Hellcat Pro has no mag!

Hello all. I’m wondering if any of you have experienced this.
While requalifying with my side arm, I decided to use my Hellcat Pro. During the skills portion my magazine dropped out of the well several times. I am now a pro at tactical reloads.
I just brushed it off as my support hand pressing too hard on the mag release, and dropping it.
Then this morning I got to the gun shop I work at. While speaking to one of the customers I pulled my gun to show him the gun, attempted to drop the mag. to clear the gun, and WOW… NO MAGAZINE!!! It fell out while I was getting dresses. AND the gun was it it’s level II holster. I will take the hit on that, maybe I didn’t put the magazine in with the proper force. But, I am concerned about the magazine dropping with little pressure on the release.

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I had a new Ruger LCP2 that kept dropping its magazine when I shot it along with a couple other issues. I wasted a lot of ammo figuring out that the problem wasn’t me. Sent it back to Ruger and they replaced pretty much everything but the frame and it has worked perfectly since then.

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Are you hearing the magazine click in?

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I had a Glock 41 doing that. I finally figured out that it was the holster pressing the mag release button.

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What are you using for a holster? Have you put in an extender?

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I don’t know the OP’s personal routine. But it sounds like each day, the magazine is removed when the firearm is stored/secured.

No matter. Inserting a magazine into the handgun should be followed by a swift slap and then a simple tug on the bottom to make sure that the magazine is seated. Making sure that your sidearm is “ready for duty” is your responsibility, period.

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I don’t have the hellcat pro but I’ve got two standard hellcats. Never ran across this. I do know when loading plus one meaning racking one into the chamber and then dropping and topping off the mag it takes a deliberate act to reinsert a full mag with one of the chamber. Just something to be aware of and be deliberate with.

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I went through a whole host of things trying to figure my issue out. It started as a fail to feed issues every 8 or so shots. Sometimes after the first shot but more often after later shots. I thought it might be just one of the mags so I numbered them all and tried again. Took me awhile to realize that the mags were ever so slightly not locked on occasion because they were not dropping out at first. So then I paid extra special attention to the mag being seated properly before I pulled the trigger.

Because I’m a lefty I first assumed it was my hand depressing the mag release during the recoil. I changed my grip. Then changed to shooting right handed with no fingers anywhere near the release. Nothing worked and the problem just got worse to the point where the mag would drop completely free every 3rd or so shot. 200 hundred plus rounds later I was confident it wasn’t me or any of the 4 mags I was using.

Not sure why they replaced the entire upper slide and barrel but they also replaced the magazine release button and spring on the frame. Works like a charm now though I have since given over its pocket duties to the LCP Max. Virtually the same size but much better capacity and easier to shoot.

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My P365 is also really hard when inserting a full mag on a closed slide. Takes a very hard slap or push to get it in there properly.

Definitely worth ruling out all the potential user errors first before looking into mechanical issues.

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Absolutely true!

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I’m a big guy (5’11" and 225 pounds) and I carry a fair amount of edc gear so my gun belt has to be tight ish. Since I carry my Glock 41,with a wml, as my primary EDC I use an all Kydex custom melded holster. I had used that holster for years and I think the tandem of tight belt and long term use caused a problem so I went to a hybrid holster from Muddy River Tactical.

It’s custom so it was a bit pricey for me. But I prefer custom so I know it’s crafted for my intended use.

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Yes. It’s clicking in, and lately I’ve been pulling on the mag. to see if it’s locked.

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I’ll look at that holster. I have a few, so I’ll see if I can see anything touching the release.

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Hi. No, the only thing I have added to the gun is a Romeo Zero optic. Everything else is how I bought it.

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Sounds like a head scratcher! Good luck!

I would suggest:

  1. double check for lock-in of the mag
  2. check the spring / release as shown in the video
  3. check for clearance in the holster
  4. check to see if you can deliberately deform the holster to release the mag
  5. carry the rig in your home where you can possibly duplicate the fault and find the mag
  6. contact SA

Not necessarily in that order!!!

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I have noticed with my Hellcat Pro that the magazines need an extra smack to fully home. I started doing this the second time the magazine fell out when I charged the pistol.

A little off topic… are your magazine springs like extra stuff? When I get to 10 rounds it just gets extra hard to load the magazine. I have 4 of them and they are all like that.

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Update. After checking it out, it seems the level II holster does make contact with the magazine release button, and it will drop the mag. After a slight modification to the holster, the holster no longer releases the magazine.
Now I have to figure out why the magazines drop when I am shooting the gun.

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See my update.

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