WA 1911 Mag dissasembly guide

[TheLair]

As I know, many folks with WAs will experience some kind of leak at sometime. Whether it is a slight hiss, or something more severe. This will be a guide to help stop that annoying leak.

 

The first thing you need is of course your leaky mag, a small flathead screwdriver or punch, grease (heavy silicone grease is recommended, but others do work), a larger flathead (or a knife if your like me and can't find one )

 

Here are your starting materials

 

The first thing you need to do in order to get to the goodies, is remove the two pins at the bottom of the mag, shown here:

 

 

They can be quite a chore to get out, but be patient. I find it helpful to rest the mag on a pair of pliers, so the mag is slightly elevated. This way you don't get frustrated when you are banging the pins into your table, and still wondering why they aren't budging.

 

 

Once those two pins are out, the fill valve and the guts are ready to come out.

 

 

Beware, it may not always fall out freely, so it may require a little force to get out. Also, make sure you put another hand out to catch it, incase it decides to escape.

 

 

With the bottom assembly removed from the 'body' it should look like this:

 

 

The base of the mag can now be removed. It must slide slightly to the rear before it can be lifted upwards and off

 

 

Once that piece is lifted off you will be left with this:

 

 

The rest will be covered in part two, once the rest of the pics have uploaded

[TheLair]

OK, now to part two.

 

The next step is to unscrew the fill valve.

 

 

This should be done with a flathead screwdriver, because as I learned, knives slip. And when knives slip, well, it hurts.

 

 

With the fill valve part finally removed, you will see two distinct pieces, as shown below.

 

 

The next thing to do, is take your grease, and grease up the little bugger o-ring, and gasket (the big square one)

 

 

 

Below is the small o-ring all greased up

 

 

Once they both are thoroughly greased, you should proceed to put them back together - the exact same way they came apart

 

 

Make sure everything is screwed in firmly, but not too tight.

 

From here you can replace the baseplate, and place it back into the 'body' of the magazine, as shown below

 

 

You will need to hold the baseplate in place while you put the pins back in.

 

 

A good thing to do is to put in one pin, tap it in a little, and then you will be able to remove your hand from the baseplate.

 

From here you simply tap in the other pin, so they both are flush with the body of the magazine

 

 

And there you have it. Your magazine should work like the day you got it.

 

Please note: this guide is only for leaks that are coming from the fill valve, and the surrounding areas. If you are unsure where your leak is you should fill your mag with gas, and place it in a small bowl, sink, glass of water. This should allow you to tell where your leak is originating.

 

If you take this route, do make sure you dry your magazine very well.

 

Thank you all for reading, I appreciate your comments.

 

-TheLair

[Catman]

Nice guide have a +1

 

 

Looks like your fill valve has become a little unscrewed - a lot of the time I find my mags leaking directly from the fill valve because of this. Removal of the fill valve and then just tightening it up usually fixes it. If you have a mag with the plastic bumpers then there's no need to remove the base from the mag - just unscrew the bumper gives you fill-valve access

 

As mentioned in the guide; when putting the fill valve back into the base, don't be too aggressive in tightening it up, I've managed to shear the head off the valve on one WA mag :'(

[TheLair]

Glad you like it. Thank you for the comment

[Fluffy_Bunny]

Great guide! By any chance, would you happen to know how to replace the stuff in the frame of a WA (1911 style more specifically)? My frame cracked, so I'm going to have to replace it...

[hitmanNo2]

Use Catman's excellent guide here

[TheLair]

Use Catman's excellent guide here

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Yes that guide is amazing. You have no clue how many times I have gone back and used information from it.

 

Fluffy_Bunny: Glad you like it.

[Catman]

Cheers

 

My website's down atm so no guide pics atm. It should be back up shortly, apparently it's just a matter of the DNS propagating now - so it should be a few hours with any luck (expect 24 lol).

[s00pcan]

This guide worked for my WE 1911 magazines also.. now if anyone knows of a replacement follower I can use..

 

[s00pcan]

Just wanted to add that you should tap the pins out by hitting the end of your screwdriver with something heavy, like a hammer. I can't believe you didn't think of this.

[TheLair]

Just wanted to add that you should tap the pins out by hitting the end of your screwdriver with something heavy, like a hammer. I can't believe you didn't think of this.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I used the back of my other magazine

[TheLair]

DP, sorry

[sturgis]

great guide, i want to try this on my mags, but the only thing i can find here is Classic army cilinder grease.. will this do?

[sturgis]

well, since nobody applied, i went ahead and used the CA grease, offcourse i can't find my gascan to try it now

[phoenix360mute]

you will find yourself 2 + reps on the way matey, as thiat is the same number of mags you let live again