DB380 Gen2 constant failure to feed

[Saintnowhere]

on my caliper, the stock spring reads 0.89mm the news stock spring reads at 0.92mm. when i get a wolff i will update unless someone has one they can check. and it was the follower compared to each other the old one was out of spec it was too small front to back which caused tilt, the new one slides smooth but is much more of a snug fit with no tilt at all.

anyone know of a better made follower that will fit and function in a db380 mag?

[HankG]

Thanks for the reply. I've never been impressed with the quality of those magazines, although Kel-Tec uses them in their .380 and they seem to feed much better in their little pistol...owned both and interchanged magazines all of the time. People overlook magazines all of the time as a source of malfunctions in a semi auto. There's a video out there about the problems Sig Sauer has had with magazines for their little P238...a high priced all steel pistol. It all seems to revolve around the follower design. If I can find it, I'll post it.

[Saintnowhere]

yeah all it takes is a weak spring, bad follower, bent mag or damage feed lips and your out of luck. 1911's can be pretty picky on mags but there fairly easy to tweak and get to work. with the 380 was the same.

[HankG]

Don't want to upset DB owners on this site, but Iv'e found most of the changes that needed to take place on the little pistol came from owners that were ready to get their tools out and experiment.

If you really want to pursue this you ought to give Sig Sauer a call and see if they would sell you a "Generation 3 magazine follower" for their P238 .380 caliber magazine. It might fit in the magazine shell for the little DB. Make sure it's Gen 3 though...they seem to work...here's the video...notice the quality of the mag...it's stainless steel...hell, it might even fit the little pistol.



This follower is the same in the 9mm P938 that I own, only shorter to handle the .380 cartridge. NOTICE the small knob on the follower that seems to lift the cartridge somewhat off of the rear of the follower.

[Saintnowhere]

That is interesting, I may give it a shot, and yes unfortunately the general public are the unpaid engineers for most of the companies. The gun itself seems to have very few flaws It appears the mags are the weakest link, and unfortunately you cannot tweak a plastic follower. I will also search for other followers and if i find a solution to this issue i will keep this updated. If i can get mine 100% reliable i will do a write up on all things i have done with pics to help out others. But it will take time and more testing just wish 380 ammo was cheaper lol

[HankG]

Per our conversation above...anyone got $11.00?


http://www.kahr.com/Pistol-Parts/Kahr-039CT380-Magazine-Follower-039P38.asp

[DanPop]

Per our conversation above...anyone got $11.00?


http://www.kahr.com/Pistol-Parts/Kahr-039CT380-Magazine-Follower-039P38.asp

You know for a fact that this follower will fit a DB380 mag?

[HankG]

Wish I could say yes but I can't. Just popped up as I looked at different .380s this week end. Normally they sell the whole magazine or just the spring. You would think the probability would be pretty high though since most magazines have to have the same inside dimensions to accommodate the specific round's dimensions which are measured in thousands of an inch. Eleven bucks is a fairly steep price for something that looks as though it's hard poly but it may work if it's a little higher quality than the follower found in DB's magazine. Sometimes i just can't let an idea go...gets me in trouble at 3:30 in the morning when i'm trying to sleep.

[DanPop]

Lol, 3:30 is about the same time my mind is in high gear.

[Saintnowhere]

I haven't forgot about this thread yet, but it has been put on the back burner for now, but i did get wolff springs and they helped a little but still the same issue. Here's what i found, I purchased another mag one of the older engraved styles. Original mag still jams the same as it did, the replacement they sent me works perfect, the older engraved one works fairly good but has some issues with failure to pick up the next round occasionally, which wolff spring cured it about 98%. Now dimension wise the mag body's are all good, the followers are the issue. the good mag's follower fits snug but slides smoothly, the 2nd best is a little looser and the worst is sloppy. I am convinced it is 100% follower issue. I am looking into all kinds of different followers, and contemplating making my own. but at the moment its slow going as i have a lot of other stuff going on right now. I will keep posted as i try to find a good fix for the issue. Thinking of making my own out of that steel putty stuff, could be made easily to a perfect form fit and once hardened  can be filed/sanded.

[Saintnowhere]

Well i'm sorry to report there was no helping this little gun. There is just something with the design that evidently refuses to cooperate. The mags that were doing good started to cause the feed issue also. tried wolff springs, 3 different types of followers, every part on the gun polished, hand fitted and it still refused to do its job. it was more reliable then when i got it but it still was not reliable enough. I ended up selling it for a $100 and the knowledge that it was just a range toy and not very reliable.

It is unfortunate because i really wanted this gun to preform well. I love the size and design but it is supposedly
hit or miss with these guns and it seems more missing then hitting. But i haven't learned my lesson yet, i ordered a Stainless db380 and i'm going to try again. Maybe i will get lucky, if not i will consider it lesson learned and walk away from these little guns.

[gene814]

I store my Db380 and DB9 with the slide locked back.  I cut a dowel rod to a length that just fits in the breach when the slide is pulled back.  I find the guns are much more reliable when I shoot them.  I store my Glock 42 locked back too.


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[gene814]

Well I did some shooting this week. I had an experienced shooter and a new shooter, using my gun too. My DB9 performed flawlessly, even with the new shooter.  Storing the gun with the slide "locked" back using a piece of wooden dowel in the breach solved all mis-feeding issues.  Storing my DB380 that way too.


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[Boomer1023]

I also used the wolfspring for the keltech. Fixed my ftf issues

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[gene814]

Which Keltec spring did you use? The recoil spring For the tcp?


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