Shooting Star .38 Super mags -- POS?

D

David Roberson

New member
I have one of the bright stainless Colt Custom Shop .38 Supers that have become plentiful over the past two years. I've shot it probably 500 rounds, mostly handloads, with no malfunctions at all.

This week I decided it might be fun to try the gun at an IDPA match, so I bought some more magazines for it. To be exact, I bought three Shooting Star stainless .38 Super mags.

When I went out today to test the gun with the new mags, I was surprised and disappointed. All three of the new mags FTF on the third from the last round -- that is, they jam up with two rounds left in the mag. It doesn't matter how many rounds are loaded in the magazine -- the third round from the last won't feed.

I've shot .45 cal 1911s for decades, but this is my first one of the guns in .38 Super. These are also the first -- and probably the last -- Shooting Star mags I've ever purchased in any caliber.

Has anyone else heard of this problem? Are Shooting Star .38 Super mags simply unreliable? Do the Colt Custom Shop guns simply insist on Colt magazines? Your recommendations welcome.
 
hmmm..thats too bad

I have about 5 of the 10 round super mags..never had problems like that...pretty much I use either WIlson 38 super mags..got about a dozen of them and the shooting star mags..

does the round jam on the feed ramp???going into the barrel??

These are the 10 round super mags with the devel type follower?? give shooting start a call and see if they will replace them..
 
If they are like the .45 mags, they use a special follower that looks like a U-shaped piece of sheet metal. This follower can rock too far forward and allow the next round to plow squarely into the feed ramp instead of hitting it at an angle. I read about this failure mode and sure enough had it happen to me the next day.

The mag bodies are fine, but the followers suck. I replaced my followers with Wilsons, but I'm not sure about that option on 38 Super.
 
I have 4 stainless ones.
They are great. Seriously. The rounds are held secure and yet strip out easily for reliable feedings.
I've had no problems with them. Love'm.
 
A follow-up:

Yesterday I took my Colt out for another brief shooting session, this time using only the original Colt magazine, and again it worked perfectly.

Today I called Chip McCormick Corp. and explained my problem. The guy I talked with told me that they have had a bad batch orf magazine tubes that apparently pinch the follower at a certain point and hamper feeding. He told me to return the magazines to them and promised that they will either fix or replace them.

Can't argue with that kind of service, if they follow through. I'll post again when I get the fixed/replaced magazines.
 
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