M1917 mag follower

[milboltnut]

why is the left side middle rib cut the way it is?


http://www.libertytreecollectors.com...ldFollower.JPG

[fjruple]

That is so the magazine follower depressor can slipped in for doing the manual of arms (inspection arms). The bolt will not close without the magazine follower depressor.

--fjruple

edit-- Added "without" The brain was not working right when I posted the response.

[milboltnut]

you mean allow the bolt to be closed without depressing the follower.. looking for a demonstration of the depressor...

[JimF]

That is so the magazine follower depressor can slipped in for doing the manual of arms (inspection arms). The bolt will not close with the magazine follower depressor.

--fjruple

Huh? . . . . .

The purpose of the depressor is to ALLOW the bolt to close during the "manual"!

[milboltnut]

ooops I had to read it again. It should allow the bolt to be closed without depressing the follower.

[Dan Shapiro]

Later on, "Bubba" overcame this problem by filing down the rear of the follower from a 90% angle to a more rounded design that permitted the bolt to push the follower down as the bolt was pushed forward.

Same with the weak 'ejector spring'. "Bubba" came up with a way to replace the weak ejector with a small piece of spring (like that you'd find on a ballpoint pen).

[milboltnut]

I have the ejector with the spring.... eventually those ejectors are not going to be pleantiful.

[fjruple]

Later on, "Bubba" overcame this problem by filing down the rear of the follower from a 90% angle to a more rounded design that permitted the bolt to push the follower down as the bolt was pushed forward.

Same with the weak 'ejector spring'. "Bubba" came up with a way to replace the weak ejector with a small piece of spring (like that you'd find on a ballpoint pen).

It least "Bubba" got the weak ejector spring fix right. The small spring ejector fix was what Remington used on their commerical Model 30 series rifles and carbines.

--fjruple

[p246]

Was the weak ejector spring a left over from the pattern 14 design. I have not pulled my P14 bolt down to see if it's the same spring. Obviously the extractor is different, wonder if they kept the same spring from the rim design.

[JB White]

Same weakness prone flat spring for the ejector. I think the coil spring retrofit was a common fix as I've seen them used in quite a good number of 'veterans rifles'.
As far as the follower rib is concerned, I've always been under the impression the rib design was to control left/right loading and feeding.