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Hellcat Pro slide locking back prematurely

H

Hellcat noob

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The slide on my Hellcat Pro has a habit of locking to the rear with ammo still in the magazine, but only with certain brands of ammo. I thought I would post the symptoms here and ask if anyone has a suggestion as to the cause.

I start with an empty pistol
Lock back the slide
Insert full magazine
Slingshot the slide. Slide goes into battery.
Fire a couple of rounds and the slide locks back with several rounds still in magazine.
Look into the ejection port and see that the topmost round in the magazine is nose-down.
Slingshot the slide. Slide goes into battery.
Fire a couple of rounds and the slide locks back with several rounds still in magazine.
Look into the ejection port and see that the topmost round in the magazine is nose-down.
Slingshot the slide. Slide goes into battery.
Lather, rinse, repeat.

The pistol does fire more reliably for the last six or seven rounds in the mag.
Slide locks back after the last round is fired, as it should.

I have five factory magazines and this occurs with every mag.

So far, I get the premature lockback with the following ammo:
American Eagle 147-gr FMJ FP
Winchester M882 NATO spec FMJ

The following ammo cycles without any problems:
Norma 115-gr FMJ range ammo
Federal HST 147-gr JHP
Fort Scott 80-gr TUI

I'll try other brands as time permits.

Any ideas on what the cause could be? The pistol is cleaned and lubricated regularly per the manual. I saw no obvious signs of damage or unusual wear.


Thanks in advance
 
Hellcat noob said:
The slide on my Hellcat Pro has a habit of locking to the rear with ammo still in the magazine, but only with certain brands of ammo. I thought I would post the symptoms here and ask if anyone has a suggestion as to the cause.

I start with an empty pistol
Lock back the slide
Insert full magazine
Slingshot the slide. Slide goes into battery.
Fire a couple of rounds and the slide locks back with several rounds still in magazine.
Look into the ejection port and see that the topmost round in the magazine is nose-down.
Slingshot the slide. Slide goes into battery.
Fire a couple of rounds and the slide locks back with several rounds still in magazine.
Look into the ejection port and see that the topmost round in the magazine is nose-down.
Slingshot the slide. Slide goes into battery.
Lather, rinse, repeat.

The pistol does fire more reliably for the last six or seven rounds in the mag.
Slide locks back after the last round is fired, as it should.

I have five factory magazines and this occurs with every mag.

So far, I get the premature lockback with the following ammo:
American Eagle 147-gr FMJ FP
Winchester M882 NATO spec FMJ

The following ammo cycles without any problems:
Norma 115-gr FMJ range ammo
Federal HST 147-gr JHP
Fort Scott 80-gr TUI

I'll try other brands as time permits.

Any ideas on what the cause could be? The pistol is cleaned and lubricated regularly per the manual. I saw no obvious signs of damage or unusual wear.


Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Ok, it might be your limp wristing the gun with the heavier loads and inadvertently hitting the slide lock during recoil…..if you noticed you had the issues with the heavier bullet weight and also the NATO rounds which are a tad warmer loads. This is just a thought, limp wristing is common with the smaller pistols, but not always with the smaller ones, some do it with full size pistols and 1911’s, it’s just easier to do with the smaller ones.
 
when you “slingshot it” are you doing it overhand or just punching it by your thumb and finger?

Or what happens a lot of folks shooting high thumbs/thumbs forward in Most cases your thumb is striking the slide stop/slide release under recoil. I had a similar issue with an Sig 228 I was issued except I hit it where the slide would not lock back after the last round.

The general issued handgun was a Beretta 92D and with that diving board of a slide stop/slide release lots of folks had your issue of kicking the slide back with BB’s still in the mag

So the easiest trouble shoot is do a revolver or crushed grip with thumbs locked down os your thumbs and everything else is away from the slide stop and see it that rectified it. If it does them it is your grip, you can also have an experienced friend run a mag of suspect rounds and see if that is it.

That’s the easiest thing to start and if it doesn’t elementary it move on to the sling shot as try different methods to see it that cleared it so on and so forth.

Just for reference what a revolver/crush grip is pic below

Good luck
 

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ECS686 said:
when you “slingshot it” are you doing it overhand or just punching it by your thumb and finger?

Or what happens a lot of folks shooting high thumbs/thumbs forward in Most cases your thumb is striking the slide stop/slide release under recoil. I had a similar issue with an Sig 228 I was issued except I hit it where the slide would not lock back after the last round.

The general issued handgun was a Beretta 92D and with that diving board of a slide stop/slide release lots of folks had your issue of kicking the slide back with BB’s still in the mag

So the easiest trouble shoot is do a revolver or crushed grip with thumbs locked down os your thumbs and everything else is away from the slide stop and see it that rectified it. If it does them it is your grip, you can also have an experienced friend run a mag of suspect rounds and see if that is it.

That’s the easiest thing to start and if it doesn’t elementary it move on to the sling shot as try different methods to see it that cleared it so on and so forth.

Just for reference what a revolver/crush grip is pic below

Good luck
Click to expand...
It’s happened to me as well. I had a habit of having my thumbs too close to the slide.
Once I rectified my thumbs placement the issue went away
 
ECS686 said:
when you “slingshot it” are you doing it overhand or just punching it by your thumb and finger?

Or what happens a lot of folks shooting high thumbs/thumbs forward in Most cases your thumb is striking the slide stop/slide release under recoil. I had a similar issue with an Sig 228 I was issued except I hit it where the slide would not lock back after the last round.

The general issued handgun was a Beretta 92D and with that diving board of a slide stop/slide release lots of folks had your issue of kicking the slide back with BB’s still in the mag

So the easiest trouble shoot is do a revolver or crushed grip with thumbs locked down os your thumbs and everything else is away from the slide stop and see it that rectified it. If it does them it is your grip, you can also have an experienced friend run a mag of suspect rounds and see if that is it.

That’s the easiest thing to start and if it doesn’t elementary it move on to the sling shot as try different methods to see it that cleared it so on and so forth.

Just for reference what a revolver/crush grip is pic below

Good luck
Click to expand...
I thought about that could be his issue and it still could be but the Hellcat's slide stop is so diminutive I'm having a hard time seeing it get inadvertently activated. It has never happened to me with mine but I guess it's possible.
 
Annihilator said:
Ok, it might be your limp wristing the gun with the heavier loads and inadvertently hitting the slide lock during recoil…..if you noticed you had the issues with the heavier bullet weight and also the NATO rounds which are a tad warmer loads. This is just a thought, limp wristing is common with the smaller pistols, but not always with the smaller ones, some do it with full size pistols and 1911’s, it’s just easier to do with the smaller ones.
Click to expand...
If that was the case, I would think there would be issues firing the Federal HST as well. Not saying you're wrong; it's just a curious phenomenon.
 
ECS686 said:
when you “slingshot it” are you doing it overhand or just punching it by your thumb and finger?

Or what happens a lot of folks shooting high thumbs/thumbs forward in Most cases your thumb is striking the slide stop/slide release under recoil. I had a similar issue with an Sig 228 I was issued except I hit it where the slide would not lock back after the last round.

The general issued handgun was a Beretta 92D and with that diving board of a slide stop/slide release lots of folks had your issue of kicking the slide back with BB’s still in the mag

So the easiest trouble shoot is do a revolver or crushed grip with thumbs locked down os your thumbs and everything else is away from the slide stop and see it that rectified it. If it does them it is your grip, you can also have an experienced friend run a mag of suspect rounds and see if that is it.

That’s the easiest thing to start and if it doesn’t elementary it move on to the sling shot as try different methods to see it that cleared it so on and so forth.

Just for reference what a revolver/crush grip is pic below

Good luck
Click to expand...
"when you “slingshot it” are you doing it overhand or just punching it by your thumb and finger?"

I'm right-handed, so I grasp the grip with my right hand (finger off the trigger and outside the trigger guard), grasp the rear of the slide with the thumb and forefinger of my left hand, pull the slide to the rear until it hits the stop, then release.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll give them a try on my next range trip.
 
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