First thing I would be inclined to check would be to see if the sear spring has moved out of position, particularly wear it seats in the recess and the bottom of the grip interior. Strip the slide off and then try inserting and withdrawing the sticking magazines with a strong light shining from the top and/or bottom to see where the interference is.

 

I had this problem after installing a new sear spring,, as trooper above states it had popped a little bit out of its groove and was rubbing on the mags. So a little time with a file & stone and the new FN sear spring fits right into the sear spring groove on my SA-35, no problem, no sticking mags..

 

The pistol was designed and intended for military usage, where they generally do not want magazines to drop free to fall in the mud, swamp, sand, jungle grass, be lost while the soldier is reloading while running, etc.

Your/our desires might be the complete opposite of what the military wants for magazine retention, but you're dealing with a platform designed NOT to allow the magazines to drop free. That is not saying you're wrong, just that you're dealing with a design intended to do the opposite of what you desire.

If my memory is correct, the final version prior to the production pistol was the Grande Rendement, and one of the reasons the military declined it was because at that point Saive had the design allowing the magazine to drop free.

 

That‘s very interesting. However, that must be with the MDS still in place, correct? Once the MDS is removed, it’s been my experience that the mag will drop free. And if the mag doesn’t drop free w/the MDS removed, then it can be a dislocated sear spring (as others have mentioned), or if you have wood grips, then interference due to a shifting grip panel or swelling of the wood grips. I had that issue recently on a HP clone. The right hand panel shifted (it didn’t fit tight t the frame) and was rubbing just enough to hang up the mag. A little sandpaper and trimming and the issue was fixed.

 

That‘s very interesting. However, that must be with the MDS still in place, correct? Once the MDS is removed, it’s been my experience that the mag will drop free.

Well, going back to the original military/police intent behind the design of the BHP, those who used them in wars from WWII all the way through to most recently Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as in counter-terrorist operations from the 1950s onward, have NEVER removed the magazine disconnect from their pistols. Or ordered them new from FN without the magazine disconnect feature. That would include the Tier 1 units of those countries i.e. the British SAS and others. After all those wars and counter-terrorist operations, they didn't see a problem with the disconnect - or the original safety for that matter.

Which leads back to pointing out that if you successfully get magazines to drop free by removing parts you didn't like, you're working with a different system where all sorts of things have changed, not just the parts removed.

My magazine disconnects are still in place and no military Inglis pistol in a military armory ever had it removed. I have no experience with pistols with the magazine disconnect to offer suggestions. But what has changed in an altered High Power to the point the magazines are once again not dropping free as the design was supposed to ensure didn't happen, it probably has some relationship to the new and tiny clearance tolerances that can easily change.

 

Mecgar has been making OE FN mags for a long time, as well as for many if not most European FA manufacturers.

They will eventually get rub marks in the bluing where the problem is. Blackening with a wide tip permanent marker will make it show up faster.

 

All of a sudden most of my mags started sticking when ejecting them. They never did this before.

Strip, clean and lube.
Check each of the above suggestions as you go.

Looking at my oldest High Power just now, the most resistance comes at the end of mag insertion where the slightly wider body of the magazine comes in contact with the magazine catch, just before it clicks in place. You might want to do a full detail strip of the frame and inspect the mag catch... maybe super clean the part and its channel and replace that spring? It looks like a place where gunk could live for a long time before you noticed a problem. I imagine if this area was gummed up, the mag release would not fully move the mag catch out of the way.

It was a complete joy to manipulate my 1943 High Power and ponder this for a few moments!

Cheers,
Tim

 

Over-tightened grips screws?

 

I have seen this happen with thin grips on BHPs and 1911s. It can be the panels themselves as well which I believe was already mentioned. Definitely also check the sear spring. I also love @mkk41 advice about marking the mags with a sharpie to tell you where they are making contact.

 

So, the original Saive mag was sometimes referred to as a "mousetrap" because of the mag plate and heavy (for its time) spring - which is a pain to assemble/disassemble, especially if you don't do it much.

Pictured below is another mag design, also called a "mousetrap mag". Have a bunch of these from the ban days (guys were getting $100 for used 13, 15, and 17 rounders in the IPSC circles). They were great for playing with a BHP in L-10 minor. The design is from the Clinton 90's(?) and I think all are Mecgar products, being that Mecgar was the OEM maker. These say "Made in Italy". These just fly out of the magwell, even for those of you who keep the silly mag safety in place.

Jager1 might know more about these....product of the US politics of the time is my guess.

Also, my suggestion is to ditch the Pachmayrs for a nice set of OEM-type walnut....

 

So, the original Saive mag was sometimes referred to as a "mousetrap" because of the mag plate and heavy (for its time) spring - which is a pain to assemble/disassemble, especially if you don't do it much.

This is something I have never run across.
Can you or anyone provide a citation?

Cheers,
Tim

 

I was always under the impression the "mousetrap" terminology came about in the early 1990s with patent and design of a spring loaded magazine to assist with magazine ejection filed by FN. Saive had nothing to do with it. Saive's design was for the initial larger capacity double stack element. Mousetrap is more of a colloquial name for the post 1994 mags with the spring ejection feature.


Patent by FN, 1994
US5353537A - Fire arm with mobile loader and loader for such an arm - Google Patents

 

I was always under the impression the "mousetrap" terminology came about in the early 1990s with patent and design of a spring loaded magazine to assist with magazine ejection filed by FN. Saive had nothing to do with it. Saive's design was for the initial larger capacity double stack element. Mousetrap is more of a colloquial name for the post 1994 mags with the spring ejection feature.

You misread my post.

Those were my thoughts too - until I came across the other reference to the word "mousetrap". Saive had nothing to do with the pics of the 10-round mag from the ban days that I posted above. Long, long after.

I do think that the mag dropping free was not accepted by everybody at the time. As another poster mentioned, might be the military angle. Personally, it is the only thing I really don't like about the BHP and I remove it (and clean up the sear with a Power Custom Jig) first thing when I buy a Hi-power. Next is always nice wood grip panels.

Personally, I've found that a bit of cleaning up in the magwell and the removal of the safety, the mags drop free 100%. Beats the heck out of the floor plates (metal ones) when they hit the concrete floor in a match, but they will drop free. I've seen guys in IPSC retain their mags like an IDPA shooter just to keep from beating them up. 1911 mags are much more robust.

There are aftermarket mags that have thinner metal in the mag body. These (like cheap 1911 mags) can expand slightly over time when loaded and kept full. If you are checking dimensions, make sure you slide your caliper up and down the mag. Doesn't take much. I've had terrible luck with ProMag products.

 

Sorry on conflating your comments on the spring loaded mag with the early Saive mag. I have only heard of the term mousetrap associated with the early 1990s spring ejection mags. Would love to have a source or two if it were used previously or with Saive design.

Early HP mags had what was called the split tail base plate which I believe were phased out around 1946. Inglis also used a similar split tail plate.

 

Sorry on conflating your comments on the spring loaded mag with the early Saive mag. I have only heard of the term mousetrap associated with the early 1990s spring ejection mags. Would love to have a source or two if it were used previously or with Saive design.

Early HP mags had what was called the split tail base plate which I believe were phased out around 1946. Inglis also used a similar split tail plate.

If I'm correct (questionable sometimes?), the BHP was the first production gun with the double-stack magazine design. Can't remove the follower and spring through the feed lips. Floor plates are almost always trickier to assemble/disassemble.

BTW - that old mag is in great shape for its age. Still work?

 

So, the original Saive mag was sometimes referred to as a "mousetrap" because of the mag plate and heavy (for its time) spring - which is a pain to assemble/disassemble, especially if you don't do it much.

Pictured below is another mag design, also called a "mousetrap mag". Have a bunch of these from the ban days (guys were getting $100 for used 13, 15, and 17 rounders in the IPSC circles). They were great for playing with a BHP in L-10 minor. The design is from the Clinton 90's(?) and I think all are Mecgar products, being that Mecgar was the OEM maker. These say "Made in Italy". These just fly out of the magwell, even for those of you who keep the silly mag safety in place.

Jager1 might know more about these....product of the US politics of the time is my guess.

Also, my suggestion is to ditch the Pachmayrs for a nice set of OEM-type walnut....

View attachment 777568

The verbiage of your statement is confusing. You switch back and forth between talking about the "mousetrap" mags and 1, 15 and 17 rounders. No worries I just I just read it wrong.

KRD were South African mags.

 

The 2-11rd OE mags that came with my BHP Practical model in 40 S&W had those
mousetrap springs. They were also marked Made in Italy (by Mecgar).

The 11rd Mecgar branded 'aftermarket' mag I bought later did not have them.
Bodies and stamping font were otherwise identical.