Glock Magazine Loading/Springs

[GAP]

Good morning, just looking for the most up to date info on this topic.

Are there any issues with reliability clambering a round then topping off the mag? Would you recommend just leaving the inserted mag downloaded by one or topping off? Specifically curious about the 10 round G26 mags.

My reloads are all down loaded by one. Along with mag insertion, is it good for the life of the mag not being under max tension or doesn't it matter? Mixed opinions I've seen on this one.

How often do you replace your main carry magazine, or is it a non issue as long as you aren't training with it?


Thank you

[JBP55]

I load all my Glock magazines to full capacity, chamber a round and top off the magazine. I keep quite a few loaded to capacity at all times with no adverse effects.

[Nephrology]

G26 mags are good to go loaded to full capacity.

[ST911]

9mm G mags are fine at max capacity. There's enough play in the body that they seat fine. From time to time, I see .40 mags that are quite stiff and seat a little harder under a closed slide. Springs are worn by work not compression, so that's not a problem. I rotate mag springs when they fail to activate the slide stop or are otherwise suspect. Many find it helpful to have dedicated training mags to limit potential wear and abuse on carry mags.

[GAP]

I appreciate the replies, as I thought, just wanted to verify.

[gringop]

I'm gonna be the odd man out and say that, for me and my G19s, I leave them at 14 rounds for self defense and for practice. I CAN get 15 rounds in them and I do for certain drills but it takes significantly more effort to seat a full mag on a closed slide than it does with 14 rounds. Other guns don't do this and I load them up fully.

In IDPA, I have seen at least a hundred instances of a mag not being completely seated after tac reload and the gun fires one shot and the mag drops out.

YMMV.

Gringop

[JBP55]

I'm gonna be the odd man out and say that, for me and my G19s, I leave them at 14 rounds for self defense and for practice. I CAN get 15 rounds in them and I do for certain drills but it takes significantly more effort to seat a full mag on a closed slide than it does with 14 rounds. Other guns don't do this and I load them up fully.

In IDPA, I have seen at least a hundred instances of a mag not being completely seated after tac reload and the gun fires one shot and the mag drops out.

YMMV.

Gringop

That is shooter error.

[Joe Mac]

New 9mm and .40 Glock mags need to be fully loaded for a week or two before the spring relaxes a bit -- after that, it is no longer difficult to load the last round, and they may be seated on a closed slide with one finger... At least, if your meat hooks are as thick as mine.

[Chuck Whitlock]

I'm gonna be the odd man out and say that, for me and my G19s, I leave them at 14 rounds for self defense and for practice. I CAN get 15 rounds in them and I do for certain drills but it takes significantly more effort to seat a full mag on a closed slide than it does with 14 rounds. Other guns don't do this and I load them up fully.

In IDPA, I have seen at least a hundred instances of a mag not being completely seated after tac reload and the gun fires one shot and the mag drops out.

YMMV.

Gringop

That is shooter error.

At one time with issued Glock 17s, it was standard practice to load the weapon with 17+1, and the two spares with 16. While it helped with seating the spares on a closed slide, the main reason was so they didn't have to issue out more than one 50 round box of ammo.

[LSP972]

I'm gonna be the odd man out and say that, for me and my G19s, I leave them at 14 rounds for self defense...

Here's the problem with that…


But first, let me say you're right about "tac loads" many times resulting in dumped magazines. However, as James pointed out, that's the shooter's fault, plain and simple. When we went to the eight-round P220 magazines, we began seeing it a lot… because the guys were accustomed to the P226/P228/5906 magazines clicking in with gentle pressure. Those Sig eight-rounders needed a very forceful shove to seat with the slide forward. My favored HK45C is the same way. IOW, know your pistol and what it needs.

Back to the problem… if you are involved in a defensive shooting, most likely it will be investigated quite thoroughly. And if you cannot account for all your rounds in a visible manner, then the case agent -if he's got any snap- will start to smell things and look harder. For example…

Detective: "Mr. Gringop, how many rounds did you fire?"

Gringop: "Not sure, officer; three or four."

Detective: "Okay. We recovered four spent cases. There were eleven cartridges remaining in your pistol; there should have been twelve. What happened to that missing cartridge?"

Gringop: "Oh. You see, I download my magazines by one to ensure I'll be able to do an effective tactical reload."

Detective: "You're saying that you deliberately loaded your pistol to less than capacity?"

And here is where it starts going south. YOU know its true, and not totally unreasonable; HE is likely to start thinking uncharitable thoughts about you, whether justified or not.

Some will no doubt scoff at this… but not, I'll wager, anybody who has ever been involved in a shooting investigation where anomalies were present. I have been on both sides of that interview table, and I can assure you… the average investigator is not very gun savvy, and even if he is he is looking for anything out of the ordinary. Downloading magazines is usually done by two types of people... and I am NOT suggesting that you are one of those, but the fact remains that it is not "normal".

Make of that what you will; I'm not throwing rocks, just stating some facts.

.