Automag III looking for advice or gunsmith.

jaymce

New member
Recently purchased an IAI Automag III. Thus far I have been unable to fire more than 3 consecutive shots.

1st outing was with Privi Partazan ammo. The gun would light strike some rounds and fire others. Some rounds had ramping problems and some expended shell casings would not clear the slide.

2nd outing I purchased some Magtech ammo. The gun failed to fire a couple of rounds the first time but did fire the rounds on the second run through. The problem was however that the extractor would not release the spent casing only enough to jamb the slide in the open position requiring one to pull the slide back and manually remove the shell casing.

3rd outing I brought some 1950s surplus rounds. The first round failed to fire and I gave up. The rounds were tarnished but not knowing much about them I was not looking to cause any undue problems.

Only wear on the gun appears to be caused by me. I think the gun sat unfired prior to me aquireing it a couple of weeks ago. The gun was cleaned prior to taking it to the range.

I have heard that these guns are problematic and tempermental so I am not too discouraged at this point. Some have sugested head space may be the problem and I am checking into that as a possibility.

I am open to suggestions:

If you have one what factory ammo are you using?

If you are reloading what specs. are you using?

Does any one know of a gunsmith who specializes in these guns shoud I need to send it out?

Has any one had similar problems and what did you do to cure it?

Thanks in advance all
 
Auto-mag

Sir:
I've never handled one but I'd get some gun-blaster, marvel spray mystery oil and give this pistol a good clean and lube job, including the bbl.
Harry B.
 
Thanks Harry,

I did give it a cleaning, (removed slide and barrel, oiled any moving parts I could get to with out removing grips, firing pin, etc.) but I believe I may download the manual and completely disassemble the gun and clean all internals.
thanks.
 
I own one of these handguns. I havent had the kind of trouble you are describing , and have owned it for more than 10 years. It has fired 1000's of rounds .
I have always used "UMC" ball ammo , or Winchester .30cal ammo without fail. For a short period of time I tried using some custom loaded ammo , that was problematic because of too much blowback. It was unpleasant to shoot . My best guess is that the ammo was loaded to rifle specs , not suitable for the handgun.

My advice is to go with a popular type of ammo (Winchester , UMC , Remington, Federal etc) , and after a good cleaning behind the extractor , have another go at the range. Against much advice I have very good success with silicone lubricant , that dries quickly , as well as teflon added lubes.

http://www.precisionreloading.com/superlube.htm
 
IDMadness,

Thanks for the input I will make some calls and try to find some of the brands you have recomended. Sadly around these parts finding .30 Carbine is difficult and finding it in several brands near impossible. I will however do my best. Maybe I can have some special ordered through bigger chain store.
Jay
 
jaymce
I talked to a partner of mine who owns the AMT version. He had similar experiences with his pistol " right out of the box" . As he describes it , his gun was fit so tight that it would hardly slide , let alone cycle easily.

His fix was unconventional , and I would NOT recommend it . He used superfine "valve grinding" paste , coated the slide rails and hammer parts with it , and gave it a dozen pulls and releases. Afterward , it was much smoother , and had less issues with jamming. This seems like an extreme fix , and would cause undue wear .

It seems to me ,opinion only,that during the time where AMT changed hands to IAI , then back again , there may have been some manufacturing issues. During the years and many outings with my IAI pistol , I notice some of the parkerized finish under the barrel is wearing , indicating that it is rubbing on the frame.
All in all , I love this gun , and wouldnt trade it. Nothing like a 3 foot long fireball at dusk when I touch it off.
 
IDMaddness,
I agree that your friends fix seems a little too drastic for me. I also am not ready to make any modifications to the gun. I am not afraid to do my own repairs and replacement of parts but I would send the gun to a real gunsmith if it needs modification. I am just getting the ball rolling at this point.

The action seems very smooth on this gun already so I am not completly convinced that I do not have an ammo problem.

Currently I am going to check the ammo casing dimensions length etc. and eliminate those possibility first. I am looking forward getting it resolved and shooting the gun.

Thanks for your input,
Jay
 
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