Stiff Magazine

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DirtyRatDog

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I took my Smith & Wesson M&P Compact .40 to the range last Saturday for the first time. I loved the way it handled and I was very comfortable with it after about 30 rounds. The only thing that bothered me was how stiff the magazine spring was. I found it a bit difficult to load all 10 rounds. After about 100 rounds I noticed a blood blister on my index finger and it actually became a bit painful to load. Is this something that will loosen up over time or do I need to lucubrate my mags?
 
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They loosen up quickly. A trick to ease hand loading is to press down with the bullet 90 deg to the mag and rotate it in. A lot easier on your fingers and faster to reload as you aren't trying to balance the round and push down at the same time

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk
 
ItsGotMyBack said:
They loosen up quickly. A trick to ease hand loading is to press down with the bullet 90 deg to the mag and rotate it in. A lot easier on your fingers and faster to reload as you aren't trying to balance the round and push down at the same time

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Keep them loaded even when not in use, this will help speed up the process of them getting looser.
 
+1 on the Lula, got one for my M&P9c when i bought the pistol, best investment. I cant get 10 rounds in the mag, its so tight even with the lula
 
It is better to have a tight spring than a loose one because of feeding problems, and as has been posted prior to this post Get an UpLula and save the pain on your fingers I have three of them one at home one in the SUV and one in the range bag!

It will get easier over time as the spring in the magazine weakens a bit but the UpLula will help that problem in the meantime!
 
They will loosen up a bit, but not dramatically so. As stated above, keeping them loaded wont really help, it's the general usage that will loosen them.

If you think the M&P magazines are stiff, you should buy a PX4, they are even stiffer. In both cases a loader helps a ton. In time you wont even care (at least I don't any more).
 
Thanks for the suggestions, I just ordered a UpLULA loader and should get it soon.
 
my 3 use to be tough...but loaded it and uploaded it about 10 times so far..seems to be getting a bit easier now
 
I have an UpLula and I can't say enough good things about it. I love it! I had a Steyr 40 cal (I traded it for my 9c) and the springs on the mags were so stiff that after shooting a couple of mags I dreaded having to reload them. My finger would be tender to the touch for a day or two after shooting, not fun! I use it with my new 9c and it makes loading a breeze! I have reloaded my 2 factory mags a few times now (I have 300-350 rounds through the gun since I got it a week ago) and I only have trouble with the 12th round. It is still hard to get in the mag. It is getting a tiny bit easier, but I don't want to think what loading that last round would be like if I was not using the UpLula. I am glad you ordered one. You won't be disappointed.
 
Well if you made it 30 rounds, that was 20 more than me. I bought the Uplula on my first trip to the range.
 
It's not so much the spring pressure that causes the tightness as it is the friction of the follower against the body. The mags require a little break-in.
The first time I took my Shield to the range, the magazines were pretty difficult to load the first time I tried. They noticeably improved with each loading, and by the end of the range session, about ten to twenty loadings, they weren't any problem at all.
 
As others have posted the Uplula loader is the best $30 I spent. Even my 4 year old full size M&P40 that I bought used has stiff mags but not nearly as bad as my new 40 Compact. I found that loading & unloading them has become easier to load by hand but still not as fast. I thought that keeping them loaded at all times hasn't helped much. I have a total of 5 FS mags & 3 compact mags & loading them with the Uplula at my range sessions has saved countless minutes. I plan on getting a spare in case I lose it. I'll keep one in the range bag at all times.
 
Just purchased a M&P 9 Compact. One of the first things I noticed was the stiff magazine spring. It appears as if S&W used the same spring for the compact magazines as the full size magazine. I took apart a compact magazine and a full size magazine and they appear to be identical. I don't think I could load the compact to capacity without the Uplula. With the difference in size I would have expected different springs like Glock does on their Full Size(G17) and Compact (G19).
 
Mine are tight too, but I have managed to load them fully each time. made it through 100 ends last time, and I am a small 140 lb man.
 
DirtyRatDog said:
I took my Smith & Wesson M&P Compact .40 to the range last Saturday for the first time. I loved the way it handled and I was very comfortable with it after about 30 rounds. The only thing that bothered me was how stiff the magazine spring was. I found it a bit difficult to load all 10 rounds. After about 100 rounds I noticed a blood blister on my index finger and it actually became a bit painful to load. Is this something that will loosen up over time or do I need to lucubrate my mags?
Click to expand...

Uplula. I had to get one to load my Sheild magazines too!
 
curlysir said:
Just purchased a M&P 9 Compact. One of the first things I noticed was the stiff magazine spring. It appears as if S&W used the same spring for the compact magazines as the full size magazine. I took apart a compact magazine and a full size magazine and they appear to be identical. I don't think I could load the compact to capacity without the Uplula. With the difference in size I would have expected different springs like Glock does on their Full Size(G17) and Compact (G19).
Click to expand...

They may have a different spring but I've heard many complaints about them being stiff as well as most manufacturers mags. Not a knock on the gun just sayin'.:p
 
Even with the Uplula, which works like magic, I still can't get the 10th rd in either of my mags. Pushed so hard the finger that holds the stack down started to bend.
Whoever said that its more likely follower friction rather than just spring pressure is probably right so more use will likely help.
My guess anyway.
 
The Glock 30 mags have the same problem. I took my mags a part and kept compressing the spring in my bench vise over and over again. It did help.

+ 1,000,000 on the UPLULA. It will be $28 well spent.
 
Johnmuratore said:
Even with the Uplula, which works like magic, I still can't get the 10th rd in either of my mags. Pushed so hard the finger that holds the stack down started to bend.
Whoever said that its more likely follower friction rather than just spring pressure is probably right so more use will likely help.
My guess anyway.
Click to expand...
I couldn't get the 12th round into my compact mags so I started investigating. I'd read the posts about trimming down the follower legs and tried that. It didn't change a thing. Then I took a compact and a full size mag apart and realized that S&W uses the same spring for the 17 round mag as they do for the 12 round mag??? I cut a loop off the spring and now it's not a problem to load 12. I don't know if the 10 round magazine uses the same spring, I've never even handled a 10 round mag. (but I suspect it does). Just food for thought.
 
feelinlucky said:
It's not so much the spring pressure that causes the tightness as it is the friction of the follower against the body. The mags require a little break-in.
The first time I took my Shield to the range, the magazines were pretty difficult to load the first time I tried. They noticeably improved with each loading, and by the end of the range session, about ten to twenty loadings, they weren't any problem at all.
Click to expand...

I found this also with my 40c mag, still may invest in a loader ?
 
People I shoot with are all billy badass's that rag on me for using an Uplula.

Apparently it's not manly or something.

I'm the one without blisters at the end of the day still happily loading mags.
 
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