Mak_fan

Hi,
I am from Pakistan. I own a Baikal MP 442, 12 shot Mak which is my carry weapon since last three years. Just recently I have observed that the magazines do not drop free (empty or full) when the mag release is pressed. The magazine goes down a bit when mag release is pressed (about 1 cm) and then I have to pull it out. This never happened before. I remember spray painting the grip once couple of weeks back. But After removing it. The problem has been occurring after paint job. I have stripped the pistol but cannot find any paint in the magwell. I have run my fingers in the magwell, no burrs there either. But there are marks on the magazine. Would appreciate help in this area. Many thanks.

retDAC

Either the magazine body has swelled or something inside the mag well has changed.


Do you have another magazine to compare?

Since you have marks on the magazine, is it feasible to file or sand down what is protruding into the mag well?

Mak_fan

@retDAc thanks for replying.
I have polished the magwell and mags with polishing compound but haven't found any improvement. The mag release is working fine it does release the mag. An empty mag drops only 1 cm and a full about 1 inch, because of the weight of a full mag. A physical inspection followed by running my finger in magwell did not find any problem. I suspect since I painted the grip only it got painted on the inside as well and that might have pressed the magwell because I found it hard to remove the grip it got stuck really bad. So last night I sanded off the paint from the inside of the grip. But I guess the damage is done now. I can try measuring the magwell with a vernier calliper but don't know how to bring it back to its original shape. Also as you asked I do not have another mag, only two and since both are getting stuck so I believe the problem is in the magwell. And please also tell me if there's a possibility of the magazine swelling? How?
An afterthought, I may sand off the magwell a little bit. What say?
P.S. I can share pics if you want.
many thanks

dfariswheel

When you were working on the gun, is there any chance you put the frame in a vise?
If so, you may have bent the frame inward.

I'd remove the grips and the slide so there's nothing interfering, and to allow you to better see anything wrong.
There's not much in the frame that can be causing this so it shouldn't be that hard to see the problem.

I'd inspect the magazine to see where the marks are, then look at those areas of the inside of the frame for high spots or anything protruding into the well.
A grip screw may be in too far or a part may have shifted.

I assume the gun was working okay before the paint job, so look for excess paint or parts out of place.

Mak_fan

@ dfariswheel thanks. I did not put it in a vise. But I suspect the same, since the paint was quite thick on the inside of the grip so it might have bent the frame inward (just a wee bit). I will look in to the grip screw as well. The gun was and is still shooting flawlessly, the only problem being the magazines not dropping free. Thanks for the useful tip.
Cheers

retDAC

I knew that mag swelling was highly unlikely. Just mentioned it as an outside possibility.

Mak_fan

The problem has been solved. It was the leaf spring that had moved just a wee bot and was stopping free movement of the Mags. So just as I was going to sand the magwell today I moved the leaf spring a little by applying pressure on it and voila that did it.

retDAC

Glad to hear you solved your problem.