magazine malfunctions

[part-time shooter]

I recently was the lucky recipient of a malfunction I've never actually had/seen before. I was swapping mags from an empty to my first reload mag, gun up and turned to accept the mag, mag goes in no worries, but as I slammed it home the butt plate came off in my hand at which point the mag took a dump on the ground in spectacular fashion.

This was with one of my "carry mags" too. It's fairly new, maybe in use 4 months and clean so it's not and was not full of crud. Now the mag release doesn't pop out mags so well after the spring goes bouncing along the ground. So I had to go dig it out with my finger, which was no issue with this magazine, if it had been a 1911 with a mag well and single stack mag that might have been a different story or maybe a different finger...

Anyone see this before? I'm assuming it's not that uncommon but I've never experienced it before. It got me to wondering if there's a way to check for something like this before it happens. I clean my mags, maybe once a year, and don't normally see anything but a little carbon build up and case crud.

The mag went right back together and ran fine the rest of my session. No clue how it happened in the first place. I never actually heard anyone talk or post about this so I thought I'd bring it up in a place others may have seen it.

Any thoughts?

[TAP]

What are you shooting?

[David Armstrong]

As Tap said, what are you shooting? Most everything I shoot the only way that could happen would be if the mag was assembled improperly, given that you didn't find anything broken and it is working fine now that you have put it back together.

[SecondsCount]

I have had it happen on an M&P40. Their magazine bases suck. 10-8 makes some heavy duty bases for them but they are pricey.

I don't remember it being very hard to get the magazine out of the gun.

[ToddG]

I've seen it happen many times with Beretta magazines, and sometimes with SIG... but only because the floorplate was cracked and wouldn't stay on when trying to reassemble it.

[JV_]

It's happened to me, frequently, with my M&P 9.

When I drop the mags on the ground, after a mag change, the baseplate retainer gets jarred free of the hole in the baseplate. It's no longer holding the baseplate in securely, so when you drive one home, it comes apart. When I pick up my mags off the floor, I always turn them over to check. A quick whack on my palm and it's fixed.

[MEH]

I've had 1 mag come flying apart when it hit the carpet in my basement during some practice drills. Put it back together and it's been fine ever since. I check all the time now.

S&W recently changed the style of the basepads. The old ones use a circle, the new ones use a square latch mechanism. They are not interchangable. Many folks are having many problems with the new design. I don't know yet as all I have are the old style and i like them.

[JV_]

All of mine are round.

[TAP]

It's happened to me, frequently, with my M&P 9.

When I drop the mags on the ground, after a mag change, the baseplate retainer gets jarred free of the hole in the baseplate. It's no longer holding the baseplate in securely, so when you drive one home, it comes apart. When I pick up my mags off the floor, I always turn them over to check. A quick whack on my palm and it's fixed.

I have the same issue with mine but I have the compact base plates on the full size mags. The pin does not extend fully into the compact bases. It only happens to me when I drop my mags onto a concrete surface.

[JV_]

but I have the compact base plates on the full size mags.Me too. They index much better with the smaller plate.

[part-time shooter]

M&P 45 mid-size

The mag has a circle tab on the baseplate if I recall correctly. I don't think I have any that are square.

[AHL]

I just had this happen with a USP 45 magazine. Granted it was a designated training mag with lots of hard use: many reloads, concrete drops, etc. I chalked it up to wear and tear.

[GardoneVT]

I recently was the lucky recipient of a malfunction I've never actually had/seen before. I was swapping mags from an empty to my first reload mag, gun up and turned to accept the mag, mag goes in no worries, but as I slammed it home the butt plate came off in my hand at which point the mag took a dump on the ground in spectacular fashion.

This was with one of my "carry mags" too. It's fairly new, maybe in use 4 months and clean so it's not and was not full of crud. Now the mag release doesn't pop out mags so well after the spring goes bouncing along the ground. So I had to go dig it out with my finger, which was no issue with this magazine, if it had been a 1911 with a mag well and single stack mag that might have been a different story or maybe a different finger...

Anyone see this before? I'm assuming it's not that uncommon but I've never experienced it before. It got me to wondering if there's a way to check for something like this before it happens. I clean my mags, maybe once a year, and don't normally see anything but a little carbon build up and case crud.

The mag went right back together and ran fine the rest of my session. No clue how it happened in the first place. I never actually heard anyone talk or post about this so I thought I'd bring it up in a place others may have seen it.

Any thoughts?
If you whack the baseplate of a gun with a centrally located retaining pin, one can pop the pin with the force of insertion and bam....mag dump out the bottom instead of through the barrel.

Short of welded baseplates I’m unsure of a foolproof mechanical solution. Any magazine which can be disassembled for care is subject to this happening.

[Clusterfrack]

At a precision rifle match a number of years ago, I was shooting off a hollow stump. I fired a shot, racked the bolt, and no round loaded. I thought that was odd but figured I had miscounted my rounds. I grabbed another AIAE mag and reloaded. I got one shot, and then nothing. WTF? I timed out with 3 targets unengaged. As I packed up and looked in the stump, I discovered 2 mag springs, two baseplates, and 18 rounds. A piece of wood was just in the right place to strip the baseplate when the gun recoiled.

[UNM1136]

I've had it happen with 1911 mags, too.

One thing I like about the Vickers floorplates that I like on my M&Ps and Glocks, and to a lesser extent Magpul Glock mags is dimples on the bottom for IDing mags...when I used numbers my OCD kicked in and things got a little wierd.

I have not had the problem with standard capacity CMC PowerMags or Tripp Cobra Mags. The 10 rounders are another story.


pat