Ok, you all have been very helpful before, so here we go again. I’m still a relatively new shooter (less then 2 years carrying and trainin). When I stick a fully loaded magazine into my 3914, it takes quite a bit of force to get it to actually lock into place. It inserts smoothly, just is hard to lock into place. It’s all of my mags, all of them are stock. If this is normal, let me know... absolutely no malfunctions with shooting it... if I ram it in, then it locks up fine... this gun is fabulous and I shoot it great, so I just want to keep it up and running great...


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Yes it is.

Good smack with the heal of your hand... normal operating procedure..

Try loading the mag full MINUS 1.

I've got a few 5906 and other 3rd gens that took a breaking in period before they went in smoothly.

Or, lock the slide back, insert the magazine and then slingshot the slide. If that works properly (and it should), then your issue is simply the normal lack of space for the magazine spring to further compress when fully loaded. Completely normal with many pistols.

Needing to slap or firmly press a full magazine into a 3913/3914/908 is about the only issue/nuance with the design of these models. It is normal. If you have a full mag that slides in too easy, there's a good chance the mag spring is due for a change.

The fact the gun functions flawlessly is a clue. Its totally normal

Thanks guys, I’ll keep on slapping the mags and enjoying shooting it!


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Like Jeppo said, lock the slide back before inserting the magazine, it will practically fall in! If you would read the instructions that came with the gun they will tell you to do this.

When you try to insert a magazine with the slide closed the ammunition in the magazine has to be compressed by about 1/2 cartridge diameter, full or not.

No manual with this one, thank for the info!


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Here you go.

Attached Images

3914 loading from user manual.jpg (198.3 KB, 56 views)

The OP is not talking about loading a round into the chamber, he's asking about the difficulty in seating a fully loaded mag into a 3914 with a closed slide, and it's a totally legitimate question.

For example, my 1st S&W 3rd Gen was a 6904 and it is very easy to seat a fully loaded magazine into that gun (just like all of my other pistols at that time). Next I picked up a 3913 and the difficulty in seating a full mag had me a little perplexed as well. Luckily someone else had made a thread just like Don Z did here and I was able to learn from the folks at the forum that it was normal for the gun. Just a nuance when topping off the capacity of the gun after loading. It's not an issue when reloading since the slide is locked back already.

However...

If you use an extended magazine, be careful how hard you "smack it on the bottom".

The ejector and/or magazine could be damaged.

John

Exactly what Tercgen said, I have 5 other 3 gens and they very in the amount of force required to seat a mag.... but my 3914 is definitely the hardest to seat. Due to the fact that is it also the most abused in appearance, I just thought I would try and get some clarification. Thank you all for your input, as usual it’s been very insightful... and I’m sure I’ll be asking more questions!


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So I had some hornady 147 grain laying around, I think they are called critical defense or something like that, I loaded up a mag full with one in the chamber and the mag definitely locks in easier. I had Speer gold dot 147 in it before... there is a difference in shape. I haven’t shot the hornday’s out of my 3914 yet, but I’m gonna guess that it will shoot and feed them fine. I haven’t googled the ballistics on either one of these rounds... so I’m not sure which one has a better rating. The critical defense is on the right...


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Here is an excellent resource for ballistic testing of 9mm ammo out of a 3.5" barrel (as well as other calibers from compact barrel lengths) - https://www.luckygunner.com/labs/sel...llistic-tests/

In these tests, the Speer 147g Gold Dots failed to expand out of a 3.5" barrel, though they did not over-penetrate. The Hornady 147g XTP Customs (what yours appears to be) performed better, with only one partially expanded round out of five, and deep penetration.

Personally, I like the performance of Federal HST out of compact and sub-compact barrels, with the 124g+P being my favorite.

Is the +P ammo ok to run in the 3rd gens?


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Yes, you can run +P ammo in S&W 3rd Gens.