G30SF Loading troubles

shrubs2000 · 01-24-2013, 17:36

Greetings!

Been lurking here for quite sometime but only registered a few days ago. All that aside...

I have an G30SF that has had about 500 rounds through it and it has always been great. Today after the range and cleaning, I can no longer "easily" load a mag (whether 1 or 9 or 10 rnds) with the slide closed. I have to force it to load and then the first round it hard to cycle. If I leave the slide open to load the mag, all is well.

Until this time, I never had any issues and I've always been told when an issue occurs to look at the last thing I did. I've taken the gun apart and all appears to be normal Even my son has checked.

Any ideas on what to check or look for?

Thanx

roger123 · 01-24-2013, 17:55

Mine is pretty new, few hundred rounds so far. I noticed that it is hard to load a fully loaded mag with the slide closed. Got to give it a good whack to get it in there. I've not tried with a non fully loaded one, may have to give it a try.

lyodbraun · 01-24-2013, 18:34

when you put the mag in do you hear or feel it click into place ?? you gotta give it a nice tap to seat it, also does it do the same when the mag is empty??

Armedleprechaun · 01-24-2013, 20:05

It's normal.

**robhic** · 01-24-2013, 20:09

I had this exact problem with my new G30sf about a month ago. Search for "9 rounds impossible to load", or something like that.

What I ended up doing on suggestion from another forum member was to take the 9 rounder apart and sanding the follower bottom down a bit using sandpaper and a flat surface. All the difference in the world!

I can load the 9 rds now BY HAND and the 10s are easier to load after fully loading (both 9s and 10s) and letting them sit. That, plus a bunch of shooting, loosened them up well.

trlcavscout · 01-24-2013, 20:32

Yep my G30 SF is the same way. I have to smack it to get it in.

trlcavscout · 01-24-2013, 20:33

DOuble post.

shrubs2000 · 01-25-2013, 02:34

Thanx all. I read about about others having this trouble but i wasn't having it until yesterday after cleaning the gun. Before that the mag would click in just fine loaded with 10 rounds. Too coincidental?

An empty mag is fine and also any mag with a load I know have to force in.

**robhic** · 01-25-2013, 09:03

I'm telling ya -- at the very least fully load the mags and let them sit for a week or three. If you have some #80 grit sandpaper, 10+ minutes and a flat surface, you can sand that follower down and not believe what a difference it makes!

Mine were literally IMPOSSIBLE to load. Not by hand, not the Glock loader and not with a Maglula loader. Nuttin'! I sanded the follower of the 9 round mag, loaded it, put it in the gun and gave it a bump with my palm.

Went in and locked for the first time. Then, after getting it in I let it sit, loaded for as long as possible. I couldn't rack the slide with the 9 rounds in. After sanding and letting it sit, I was able to start getting the slide back AND that allowed me to get 9rds + 1 in the chamber.

zbomb · 01-25-2013, 09:49

Load and seat magazine like a boss. Boom, problem solved.

shrubs2000 · 01-25-2013, 13:32

The gun is sitting with a full mag now. We shall see and if it doesn't change, will sand a little and see what happens.

I'm STILL baffled as to why this happened as the gun is almost a year old. I had absolutely no problems until yesterday when I reassembled after I cleaned it.

F106 Fan · 01-25-2013, 13:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by shrubs2000

Today after the range and cleaning, I can no longer "easily" load a mag (whether 1 or 9 or 10 rnds) with the slide closed. I have to force it to load and then the first round it hard to cycle. If I leave the slide open to load the mag, all is well.

So far, everyone is talking about the issue with a FULL magazine and, yes, some mags bind up a little when they are full. Trimming the follower MIGHT help.

But your post said you had the problem "whether 1 or 9 or 10 rnds". Did you mean that you have a problem seating a magazine containing only 1 round? That's a whole different problem and is NOT normal. Sanding the base of the follower won't do a thing to solve THIS problem.

Richard

diode · 01-25-2013, 18:08

Well..if 10 rounds is going to be the limit, load one in the chamber and 9 in the mag. (Clip if you are a gun ignorant newspaper writer, you can always see this dumb ass) jb

scosgt · 01-25-2013, 18:53

Did you detail strip it? You may have the slide stop installed improperly. What did you take apart besides taking the slide off the frame?

MNBud · 01-26-2013, 09:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by F106 Fan

So far, everyone is talking about the issue with a FULL magazine and, yes, some mags bind up a little when they are full. Trimming the follower MIGHT help.

But your post said you had the problem "whether 1 or 9 or 10 rnds". Did you mean that you have a problem seating a magazine containing only 1 round? That's a whole different problem and is NOT normal. Sanding the base of the follower won't do a thing to solve THIS problem.

Richard

WOW, somebody finally read the poor guys posting!!!
Did you do a complete detail strip including the firing pin safety spring and did it possibly get put back in sideways or not completely seated. Are you certain you got the guide rod seated in the proper notch?

shrubs2000 · 01-26-2013, 12:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by MNBud

WOW, somebody finally read the poor guys posting!!!
Did you do a complete detail strip including the firing pin safety spring and did it possibly get put back in sideways or not completely seated. Are you certain you got the guide rod seated in the proper notch?

I checked and double checked. I even had my son check. I took the gun in today as it was driving me crazy(er). He said everything was OK and it was normal. Still in the back of my mind I still do not remember it being that darn hard.

Anyway, it cost me some bucks as I picked up an LCP and some 223 rounds while I was there.

Thanx all for the help from afar. I'll be reading here in the background but probably won't be posting all that much.

F106 Fan · 01-26-2013, 13:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by robhic

Mine were literally IMPOSSIBLE to load. Not by hand, not the Glock loader and not with a Maglula loader. Nuttin'! I sanded the follower of the 9 round mag, loaded it, put it in the gun and gave it a bump with my palm.

My thoughts on inserting a magazine... First, have the magazine in the holster with the bullets facing forward. When you grab the magazine with your weak hand, have your index finger running down the forward edge of the magazine. Now, as you move the magazine toward the mag well, use your index finger to locate the forward edge of the grip/mag well. This will properly orient the mag to the mag well.

Now, rotate the palm of your hand to slide the mag in the mag well and SMACK it into place. HARD! Don't worry about breaking the gun.

Since, under stress, you will do as you trained, there is never a situation where you want to gently insert the magazine.

Another thought: NEVER shoot to slide lock! You should NEVER be reloading an empty gun. An empty gun isn't even a very good hammer! Somewhere down at a subconscious level, you should be counting the rounds. Granted, this is easier to do on a 1911 but the idea is the same: NEVER shoot to slide lock! Not even in practice...

Richard