 whose previous owner said it was always jamming. When I took it apart I found the slide stop spring, a tiny hairpin-looking spring, was broken. I assume it happened when he reassembled it after cleaning and forced the slide stop into its hole. A $5 spring later, and it was up and running again. I bought a couple extra springs and keep them in the box with the pistol.

A friend of mine has the Ruger 9 Max and that slide stop reset spring came off the ledge it sits on after 500+ rounds. I took it apart and fixed it for him. He has a few boxes of ammo through it since them with out issue but it seems like the same thing could happen again pretty easily. There are videos out there on the subject. It’s easy to take apart and reassemble but the next time it happens I told him he should contact Ruger and see what they say.

[buckwheatpaul]

376Steyr and reddog81 I would like to publicly thank both of you for your help. It turned out that you were right....the slide stop spring had come out of grove in the slide lock arm. Put it back in place and she works perfectly; however, I would be able to fire it until next Wednesday but the solutions you talked about were correct....plus a good clue that the spring has jumped out of the grove is the fact that there is no tension on the pin locking gate that keeps the pin in place to lock the slide to the frame....when I put the spring back into the groove the tension went back onto the locking gate. Thanks again! Paul