Introduction from sunny Switzerland

[HIAO]

Hi from Geneva.

A Brit here. Relocated to Switzerland for a couple of years. Seven years later, I'm still here.

Working in HR, or Human Remains as a good buddy reminded me.

I also have a question, if anyone can help.

I've been interchanging my Steyr L9-A1, a Gen 5 G17 and Sig P320 for training days at the range.

I've put almost 10,000 cartridges through the Steyr without malfunction. Last week, during group training we focussed on speed and tactical reloads. There were a lot of them. 2 things happened;

1. 3 times during the speed reload, two different magazines disintegrated, when they hit the floor. One is now broken. They are standard Steyr magazines with a 17 cartridge capacity. Some mags were full, others nearly empty.

2. When I dropped the magazines, they didn't exit the magwell as quickly as normal. Technique wasn't the issue (I hope).

It only happened with the Steyr. Now I don't trust it and I don't want to carry it anymore.

Has anyone a similar experience or training feedback.

[Baldanders]

Welcome!

This would probably get more replies in the "Semiauto" subforum.

By "disintegrating," do you mean "the buttplate came off and dumped the spring and rounds" or did the body of the magazine separate as well? If the former, it's possible the buttplates weren't attached correctly, or the buttplate is defective. I have a px4 mag reserved for range use only since the plate came flying off when I slapped it while in the gun.

[HIAO]

Welcome!

This would probably get more replies in the "Semiauto" subforum.

By "disintegrating," do you mean "the buttplate came off and dumped the spring and rounds" or did the body of the magazine separate as well? If the former, it's possible the buttplates weren't attached correctly, or the buttplate is defective. I have a px4 mag reserved for range use only since the plate came flying off when I slapped it while in the gun.

Thank you.

This. The plate came off, spring and cartridges on the ground. Able to be reassembled. Failed again.

On one of them, the follower snapped. The other mags seem ok. I just don't trust them anymore. Hey ho!

[GuanoLoco]

Caveat: I have no experience with Steyr mags.

Full and semi-full magazines don't really liked being dropped on unyielding surfaces like concrete. Eventually tolerances spread, metal and plastic weakens, things break.

I'm not sure I have ANY magazines that won't eventually fail because of this - including Glock, Mec-Gar, etc.

For USPSA sport, I have had pretty good luck with heavily used/dropped Tanfoglio Stock 2 mags, specifically Mec-Gars, with large aftermarket Shock Bottle aluminum base plates, but I have even seen the carbon steel fail on those after a while (a friend repeatedly and deliberately drops full mags on concrete for dry fire reload practice) and the aluminum gets pretty beat up after a while.

Suggestion: Replace the mag, separate practice and carry mags, and take care of your carry mags better.

[JohnO]

You said "Hit the floor". Generally speaking magazines don't fare well when loaded and hit a solid/hard surface. The more rounds on-board the more kinetic energy and the higher the likelihood of damage.

I have zero experience with Steyr pistols and have no idea if their magazines are noted to exhibit the problems you described.

Finally, magazines have a lifespan they don't last forever and need to be replaced periodically.

[modrecoil]

Hi, welcome. I put a respectful number of rounds through my various Steyrs and never had an issue with dropped magazines. A broken striker is the worst problem I've had.

[RevolverRob]

Remember that when we engage in serious training we want duplicates of everything. We also need to visually and if necessary mechanically inspect our guns and magazines regularly. Magazines are wear parts, they need periodic replacement like the brake pads on a car and they require regular inspection, so something catastrophic doesn't happen, between maintenance.

In my opinion, the gun you're seriously training with should have at least a dozen magazines with it. Six are dedicated solely for 'training', six are for 'carry'. 'Carry' magazines we shoot all of them to confirm reliable function, but we only carry 1-3 of these at a time. If something happens to one while it is being carried, we toss is in the training pile and replace it with one of the immediate reserves we have available. Then we top off the reserve pile, whenever we can. Eventually, when training magazines disintegrate (literally) and are no longer rebuildable/usable, we salvage whatever parts might still work and junk the rest. In this sense, you'll never run out of good magazines for function, because when you trash a trainer you can just rotate in the oldest 'carry' mag and have a very good mag back in your training queue.

Never skimp on magazine quality or number. Given a choice between a new holster/gun or a dozen spare mags, I'll almost always buy the mags. In pistol shooting, you can never have enough ammunition, enough spare magazines/speed loaders, or too many identical spares to your serious training/competition/carry gun.