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fixed problem loading minishells

5K views 19 replies 8 participants last post by  terry_tr6 
#1 · (Edited)
I found that charging the magazine tube with minishells was sometimes easy, sometimes finicky, sometimes impossible. After the first shell(and sometimes even that one) the mouth of the shell would hit something and refuse to enter the magazine tube.
I marked some shells so i could see what was hanging and the mouths were getting nicked either on the bottom(holding the gun upside down) or the right hand side.
The lip of the magazine tube was very square to the point of being a sharp edge and the corner where the top is cut back was also a very square and sharp corner. that is where the mouths of the shells would hit and stick. There were actual gouges in the mouth of the shell where the lip had cut into them. Full size shells not so much that they would jam, but you could feel them hit it before they jumped over.
Since that area is almost inaccessible, i added a bent piece of tubing to the handle of a small diamond 1/2 round file and gently broke the inner corner of the lip as well putting a small radius in the corners both right and left side. I did very little cutting just enough to break the sharp edge plus a hair more. I then smoothed the new corners with some 320 grit paper to removed the file marks. The bright line to the left of the follower in the pic is what I did

It loads shorty's "like butter". No wiggling no nothing, just drop the shells on the guide arms and shove them in. I really don't even feel them passing the lip now.

the bright line under the follower is what i did
HINT KelTec: this is really easy to do before you weld things together and a bitch afterwards.
I think you owe me a free coffee cup or something for this fix. You know who i am, I'm the guy who drove up twice with my KS7 a couple weeks ago. Call me and let me know when i can pick up the cup. thanks
 

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#2 · (Edited)
Terry, I tried your fix and it made the loading of the mini-shells much smoother. As you said, just drop the shell on the guides and push the shell into the mag. Easy. I removed the barrel and mag follower and spring first to get maximum clearance. That area is hard to get to. I used a 15/16" ball stone with a 1/4" shaft to do the initial work on the edge to knock off the edge corner. I rubbed the stone on the edge until I had the look I wanted. I think a 3/4" stone would be a better fit. The round ball fit the curve well and the shaft gave me a handle to hold. I then used crocus cloth followed by 1200 grit paper and I was done. My job looks just like yours. Thank you for this easy mod.

Kel-Tec: Send Terry a BIG coffee cup.!
 
#6 ·
I found that charging the magazine tube with minishells was sometimes easy, sometimes finicky, sometimes impossible. After the first shell(and sometimes even that one) the mouth of the shell would hit something and refuse to enter the magazine tube.
I marked some shells so i could see what was hanging and the mouths were getting nicked either on the bottom(holding the gun upside down) or the right hand side.
The lip of the magazine tube was very square to the point of being a sharp edge and the corner where the top is cut back was also a very square and sharp corner. that is where the mouths of the shells would hit and stick. There were actual gouges in the mouth of the shell where the lip had cut into them. Full size shells not so much that they would jam, but you could feel them hit it before they jumped over.
Since that area is almost inaccessible, i added a bent piece of tubing to the handle of a small diamond 1/2 round file and gently broke the inner corner of the lip as well putting a small radius in the corners both right and left side. I did very little cutting just enough to break the sharp edge plus a hair more. I then smoothed the new corners with some 320 grit paper to removed the file marks. The bright line to the left of the follower in the pic is what I did

It loads shorty's "like butter". No wiggling no nothing, just drop the shells on the guide arms and shove them in. I really don't even feel them passing the lip now.

the bright line under the follower is what i did
HINT KelTec: this is really easy to do before you weld things together and a ***** afterwards.
I think you owe me a free coffee cup or something for this fix. You know who i am, I'm the guy who drove up twice with my KS7 a couple weeks ago. Call me and let me know when i can pick up the cup. thanks
Thank you for this info!! My KS7 was jamming and digging into 2 3/4in shells while loading them and it was driving me nuts! I was amazed at how little of material I had to smooth out with my Dremel before shells would slide in without getting getting cut up. I'm really impressed you somehow got a file in there! :D
 
#9 ·
I personally found the easiest way to do this is to buy a 1/2 inch dowel rod and cut it off to about a 12 inch length.
Wrap a strip of fine wet or dry sand cloth around the end of the dowel and glue it on.

Field strip the gun and remove the magazine follower.
Remove the 4 button head cap screws from the sides of the pump handle and remove the handle and the slide assembly from the gun.
This gives unobstructed access to the rear of the magazine tube.

Just put the sand paper end into the receiver from the rear and rest the sand paper on the end of the magazine tube.
Press down on the sand paper end and use the other end to rotate and push the sand paper back and forth on the edge of the mag tube.
You can get the sides the same way.
Be careful not to contact the shell releases at the rear of the mag tube.

All you need is to just break or bevel the sharp inside-rear edge of the mag tube.
Clean the mag tube and receiver thoroughly to remove all sanding dust and grit, lubricate to prevent the now bare metal from rusting and you're done.
 
#10 · (Edited)
Hopefully this image will help. The yellow circled part is the feed lip that was causing me the biggest headache. It shows as the shiny rounded line in this image. I also gently softened the hard points in the pink circles as they would periodically catch. I intend to smooth all of it more, but haven't had the time to buff them. Once I smoothed out that feed lip, it was like night and day. The shells went in without catching at all.
 

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#12 ·
Thanks terry-tr6, picked up my KS7, went to the range that weekend, started off ok, then couldn’t load a shell to save my life, fumbled around for a while and got it. Then fumbled again. Very frustrating for a brand new bad ass looking gun. Using 2-3/4 target. Did the mod, great photo-thanks for that. Returned to the range, feeds like Budda! Same ammo. Thanks guys!
 
#19 ·
The shell lifter doesn't have anything to do with actually loading the magazine.
Loading problems are related to the sharp edges of the rear of the magazine tube, and the slide, which has two guide rails on the bottom to direct the shells into the tube.

Other then to lightly bevel the mouth of the magazine tube and smooth the tops of the slide rails there's not much that can be done for loading problems.
Bevel the tube mouth too much and it's weakened AND can be so sharp as to cut your fingers.
Remove any metal from the slide rails and that would make loading harder, not easier.

About the only adjustments to the shell lifter are to spread of close the width, or to risk bending the "legs" up or down.
These adjustments are for actual feed and ejection of shells, not loading the magazine.

Before altering a firearm you need to stop and think things through, or risk ruining a gun.
 
#20 ·
play with loading shells(especially mini's) and make note of where they stick. I expect you will see the edge or/and corner of the magazine tube cutting into the plastic of the shell. Just breaking those sharp corners is all you need to do. Not a lot of metal removal. I think that when the tube is formed it leaves a sharp rolled edge on the inside of the tube. you just need to get rid of that and make the edge into a slight chamfer and the shells scoot right over it and in. your finger will feel the difference. It does NOT require a power tool to do(put the dremel away). some emery cloth on a dowel or a small file will do it. you may have to rig something to get the tool up in there at a proper angle.
 
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