Has anyone contacted Colorado Gun Works in Indiana to get this repair?

Has it worked?

Can we get the parts for our installation ourselves instead of the shipping cost?

I've never had to face off with a bear and sincerely hope to never have to.  However, I've met a couple of people that have in real life.  They both carried 44 mags and  both felt they would much rather have had a long gun instead, no equivocations.  It's not volume of fire, it's a few accurate shots with enough penetration when the bear is charging (think 12 gauge with slugs).   They run and climb so fast you're not likely to get many shots off regardless of magazine capacity.

This video kind of brings home the point https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VQSZ4c20KE

Quote from: PCFlorida on February 27 2017 07:14:30 PM MST
What is the difference in recoil if you have shot it yet?

Haven't shot it with the red spring.  However, manual racking of the slide seems to have the same resistance.  The biggest problem with the silver spring is that it is so long it kinks when trying to thread it onto the guide rod, very difficult with only two hands.  The red spring, being shorter, doesn't have the opportunity to kink before getting thread on the guide rod.

I'm sending the gun in for warranty repair to Alhmann's in MN.  I spoke with a smith there who said he's had to fix several with the mag drop issue.  In each case he said he had to increase the magazine catch's engagement with the mag body.  He's estimating a 2 week turnaround.

When it gets back, I'm putting on another extended thumb safety from the X-Calibur model.  It'll need some reshaping, but it's got a lot of material to work given its boat oar shape.... it's freaking huge.

There are two red springs listed on Eagle Imports, one listed as 'GP36-K100' and the other listed as 'GP36-P40'. GP36-P40  was the only recoil spring listed under P40 parts.  There is no "silver spring" listed at on the Eagle Imports web site, nor was there a 'P40L' parts section.

https://grandpower.eagleimportsinc.com/grandpower/shop/parts/p40-parts/recoil-spring

I got the red spring to try out and thought some might like to see the difference in length between the red and silver spring (stock spring that came with the gun).   What a difference the red spring makes in ease of getting the slide back on.



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Decided to try another 150 rounds today to see if the gun would finally "break-in" like some others here thought happened for them.  No joy.      All seemed good with the first 90 of rounds (S&B 180gn) but the last 10 it dropped the mag twice.  When I went to Sig Elite 180gn, it just got worse.  And I'm 100% positive I did not hit the mag release.  Which makes me believe that under heavy recoil, the mag shakes free.

I'm debating putting the HDPE tape on the back of the mag.  I looked for my supply in the basement and can't find it, so I might have to order it.   

I may end up just sending it in for repair, which is ultimately where this is going to end up anyway.

What ammo are you shooting?  Too light of a load for the installed recoil spring can cause the same symptom; the slide does not have enough velocity to strike the ejector with enough force to knock the case free of the extractor before the slide closes and captures the case between breech and barrel hood.  Reloading for Bullseye matches and tweaking the recoil spring go hand in hand, but along the way I've seen case mouths crushed like that.

Too much extractor tension will also cause FRTB failures with the round hung up below the extractor and the nose partially in the chamber. 

Quote from: Ten2six on February 18 2017 08:06:24 PM MST
Got my new recoil spring today, now to just get time to go to the range! It is 1 3/4 inches shorter than the one that came with the pistol but feels a little stiffer. I have no way of testing it.    PCFlorida.......I picked up a MagLula at the gun show in KC today needless to say I feel like I have been living under a rock. I love this thing!!

Which service center did you send your gun to?

And I'm definitely interested in how the red spring is working for you.   I have the longer silver spring and it makes the gun harder to reassemble, so I've been thinking about getting the red spring.

@SavageOne: Yes, I had previously disassembled the magazine and removed the release from the plastic grip.  I also looked at the magazine after this last firing.  The magazine was very clean with no debris, really nothing to clean.

The magazine release button had some residue on it, but nothing that looked like it would impede the magazine catch from fully locking into the magazine body.  However, the magazine release button thickness at the caming surface looks to be a critical dimension in how far it allows the catch's rotation to engage with the magazine.

This design looks to be susceptible to stacking tolerances under recoil.  The magazine body moves about in the grip frame even when "locked", allowing the magazine catch to be either fully engaged through the locking notch -- proud of the interior wall by at least .003" -- to partially engaged.  Further, the catch rotates in the plane in which the recoil forces operate and is not impeded by the magazine release button in the direction of unlocking.  I.e., the magazine release button cams the catch to unlock, but doesn't prevent the catch from moving in the unlock direction.

Which all may sound like gobbledygook, but boils down to under heavy recoil the catch and magazine can spontaneously unlock.  I'm convinced this is going to be a recurring problem and it has nothing to do with "hitting the release button by griping it improperly".  One key observation I had at the range was that the problem occurred to a much greater extent with Sig Sauer 180gn Elite (180gn @ 1250fps) than either S&B 180 FMJ and Armscor 180 FMJ.

I'm going to run a test with some HDPE tape applied to the rear of the magazine to restrict the magazine's reward movement and see if that doesn't keep the magazine locked.

Quote from: PCFlorida on January 15 2017 01:23:20 PM MST
And while I agree with that, in fact it is a perfect assessment, I shoot my P40 better than I ever shoot my Kahr CM9

Glad it works for you, really.  Ironically, my wife commented on how much she likes my CM9 today at the range over the P40 -- go figure.

BTW, she didn't care for my Kimber Micro 9, but loves the P238.

Modified safety/decocker seems to work fine.

Well, this gun probably has to go back. I put another 200 rounds through it today with 5 shooters (3 experienced 10mm shooters) each having the magazine drop out of the gun from 1 to 3 times during their firing.  One was in disbelief and couldn't understand why the mag was on the ground.      I'm disappointed, I really wanted this to work out.

Quote from: Intercooler on January 15 2017 09:25:05 AM MST
I want to go the other direction and convert my 9mm into a decocker.

Life is short.  Go for it.  Hope it works for you.

It was either in this thread or the other currently running P40 thread, there was mention that the double action trigger was like a S&W revolver's double action trigger.  I don't agree with this assessment.  The weight is about the same, but revolver double actions can be staged, this one can't.  And my P40's trigger stacks towards the end of the pull unlike a revolver.  For me to not notice it, I have to pull through pretty fast and my aim goes to shit.  It reminds me more of my wife's sig P232 double action pull, which is pretty bad.

You always have the option to run the P40 cocked-and-locked even with the decocker model. 

If you get the decocker model and you don't like it, you can alway replace the plastic levers with the ones from the safety only  version with minor fitting.  Then you can't decock it. 

I received the left side thumb safety from Eagle Imports.  They were partly correct; the safety does fit (sort of), but when installed the decocker function does not work and it sits a little proud of the frame.  Unmodified pictures attached.

With the above said, I was able to modify the safety by removing material so that it functions properly with decocker function and sits flush to the frame. I also noticed the trailing edge of the safety is smaller and more rounded than the stock lever, which makes it more comfortable.  I'm glad I ordered two of them because this allows me to modify with further experimentation.

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