10 round magazine tweak

[rgarbarino]

I read a few threads on how to make it easier to get 10 rounds in a 9mm magazine. So I took my two 10 round mags apart. First thing I did was cut two coils off the spring and bend the cut part so it lays flat against the bottom plate. Then I took the follower off and took about 1/8" off the front and back legs with a sanding drum on a dremel. I also took off about the same from the center bottom of the follower. Then I smoothed and rounded all the edges I worked. Put it all back together and could easily hand load all 10 rounds. Pics to come.

 

[GerSan69]

Oh, man. There's gonna be a firestorm over this. Cutting coils on your mag springs is heresy, my friend. All I can say is that they make those springs that way for a reason... Good luck and get out your nomex underwear, it's gonna be a rough ride!

 

[rgarbarino]

I'm not the first to do it, I'm sure I'll come away alright

 

[steve462x0]

Oh, man. There's gonna be a firestorm over this. Cutting coils on your mag springs is heresy, my friend. All I can say is that they make those springs that way for a reason... Good luck and get out your nomex underwear, it's gonna be a rough ride!

Yah, good luck

 

[cxwrench]

I took some off the followers in mine today, left the springs. Same result...10 rounds go in easier, can now insert full mag w/ slide forward w/o a hammer. No need to mess w/ the springs as far as I can tell.

 

[rdtompki]

We have 5 magazines each for 9mm and 40 cal. The 10th round is a bit hard to get in the mag, but not so difficult that I would think warrants modifying the magazine. Any potential downside to the mod in terms of gun operation.

 

[BennyS]

I just use Lula auto loaders for all my calibers. Load 30 rounds mags with ease!!!

 

[rdtompki]

The Lula works great on the 10 round mags of course, but the 10th round is so tight that it's actually easier to put the 10th round in by hand. All of our mags have loosened up to the point where they are now easy to load by hand (except for the 10th round).

I just use Lula auto loaders for all my calibers. Load 30 rounds mags with ease!!!

 

[bg1111]

The mag springs in my M&P BG are short from the factory and they don't work. I wouldn't alter them unless I had replacements for them first, if that is even an option.

 

[cxwrench]

I just use Lula auto loaders for all my calibers. Load 30 rounds mags with ease!!!

We are talking about 10 round mags here. Stock the 10 rounders can be pretty much impossible to load w/ the UpLula. It can also be very hard to put a loaded mag into the pistol w/ the slide closed.

After grinding off about .125" from all 4 of the 'legs' on the follower both become much easier. What I did basically imitates the shape of the 'old' followers. I can't imagine there being any downsides to doing this, if anyone can think of something I'd love to hear from them.

 

[Bkreutz]

We are talking about 10 round mags here. Stock the 10 rounders can be pretty much impossible to load w/ the UpLula. It can also be very hard to put a loaded mag into the pistol w/ the slide closed.

After grinding off about .125" from all 4 of the 'legs' on the follower both become much easier. What I did basically imitates the shape of the 'old' followers. I can't imagine there being any downsides to doing this, if anyone can think of something I'd love to hear from them.

I was having the same problem with my 12 round compact mags. When I took the spring out and compared it to the 17 round spring, it was the same length and number of turns????. Seems like S&W is saving some money by only having 1 SKU for mag springs . I wonder if the 10 round mags use the same springs (don't have any of those). I cut 1 loop off my compact mag springs because trimming the follower legs didn't help. I'm thinking that the long spring was actually getting coil bound in the short compact mag.

 

[rgarbarino]

All I can say is it was almost impossible to get that 10th round in by hand. The mag spring is so long that I would think there just isn't room in the mag for 10 rounds, the fully compressed spring and the follower. I'm confident my fix will be just fine even after the cut spring "wears in."

 

[GerSan69]

Well, it's your gun and mags. I can't criticize you for at least trying something, especially since I haven't noticed an issue with my mags. I'm just more "skittish" about altering things that directly affect the firearm's function.

 

[cxwrench]

Well, it's your gun and mags. I can't criticize you for at least trying something, especially since I haven't noticed an issue with my mags. I'm just more "skittish" about altering things that directly affect the firearm's function.

The 10 round mags were already having an effect on function. You couldn't insert a loaded mag w/ the slide forward. Now I can.

 

[shawn mccarver]

I read a few threads on how to make it easier to get 10 rounds in a 9mm magazine. So I took my two 10 round mags apart. First thing I did was cut two coils off the spring and bend the cut part so it lays flat against the bottom plate. Then I took the follower off and took about 1/8" off the front and back legs with a sanding drum on a dremel. I also took off about the same from the center bottom of the follower. Then I smoothed and rounded all the edges I worked. Put it all back together and could easily hand load all 10 rounds. Pics to come.

I will not say anything about cutting coils, as that has already been done.

What I will say is that laws mandating 10 round mags result in them being so tight because if an extra round can be forced in, it is, depending on jurisdiction, a felony.

I don't know about you, but I would not want to have any overly strong weight lifter government agent forcing in that extra round so that I get to live in a government "hotel" for a few years and permanently lose my gun rights.

 

[GtownGeorge]

I have the 10 round mags for a M&P 9 FS. Same issue and after cutting down the follower had no issues with 10 rounds. All I did was place the follower in some sand paper and rub so I removed the same amount from all 4 corners and the center. I did not cut the spring (that's the same length as a 17 round mag) but that shouldn't be an issue. Purists will say that's changing the design, but as stated in an previous post, this was probably dictated by the accounting department not the designers.

 

[Hillbilly77]

It's too late now, but for future reference all you have to do is trim the followers.
I would hesitate to modify the spring in case it causes feed problems later on.

The 10th round is a common problem with the 10-round 9MM magazines.
Just trim roughly 3/16" off the legs of the followers - problem solved. This has no effect on the spring tension so feed won't be affected.

As shown - a trimmed follower on the left, a new one on the right:

 

[rgarbarino]

Hillbilly, thats about the same amount I took off my followers too. I cut the spring because it was SUPER stiff when full length. I know guys have said it will wear in but none of my other 7 different guns are anywhere near as hard to load. If somewhere down the road I have issues I'll get mew mag springs if I can or just get new mags, mod the follower and leave the spring. Time will tell so I'll report back after a while.

 

[CAJUNLAWYER]

If it ain't broke...you're not trying hard enough.

 

[cxwrench]

If it ain't broke...you're not trying hard enough.

Or this:

If it isn't broke, fix it til it is.