Republic Arms Patriot Jamming

[Drakejake]

I took two new .45's out to the range today. This was the first time I have fired this round, although I have fired the 357 magnum. My new Ruger P90 performed beautifully, although it may have failed to eject the last shell from a mag, and it is possible I had one misfire with that gun (possibly the fault of the ammo). But the Republic Patriot suffered many jams due to a failure to eject the spent shell. The used shell was usually lodged in the exit port in its original horizontal state. Only one jam was a "stovepipe." I may be wrong, but most of the jams seem to have come when I was using one of the two extra mags I bought from Republic. No jams or very few occurred while using the original mag that came with the pistol. The two mags are quite different. The original equipment mag has a flat, blued follower, while the extra mag followers are silver-colored and convex (they are curved and stick up in the middle). Does anyone have any ideas on what can be causing these jams and whether mags could have anything to do with them?

Thanks,

Drakejake

 

[Badger Arms]

Limp Wristing

I'd suspect it was limp wristing. The P-90 is normally a 100% reliable gun. The fact that you report ANY malfunction with it makes me suspect you are not gripping the gun firm enough. What happens with limp-wristing is you are letting the spring accelerate the gun as well as the slide by not holding it firm enough. This is particularly important with polymer guns, moreso with the Patriot as the frame weighs next-to Nothing. When the frame travels back fast enough, the slide might not have enough energy to travel fully and just opens eough to partially let the fired case out and then closes quickly. The one mag that works likely is applying less resistance to the slide and therefore partially offsetting your technique problem. Try using a firm hold on the gun next time you fire and report any malfunctions.

Other problems could be a rough chamber, too-heavy recoil spring, improperly tuned ejector, or just a gun that hasn't broke itself in enough yet. The only reason I'd point to the firmness of your hold is the issue with the Ruger experiencing the same malfunction.

 

[November]

DrakeJake,

Nice to hear from another Patriot owner. From the conversations I've had with Brian at Republic Arms, the magazines with the stainless follower are the newer ones. Mine also came with the blued follower when I bought it new. My Patriot uses either mag with no problem. I also had a couple instances of failure to eject.
I would try three things.

1) Make sure you're not limp-wristing (Badger Arms covered this in his post) as this will definitely cause problems.

2) Polish that chamber on the Patriot. This was the problem on my gun. No problems after polishing real well. Check for any burrs in the chamber as well.

3) Try different ammo. Many semi-autos are ammo-sensitive.


I went ahead and got the "Spare Parts Kit" from R.A. for around $65 and it has every part for the Patriot minus the slide and frame, including a new seven round mag. I haven't neede to use the kit yet, but for $65 you can't go wrong. Anyway, good luck with your pistol.

 

[Badger Arms]

Forgot to add:

Yes, I'm a proud Patriot Owner too. I've not polished the chamber and wouldn't suggest anybody but a gunsmith do this. Still, it will increase slide velocity enough to solve most problems. My gun has seen a little polishing, mostly on the feed ramp but also a little on the striker to improve trigger pull. Very little done on the striker, but you get enough improvement that it's worth a look.