383 FTF issue

I'm assuming the slide is against the top round in the mag but unable to strip it out and chamber it, is that correct? Answer could be rough magazine lips, slide and frame rails either rough or gumped up with stuff or just a weak recoil spring. How old is this weapon?

your correct in your assumption. the gun is at least 25-30 years old

I would dismantle the mag. to check the feed lips and the follower to make sure they are smooth. Remove the slide, clean and lighty lube the rails on the slide and the frame. Most important, change your recoil spring to give it some umph when returning to battery. Good luck.

BTW the weight is no heavier than the Makarov a lot of people carry. An all steel gun will always feel nicer then an alloy or polymer framed one when shooting it.

i also have 383 DA. Great gun. Look at ez fixes first. Clean and oil gun if you already havent. Check spring tension on mag. With full mag in hand, check carefully where ammo and feed lips meet, flip a few rounds out with your thumb and see if angle changes or they dont press on lips the same. Could just need new spring which you can use a new 7 rd spring. Take mag apart and clean well and run a qtip around to check for any burrs then oil it up and put back together to see if works better. Take gun apart and check the recoil spring and make sure it is on right..there is a smaller end which slides on first. if this is backwards that could cause problem also(again thundr 380 spring will work). also while apart leave spring out and put back together to see if slide is freely moving back and forth with no grinding or over amount of slack. Start with that and we can go from there. also a few pics never hurt. keep us posted on what you do and what does and doesnt help.