So...the craziest thing happened today.

After a typically event-free and successful day at the range with my RM380 (newly updated with the Galloway reduced power springs), I cleaned and lubed it and attempted to reassemble. That's where things turned ugly.

I had a horrible time getting the assembly pin back in...it felt like there was something blocking the hole. After wiggling the barrel a bit, I could get the hole opened enough to accept the pin, but then the slide locked back every time I tried to cycle it (no magazine in the well). Upon closer examination, it appears that either the slide or barrel is snagging on the something in the frame, causing the little flange with the assembly pin hole to move, which in turn also moves the slide stop. Odder still, even activating the slide stop release button doesn't free the slide...I have to manually muscle the slide back into place.

Has anyone else experienced this, or have any clue what has gone wrong?

I think you assembled the pin into the wrong position, probably not into the slot on the barrel. The fix would be to take the pin back out and realign the pin in the notch in the barrel. I found you can look into the hole and see if the hole is clear. When you were moving the barrel while trying to get the pin into the hole you got it out of proper alignment. No harm has been done yet. Take it back apart and redo it. Don't force anything. Post back if you don't get it right and I will give you a step by step instructions. You may have to slightly push the barrel down from the top of the barrel at the ejection port as you insert the pin.

Their is 1 other thing you may have done wrong when you put the recoil spring assembly in the gun, make sure the assemble is above the notch on the barrel lug. If it is not in the correct position the spring will drag on the slide. refer to your owners manual or watch a vedio on utube.

If you took the grip panels off check the third screw by the beaver tail is not binding, this happened to me.

Thanks, everyone, for the quick replies.

So, I've watched several videos and tried to reassemble about a million times. Here's what I'm paying attention to:

1) Making sure the recoil spring sits level, resting on the first little "shelf" versus pushed all the way down

2) Making sure the barrel is not locked, and does not move with the slide

3) Trying to push then pin freely into its hole.

The problem is, even when all the above is set up perfectly, the barrel's hole is not properly lined up with the hole in the frame. I have to move the barrel about a quarter inch toward the rear of the slide in order for the pin to drop in freely, and when it is reassembled that way it locks back when cycling.

I have a question...when looking at the cut-out on the barrel, should the pin end up in the raised portion of the aperture (closest to the recoil spring), or the opposite portion (closest the rear of the slide)?

p.s. And, per the suggestion here, I did loosen the grip panel screw. No change.

#1: Make sure there is "no magazine" in the gun when you are either taking the gun apart or the putting the gun back together. The magazine "MUST NOT" be in the gun.

OK, Here is what you are doing wrong. Other owners may be doing the same thing. Your spring is correct as you inserted it. Now slide the slide onto the frame. Now here is the tricky part before you try to line up the pin hole, push down on the top of the barrel at the ejection port. It will move down less than 1/32 inch. Now push the slide back to align the pin hole. If you did it right the muzzle of the barrel will be sticking out of the slide about 1/4 to 3/8 inch. If it is sticking out, the pinhole will be clear and have no obstructions and the pin will "fall" into the hole with no restrictions. If you got this far and everything went as instructed, rack the slide and pull the trigger. Everything should be working smooth and the assembly is complete. Congratulations! I love my RM380, it is probably the best 380 compact on the market right now.

P.S. Make sure there is "no magazine" in the gun when you are either taking the gun apart or the putting the gun back together. The magazine "MUST NOT" be in the gun.

Okay, I just followed those directions. Much easier way to reassemble...thanks.

HOWEVER...it did mot rectify the problem. The slide still locks back (empty magazine well) at the rear, even though the slide release is not engaged.

I also noticed that there is a definite "hitch" when I work the slide. It occurs at about the point that the assembling pin hole in the slide passes over corresponding hole in the frame (this occurs whether or not the pin is in place). It seems that the barrel is getting stuck just a bit?

Also, the lock to the rear can be freed by a sharp tap to the top of the frame, or to the exposed barrel, but not one directly to the rear. Again, the slide release IS NOT activated...it sits below that notch in the frame.

edited to add: I should note that the hammer and trigger work fine after reassembly.

Not sure about that problem. You may need to check with Springfield about it.

Tyre Trigger update may have caused the slide lock problem. I would check that idea out. I am not familiar with trigger kit installations. Everything else is pretty simple.

I had one other thought about your problem. Question, did the new stainless steel guide rod require a new spring and if so, was it 2 springs with 1 inside the other? If you changed 2 springs it is possible that 1 of them is inserted backwards. A backward spring inside another spring can cause a "binding" with one of them snagging on the other. This snag could cause your slide lockup which you are able to release by bumping the slide as you described. The fix for that would be to reverse one of the springs. Which one would be a trial and error. What do you think?

Okay...I think we have progress!

Thanks so much for the spring suggestion. I found a combination of alignments that makes it noticeably smoother. The major "hitch" at the beginning of the action is much smoother, so there definitely was some binding.

Weird, though...my slide will still lock back without a magazine in.

With the spring issue resolved, I think I've narrowed down the culprit to the barrel. That "hitch" seems to be the barrel catching a bit just before it releases (when the barrel stays in place and the slide moves rearward), and again at the lock position. With a bit more experimentation, I've found that just a gentle push on the muzzle rearward releases the slide from the locked position, so it would appear that the barrel is hanging up on something.

Progress, that's good. Next time you clean the gun apply some Automobile chassis grease (or something similar) on the guide rod and recoil springs springs. Make sure it gets between the springs to lube the friction of the springs rubbing on each other. Good luck, you are making progress.

rayikeo wrote:Progress, that's good. Next time you clean the gun apply some Automobile chassis grease (or something similar) on the guide rod and recoil springs springs. Make sure it gets between the springs to lube the friction of the springs rubbing on each other. Good luck, you are making progress.

Unfortunately, I think I've still got more work to do. Obviously, something is still wrong, and until I can figure out what that is, I can't trust this pistol as an EDC.

My inspection of the barrel doesn't reveal any flaws, so I'm still at a loss.

Last update was in January - Still having problems? If so, I would reassemble the gun with all the original factory parts and see if the problem is resolved. If so, install the after market parts one at a time until the problem reappears.

mudpuppy wrote:Last update was in January - Still having problems? If so, I would reassemble the gun with all the original factory parts and see if the problem is resolved. If so, install the after market parts one at a time until the problem reappears.

Sorry...just seeing this now.

I threw up my hands and took it to the local gunsmith a couple of weeks ago. He couldn't figure the darn thing out either.

And the fact that he hasn't called me in two weeks leads me to believe that he may have had to call Remington to get a better idea of what's going on.

I'll report back as soon as I hear.....

Okay...I got my RM380 back from the gunsmith, and all is right with the world.

He found a bit of peening in a couple of places where the slide meets the barrel at the ejection port, as well as along the frame's slide rails. Besides the rough spots, he noticed that a couple of burrs had developed from "normal wear and tear." He smoothed and polished those area, and my trusty RM380 is smoother than ever.

In case it needs to be said, even with this problem my pistol has NEVER failed to cycle/fire/eject a single round, regardless of the ammo I've fed it or how dirty it got.

I'm looking forward to getting back to the range to enjoy it again next week.

Glad to hear it's fixed!


Dave