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Old 10-08-2009, 03:22 PM
jriler jriler is offline
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Default S&W Magazine Springs

What sort of reputation does S&W have for its magazine springs?

I've been hearing a lot of complaints from owners and users of high capacity Beretta 92 owners that the springs don't hold up over time or stress. I don't hear the same problems from S&W users, but then, Beretta has a lot more autos in use than S&W.

According to a report in American Handgunner, springs should be able to be loaded for years with no problems. Does S&W make its own springs or does Mec-Gar or someone else make their mags?

Thanks!
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Old 10-08-2009, 05:02 PM
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Vulcan Bob Vulcan Bob is offline
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Not sure who made the mags for S&W. I've had S&W mags loaded for decades for my 39, take it oue a few times a year and never had a problem with em.
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Old 10-08-2009, 05:26 PM
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Not sure of a direct answer, but Wolff springs (gunsprings.com) sells +5 and +10% springs for our smiths for only a few bucks more than Smith, and 3 packs end up being only about a buck more per spring than factory OEM springs.
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Old 10-08-2009, 06:41 PM
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Both S&W brand and MEC-GAR brand magazine springs are excellent.

ISMI are the best I've found, but their selection is limited.
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Old 10-08-2009, 09:58 PM
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I've been told that its the compression/decompression that wears out a spring, not storing it in one state or the other.
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Old 10-08-2009, 10:17 PM
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Smith magazines are or have been some of the best made.
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Old 10-09-2009, 03:12 PM
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I've had a total of 4 S&W magazines for my M&P 40. I had to replace springs on 2 after 300 rounds and the other 2 had to be replaced immediately.

The two that came with the pistol both started letting the 13Th of 15 rounds nose dive enough to catch the case mouth on the front of the magazine and jam the gun. Both had just over 300 rounds through them in about 6 months time. Replacing the springs fixed the problem.

The two mags i got from the rebate program immediately had a problem I've seen people complain about many times. Which is...After shooting a magazine to empty and the slide locking back automaticly...the slide would fall on it's own when inserting a fresh magazine. Many people say this is not a problem but this is most definitely not how the pistol is supposed to operate!

I've found the problem and solution...at least in my case...The slide stop was not being pushed upward enough to securely hold the slide...it would grab just the edge of the slide stop cutout on the slide and then the action of seating the next magazine jarred the pistol enough to allow the slide to slip off the stop and chamber a round.

The springs were about an inch shorter then both the original magazines and the replacement springs I had. Replacing the short springs allowed the slide stop to travel fully up wards securely holding the slide and completely fixed the problem.

My experience with Smith & Wesson springs have been a bad one. To be fair S&W did say they would send me a return tag for the original magazines...I replaced the springs on my own and didn't take them up on it.
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Old 10-09-2009, 10:16 PM
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Default It's not the springs you need to worry about...

I've got dozens of S&W factory magazines for 9mm, 40 S&W and 45 ACP. Some were bought new but most were used when I got them. The springs in all were serviceable. The biggest issue I've found with S&W magazines is the followers. It seems it takes S&W about three tries to get a particular follower design right.

For example, with the 40 S&W I've got magazines with black followers, yellow followers and blue followers. The blue followers are the most recent design and offer the best reliability. The same is true with the single stack 45 ACP magazines.

If you are having magazine problems I suggest, in addition to changing springs (never a bad idea, btw) you should also make sure you have the most current follower design. One call to S&W or Brownells will get you what you need

BTW, Mec-Gar magazines are excellent! They are the only after-market magazines I trust without question. They make the OEM magazines for a good number of gun makers (to include Beretta) and their products are well designed, well made and they sure are cheaper than S&W factory magazines.
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