P-38 Range Report

Iron_Colonel · 06-26-2008, 12:09 AM

A slightly disappointing range report from today. Had a lot of problems with jamming in my P-38 today. Which is very interesting, I don't know why it would do that. Could have been the ammo. They were hand loads, so maybe I'll have to buy some factory loaded stuff and try it out, and it those work well, then load to meet those specs. But the ones that did shoot ok weren't too bad. It shoots a little lower than point of aim.

I can try some different loads, or else if that doesn't fix it, maybe polish the feed ramp and try it again. But I would think since its a military pistol that the feed ramp wouldn't necessarily need to be polished. But if it might fix the jamming problem, then it would be worth it. I have 2 different mags, and now that I think of it, I can get another one to try in it too. But one mag definitely feeds better than the other one does out of the two I used.

So if anyone has any ideas, let me know.

I also shot my old P-08 Luger and it shot pretty well, when it wasn't jamming. Its a 1918 Erfurt that I bought after being told the #s were matching but they weren't, so its ok its a shooter. Its all matching except the barrel which is off an s/42 pistol. Whatever, live and learn buying online.....

Hahn · 06-26-2008, 01:22 AM

Never heard of a P38 ever jamming. It must be a bad mag. I would check the tension on the spring in the problem mag. Maybe it's not being very possitive about hold a round in postion for the bolt carrier to pick it up. A weak or sacked spring in the mag. can't push the round up far enough anymore. This can happen when a full clip of bullets sits around too long. The spring in the mag. can lose it's tension. I leave only about 4 rounds in the mag. if I'm not shooting for any lenght of time. I also have an AK where I leave most of the mags. empty and only 1/2 load the others.

Iron_Colonel · 08-10-2008, 11:35 AM

Well I think I have successfully fixed my jamming problem. I did take a polishing wheel on a dremel to the inside of the barrel to help to polish out the inside. I mainly focused on where the bullet enters the chamber. I noticed there were some scratches of resistance on the cases when I tried to load it.

Then I got to looking, and the base of the case wasn't cycling into its little area where it nestles into under the extractor. I took a file to the extractor and squared it up and now it cycles nearly perfectly. I might take a file to the bottom part of the area where the case sits, so there is less of an angle where the base of the case rests fully in position on the slide when it slides into position when the slide of the gun is worked. So I am hoping I will get to try it out today and see how well it will work.

I will be shooting factory loaded ammo and just with cycling it by hand, looks like it should be ok.

06-26-2008, 12:09 AM	#1
Iron_Colonel Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Washington St. Posts: 376	P-38 Range Report A slightly disappointing range report from today. Had a lot of problems with jamming in my P-38 today. Which is very interesting, I don't know why it would do that. Could have been the ammo. They were hand loads, so maybe I'll have to buy some factory loaded stuff and try it out, and it those work well, then load to meet those specs. But the ones that did shoot ok weren't too bad. It shoots a little lower than point of aim. I can try some different loads, or else if that doesn't fix it, maybe polish the feed ramp and try it again. But I would think since its a military pistol that the feed ramp wouldn't necessarily need to be polished. But if it might fix the jamming problem, then it would be worth it. I have 2 different mags, and now that I think of it, I can get another one to try in it too. But one mag definitely feeds better than the other one does out of the two I used. So if anyone has any ideas, let me know. I also shot my old P-08 Luger and it shot pretty well, when it wasn't jamming. Its a 1918 Erfurt that I bought after being told the #s were matching but they weren't, so its ok its a shooter. Its all matching except the barrel which is off an s/42 pistol. Whatever, live and learn buying online..... __________________ Я люблю купить российские винтовки!! Last edited by Iron_Colonel; 06-26-2008 at 12:12 AM. Reason: typo

08-10-2008, 11:35 AM	#3
Iron_Colonel Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Washington St. Posts: 376	Well I think I have successfully fixed my jamming problem. I did take a polishing wheel on a dremel to the inside of the barrel to help to polish out the inside. I mainly focused on where the bullet enters the chamber. I noticed there were some scratches of resistance on the cases when I tried to load it. Then I got to looking, and the base of the case wasn't cycling into its little area where it nestles into under the extractor. I took a file to the extractor and squared it up and now it cycles nearly perfectly. I might take a file to the bottom part of the area where the case sits, so there is less of an angle where the base of the case rests fully in position on the slide when it slides into position when the slide of the gun is worked. So I am hoping I will get to try it out today and see how well it will work. I will be shooting factory loaded ammo and just with cycling it by hand, looks like it should be ok. __________________ Я люблю купить российские винтовки!!

06-26-2008, 01:22 AM	#2
Hahn Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 87	Never heard of a P38 ever jamming. It must be a bad mag. I would check the tension on the spring in the problem mag. Maybe it's not being very possitive about hold a round in postion for the bolt carrier to pick it up. A weak or sacked spring in the mag. can't push the round up far enough anymore. This can happen when a full clip of bullets sits around too long. The spring in the mag. can lose it's tension. I leave only about 4 rounds in the mag. if I'm not shooting for any lenght of time. I also have an AK where I leave most of the mags. empty and only 1/2 load the others.