I'm looking for a shorter magazine for my 4516-1, and I think the factory base plates are really ugly. Does anyone have a photo of a 4516 with a 4506 base plate on the factory 4516 magazine? I'd think it'd just be an almost flush fit. I will try it when I get home, but that's a long wait.
I don't have a photo, but the steel body of the magazine protrudes from the bottom of the pistol's frame close to 5/16ths or so. Swapping the mag base won't give you what you want. I don't know of anything that will.
Probably 15 years ago I saw a 4516 mag that someone had cut the base to flush and then silver soldered a new base into. But nothing I know of from the factory, sorry.
I tried it and there is a small gap between the bottom of the 4516 and the 4506 base plate. So much for that idea. I really hate the small hook at the bottom and want to at least get the same look as the 4516 magazine base plates that Hogue uses on their website to show the wood grips on the 4516s. The 4516 on the website look like they have old 4513 TSW 6rd magazine baseplates on the 7rd 4516 magazines. This base plates just follow the contour of the pistol better and don't have the hook.
If you are a hand at that sort of thing, you can grind off that little hook, it's just plastic. If you screw it up Smith (I'm pretty sure) will sell you the replacement part you'd need.
Photo Request: 4516 Mag with 4506 Base Plate
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