First, for the information of the moderators, this is not a solicitation to sell a product. I won't be selling these or getting a finders fee from whoever ends up making them.

I don't think I'm violating any rules, but if I am please let me know and I'll correct whatever the issue is.

Thanks.

Now, on to the topic.

As anyone who owns one (and others) knows the unique baseplates for those guns are getting hard to find. I called S&W Customer Service a while back to enquire about baseplates for the pre rail 4513TSW. The rep was a bit vague in his reply. He didn't say that they didn't have, but he said that they were not available to the public. Which gave me the impression that there was a limited stock and it would be limited to preferred customers.

I haven't made any follow up calls, so maybe he was incorrect.

Since they don't seem to be making any more of those, I decided to look into having some made. The best way to do that is by having someone 3D print them.

I found someone who was willing to give it a try, but he needed either a Computer Aided Design (CAD) drawing or 3D scan. I had a friend do a CAD drawing, but it was not detailed enough for the maker to use.

That brought the project to a standstill around Thanksgiving of last year. Commercial 3D scanning prices start at about $100.00/hour in my area. That made it unfeasible for me to get the done.

Then, luck stepped in. Someone with a shop about half an hour from where I lived needed to scan a suspension part for project he's working on. As it happens, I own the exact truck he was looking for and it's in near new condition so rust is not an issue in the scan.

I contacted him and we made arrangements for me to go to his shop and have him do the suspension scan. In exchange he agreed to scan the 4513TSW and 3913TSW baseplates.

That was done this morning and I have to the scan files in hand.

The next step will be to send them to the 3D printer guy and ask him to make a couple of prototypes.

If that works out, I'll test them out and if THAT works out, I'll let those interested know. They can then contact him directly about buying them. We can do that via PM not to clutter up the forum. In fact, I think that's what the management would require.

I won't have an idea of cost until I communicate with the 3D printer. I would guess 10-15 dollars each, but it's a guess.

Note also that these will not have the S&W logo or name printed on them as the OEM ones do. Smith is appropriately vigilant about that sort of thing.

Last, and I know this is a long post, if anyone knows of someone who does 3D printing and would like a copy of the files, PM me.
Since I'm not doing this as a money making proposition I'll share the files with anyone who wants to utilize them.

That's it for now.

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Can open, worms everywhere.

Every time I look at the finger-extension base plates I wonder if you can just sand off the excess and get the smaller one.

Also wondering about shortening 7-round mag bodies to make the 6-rounders.

S&W makes flat base plates for the seven round magazines. They will also work on the TSW and CS six and seven round magazines.

The wedge shaped TSW baseplates in their turn will work on the "full size" 45 and 9mm single stack magazines. In fact, they fit perfectly on the 457 and other guns.

They are just hard to find.

As to modifying the magazines, I have no skills in that department.

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Can open, worms everywhere.

I purchased a cheap S&W box off Ebay recently not so much for the box itself but for what was inside - three 3913TSW floorplates. As I don't care to use the curved floorplates with the CS9, it worked out well.

Attached Images

3913TSWw.jpg (236.3 KB, 84 views)

I'd have done that as well if I'd been paying enough attention to see it!

I frequently scan the Bay for 3rd Gen stuff, but missed that one.

OTOH, I bought a 3913 eight round magazine that I didn't need because it had one of those base plates on it.

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Can open, worms everywhere.

Thank you for going to all the trouble to do this GaryS! Much appreciated!

Please include me on the PM list when these become available. I will take a few. Regards 18DAI

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7 +1 Rounds of hope & change

You were #1 on the hit parade!

I'm still waiting to hear back from the 3D printer guy to see if he's still interested in doing this. If not, there are two commercial 3D printers that I can get quotes from.

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Can open, worms everywhere.

Time for an update. There was a set back as the original scans that I got were not useable in the end without a lot of 3D CAD work.

I started a thread on a different forum and as it happens there are a good number of people there familiar with both 3D design and 3D printing. Several issues were identified and some alternatives offered.

One offer was from a person who does a fair amount of 3D design and printing as a hobby. I sent him one of each style of baseplate and he is doing new drawings from scratch.

He's also going to 3D print a couple of prototypes for me to try.

They will not look identical to the OEM baseplates, but they will likely work the same way.

When I have the prototypes in hand I'm going to test them. One identified potential issue is strength of the materials being used. The baseplate comes under considerable pressure from the rounds and spring.

That's where we stand as of today. I should have the prototypes in hand for testing in a week or so.

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Can open, worms everywhere.

Thank you for your continuing efforts Gary and for doing the heavy lifting to get these made. Much appreciated! Regards 18DAI

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7 +1 Rounds of hope & change

Hopefully, this will finally get done. I'll keep folks up to date as things progress. If they do.

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Can open, worms everywhere.

I have made six round 4516 magazines and used old 645 bases on them to get a nice flush fit.
I use Kahr k9 steel floorplates on my 3913 mags for the same result.
But,
All my 7-round 4516 magazines have tsw bases on them. They are just better.
I only have three 3913tsw bases but those are on 8-round mags as I feel they also are just better.
I applaud you for digging into this.
Pm sent

Thanks.

After reading the other thread, I had to wonder if it would work to take the regular 45 series base plates and machine the front "lip" off to make them look like the Kahr baseplates.

Of course, I still have to call CS and see if I have better luck sourcing the baseplates from them. The "OBS" notation on the early TSW guns part lists makes me think that once they are gone, they are gone.

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Can open, worms everywhere.

One more option for the 6 and 7 round mag bases. I have large hands. The finger rest base on the 6 and 7 round 45 compact and sub-compact mags, squeezed my fingers together. Giving a less than optimal grip. It was especially annoying when using my CS45.

The 4513TSW baseplate was a big improvement. And works well. But it just BARELY fits my hand to the CS45 grip. A couple of years back, my friend RedCardinal sold me a few CS45 mags. On two of them, he had ingeniously filed/sanded the finger rest baseplate off. He rounded it and smoothed it too. I had forgotten how nice they were and how well he did them. Until recently.

I found both mags and have been using them as my carry mags in my CS45. Just a few millimeters thicker/longer than the TSW baseplate. Attached is a photo of one with a regular finger rest mag and a TSW rounded baseplate mag. Also a pic of it installed in my CS45. Perfection, for me. Of course the TercGen grip doesn't hurt the whole package either.

Thanks again RedCardinal! Regards 18DAI

Attached Images

	1619036018198_0_Redcardinalmag.jpg (76.5 KB, 24 views)
	CS45TercGen.jpg (91.5 KB, 22 views)

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7 +1 Rounds of hope & change