FX M3 magazine/probe issue

[Cotton-Eye]

Hi all, I have an impact m3 that has been great to me since I’ve owned it the past couple of years. I made the mistake of ordering an aftermarket (apparently 3d printed) magazine off eBay that has a window facing the shooter displaying the amount of rounds left in the magazine. It fit too snug so the seller sent me a new one as a replacement but had the same fit as the first. Didn’t slide in nearly as smooth as the stock magazine. But still fit and functioned, however, when sliding the cocking lever forward to load the round, there was obvious friction in doing so. Again, still fired as normal but everything k]just felt snug. Switching back to my stock magazine (which still slides in super smooth and loads a round super smooth), I have to keep tapping the magazine for it to load the next round, otherwise I get a dry fire.

Is there a way that aftermarket magazine screwed something up?

Could there be a malfunction with the stock mag? I took it apart, and reassembled (didn’t even lose those tiny ball bearings amazingly enough) hoping to help but no luck…

Could it be the pellets? They didn’t have a problem loading into the mag with my speed loader so I think the skirts are consistent.

Has anyone else had this issue or recommend me a next step? I have another magazine filled with a different type of pellet that I can try tomorrow.

Thank you all in advance for your help.

Cheers!

 

[Mrshosted]

No there’s no way it screwed up your gun, it sounds like two different problems, first your stock magazine could use a little bit more tension on the wheel. Easy fix add an extra turn when assembling.
Secondary 3D printed parts often size smaller than normal. There’s inherent shrinkage when the material cools. Try sanding the magazine with 200 grit sandpaper at the points that touch. You’re probably going to be sanding around the grove that’s a round where the barrel alinement is.
I only say this, as I’ve have many magazines that didn’t fit perfectly. And or need more spring pressure.
But not to say I believe that the best magazines are cnc magazine fro aluminum.
Mont

 

[Revoman]

Listen to Mont, he knows about this stuff!

Mike

 

[Cotton-Eye]

No there’s no way it screwed up your gun, it sounds like two different problems, first your stock magazine could use a little bit more tension on the wheel. Easy fix add an extra turn when assembling.
Secondary 3D printed parts often size smaller than normal. There’s inherent shrinkage when the material cools. Try sanding the magazine with 200 grit sandpaper at the points that touch. You’re probably going to be sanding around the grove that’s a round where the barrel alinement is.
I only say this, as I’ve have many magazines that didn’t fit perfectly. And or need more spring pressure.
But not to say I believe that the best magazines are cnc magazine fro aluminum.
Mont

Great I’ll try that. When I pulled the magazine apart yesterday I wasn’t sure how much spring tension to put in. I’ll give it another rotation or two. For the 3d printed magazine, when I first noticed it fit too tight, I put it on my shop belt sander (I’m a custom home builder) and got it a lot better but I think I still need more work on it. It improved the fit, but when engaging the bolt, there’s still a hundred times more friction than with the stock magazine and wondering if there’s a work around to that issue.

 

[Mrshosted]

on a different note, what caliber is your Impact?

 

[TopGun-Airguns]

Another possible cause is that somehow the barrel got moved a little more rearward, and is snug up against the magazine more than necessary. Take a look, and see if it protrudes more into the magazine than it normally did in the past.
Joe Brancato <><

 

[Cotton-Eye]

on a different note, what caliber is your Impact?

.25 cal

 

[Cotton-Eye]

Another possible cause is that somehow the barrel got moved a little more rearward, and is snug up against the magazine more than necessary. Take a look, and see if it protrudes more into the magazine than it normally did in the past.
Joe Brancato <><

Ya I thought about that. I have a bullet central carbon fiber tensioning kit installed That lets me microtune how far the liner protrudes so I backed it off a little yesterday and it helped a little but half way through the mag, it started jamming up again. When I pull the mag out, the pressure relieves and the mag kicks back into place again.

I sanded the backside of the stock mag and it definitely made an improvement but it was getting excessive. what’s strange is that my other stock mag works without issue.

The last thing I tried was grabbing the grip and gently flexing away from the butt to give mag a little more clearance. I love my impact but the design of how that butt is flimsily attached just doesn't make a lot of sense to me. In any case, after doing that the mag doesn’t seem to be having any issues anymore but I haven’t fully tested that out yet so jury is still out…