3rd gen 9mm metal floor plate inserts

[NGpOdeNt]

Where can I get replacement metal floor plate inserts/floor plate catch? I have 3 older magazines where these were damaged, ordered replacements but it seems newer magazines use all polymer components. Midway has several listed on their website but after 4 months of back order i think it's time to look elsewhere. This is purely a preference thing, I like that the metal insert catches on the mag spring

[StakeOut]

Can you post photos of the 3 damaged mags with metal floor plates that you are referring to and a link to the out of stock ones on midwayusa.

There's a lot of different mags and guns in the 3rd generation so we need to narrow down the choices.

single stack,double stack,capacity

[NGpOdeNt]

I don't have photos, the damage was moisture related so the tabs rusted and break off

It's this part

Magazine Buttplate Catch Assembly, Metal Gun Parts | 335330 | Numrich Gun Parts

For 9mm double stack(59xx) series magazines. I believe the part is the same for 14 and 15 rd magazines

[oldman10mm]

59XX(15) and 69XX(12) use the same catchplate. 59XX(10) and 69XX(10) also use the same catchplate but some are metal and some are plastic. 40XX double stackers also use a nearly identical catchplate(a different part number).

[NGpOdeNt]

Are they in atock in anywhere? They are out at numrichs, midway is showing no back order on most, and the one they allow a back order on has been renewed 4 months in a row now.

[StakeOut]

Model 59 original 14rd factory mags with the metal floor plate marked S&W or S&W 9mm can be found on ebay with varying amounts of factory finish for between $20 and $100 each.

I've bought a few with little finish remaining and some like new;they all functioned well.

This 15rd mag from Midway for the 3rd generation 5906(and others)works perfectly in the Model 59

Smith & Wesson Mag S&W 59 459 659 910 915 5903 5904 5906 5923 5924

[Fastbolt]

They've used both metal and plastic at different times.

The metal ones have a couple disadvantages.

They rust, obviously.

The spring tab that slides over the mag spring's bottom coil gets bent/broken. Sometimes a tab might require adjustment in order to accept the coil wire fitting under it, but too much "adjustment" can weaken and break it off. Who wants a loose bit of metal in their mags?

The front tab gets caught outside the front of the mag if you're not careful during reassembly (which can cause a problem trying to install the plastic buttplate).

I've always liked the plastic ones, myself. Some of them sort of "snap" up between the bottom of the mag spring, and some simply fit against the bottom of the mag spring. As long as you orient them properly (top/bottom & front/back), they're easy to install and maintenance-free (no rust, no bending).

After you've seen enough users & owners standing around a cleaning table, and many of them being unable to figure out how to install the metal catches back onto the bottom of the spring in the correct orientation, or be absolutely puzzled when the little metal tab has broken off their catch, you realize that it's an necessary bit on potential complication nowadays. The plastic ones are simpler and a little more fool-proof.

I wouldn't be surprised to see the plastics become standard replacement parts for the 3rd gen's, as the company sporadically orders replacement/repair parts. Just look at the M&P pistol mags.

Also, a couple years ago I was told that S&W finally bought the plastic manufacturing company they've been using for many years, so it wouldn't be surprising to see them use more of the plastic parts.

Dunno, though, as I've received both plastic and steel butt plate catches in recent years when ordering spare parts.

[ladder13]

I'm looking for 2 or 3 for 10 mm if anyone has a lead.

[NGpOdeNt]

Fastbolt, if you have any metal ones you'd like to trade I have 3 like new plastic ones ��

[GaryS]

I have mostly plastic base plate inserts. The plastic ones are much easier to use although I've never had either type break.

Then again, I don't disassemble my magazines more than once or twice a year for the most part.

Yes, S&W bought a company that makes plastic parts for them. That was the company that made M&P frames, but probably makes other plastic items for S&W.

The sale came a few years ago after an employee was caught making "extra" frames without serial numbers and selling them on the open market.

That company is now named Deep River Plastics and is based in, not surprisingly, Deep River, CT.

It would be nice if S&W kept providing small parts for the 3rd Gen guns, but after looking at MidwayUSA, I'm not very optimistic.

Originally Posted by Fastbolt

They've used both metal and plastic at different times.

The metal ones have a couple disadvantages.

They rust, obviously.

The spring tab that slides over the mag spring's bottom coil gets bent/broken. Sometimes a tab might require adjustment in order to accept the coil wire fitting under it, but too much "adjustment" can weaken and break it off. Who wants a loose bit of metal in their mags?

The front tab gets caught outside the front of the mag if you're not careful during reassembly (which can cause a problem trying to install the plastic buttplate).

I've always liked the plastic ones, myself. Some of them sort of "snap" up between the bottom of the mag spring, and some simply fit against the bottom of the mag spring. As long as you orient them properly (top/bottom & front/back), they're easy to install and maintenance-free (no rust, no bending).

After you've seen enough users & owners standing around a cleaning table, and many of them being unable to figure out how to install the metal catches back onto the bottom of the spring in the correct orientation, or be absolutely puzzled when the little metal tab has broken off their catch, you realize that it's an necessary bit on potential complication nowadays. The plastic ones are simpler and a little more fool-proof.

I wouldn't be surprised to see the plastics become standard replacement parts for the 3rd gen's, as the company sporadically orders replacement/repair parts. Just look at the M&P pistol mags.

Also, a couple years ago I was told that S&W finally bought the plastic manufacturing company they've been using for many years, so it wouldn't be surprising to see them use more of the plastic parts.

Dunno, though, as I've received both plastic and steel butt plate catches in recent years when ordering spare parts.

[Fastbolt]

Originally Posted by GaryS

I have mostly plastic base plate inserts. The plastic ones are much easier to use although I've never had either type break.

Then again, I don't disassemble my magazines more than once or twice a year for the most part.

Yes, S&W bought a company that makes plastic parts for them. That was the company that made M&P frames, but probably makes other plastic items for S&W.

The sale came a few years ago after an employee was caught making "extra" frames without serial numbers and selling them on the open market.

That company is now named Deep River Plastics and is based in, not surprisingly, Deep River, CT.

It would be nice if S&W kept providing small parts for the 3rd Gen guns, but after looking at MidwayUSA, I'm not very optimistic.

Yeah, we were told that the plastic company they bought had been providing various plastic parts to S&W for many years, including going back to Sigma frames. A long term customer/partner.

I've been told that sometimes repair parts aren't reordered because they're seldom needed for repairs, so very small inventories are considered appropriate. I've also been told that while they may maintain a small supply of some parts for warranty repair/LE repair replacements, they may not order enough to replenish sales to aftermarket/wholesale vendors (or even to keep enough to sell to armorers for normal kit replenishment, dammit). Dunno what else to say.

One of the guys I used to know there once told me that he'd learned the company had been sitting on making a $3 million order for 3rd gen parts, but had instead been spending that money on other projects and current production guns. He said nobody seemed to be saying when/if that money might ever be spent on ordering more 3rd gen parts.

It probably doesn't help that the 3rd gen guns were, for the most part, very robust and durable, and being an armorer often meant you might easily fall out of practice replacing parts. I met (and knew) any number of factory trained 3rd gen armorers who had never had to replace an extractor, ejector, plunger, guide rod, etc.

I've seen a very small collection of assorted repair parts last for years, gathering dust and seldom needing to be used. Granted, that wasn't used to support a lot of guns, meaning less than 500 early 3rd gen production guns, and then an equivalent number of new production TSW's in the middle 2000's (until they were replaced not quite a couple years ago).

Being an armorer for S&W 3rd gens' is like being an armorer for Glocks. You just don't need to keep that many spare parts.

Sure, if you use the guns for competition or a lot of high mileage training, you might end up wearing things out faster, or breaking something more often, than the average owner/user. That can be said for any firearm.

One of the guys whose guns I support usually shoots everyday on his own property, on a range he's put together over the years. I've seen him chip or break an extractor after anywhere from 12-15K or 50K rounds fired in a couple of his guns, but the rest just keep on perking right along.

I do keep reminding him that replacing recoil springs more often is a good idea, and I've even given him a lot of different spare recoil springs so he can do so. I reminded him how an armorer instructor for a Glock class repeatedly said that fresh recoil springs "helps keep guns alive".

This is the same guy who once brought me a couple of his pistols for inspection, and I found one of them filled with an amazing amount of small to large bits of sawdust inside. He just shrugged, explaining that he'd been wearing that gun while doing a lot of chain saw work on one of his fences for a couple days, but that the gun had functioned fine when he used it on his range just before bringing it to me. What are you gonna do, right?