P.38 stove piping?

[Mr. Buttons]

Just curious if anyone can identify a few common problems that would cause regular stove piping in a Walther P.38? Pistol in question has new springs (mag and recoil).

thanks

 

[ckid]

I don't have any experience with the P38, but I will offer some advice. If the gun wasn't stovepiping before the spring change I would suspect that the springs (I believe the P38 has 2 IIRC) are to heavy for the load you are using. Also you may be breaking your wrist causing some loss of cycling energy. If the magazine lips are out of adjustment (spread too wide) the top round in the magazine may be dragging on the bottom of the slide and slowing it down.

 

[bearhunter]

P38s need to be fed ammo that is around 1300fps. They have a bad habit of tearing out the eatractor/plunger/spring assembly if they are much hotter. They also will stovepipe if the velocity goes below 1200fps. Changeing your springs as was mentioned above (recoil spring) is most likely the culprit. If your ammo is to hot or light, that will also cause problems with stovepipeing. Another thing you may want to check, is the tip of the extractor sharp and complete, inside edge chipped away? bearhunter

 

[BEARMAN]

A rule of thumb with any AUTOLOADER : if it starts to malfunction check the mag out first( try a different one or mark the one it malfunctioned with) THEN IF IT DOES IT WITH MORE THAN 2 MAGS TRY OTHER IDEAS ( BUT ONLY ONE CHANGE AT A TIME).