Gravity assistance for empty mag drop (specifically, on Gen4 Glock 19) ?

[LeeC]

I press the mag release button on my month old Gen4 Glock 19 magazine that is fully loaded with 15 rounds, and "szzzzip"--out it slides nicely with no assistance required. Gravity beats friction every time. But when I do the same thing with a locked back slide and empty mag, friction usually wins. I creatively considered casting up some custom weighted magazine base plates. And while I thought that idea must surely be a comical overkill, apparently some folks do just that. I also thought about casting all lead dummy rounds and putting a few of those in front of live ones, but then I'd have to rack the slide on every reload and that won't be faster than using a weak hand assist to dump the empty mag.

Are there some techniques or third party mods required to drop mags on Glocks without weak hand assistance? I tried helping gravity with a wrist flick, but that was mostly unsuccessful. Then I thought I had a solution with a quick, short chop downward on the top of my weak hand, but after a couple of those my strong hand wrist started to hurt. Lube in the mag well sounds like a bad idea. The mags and well are clean.

Thoughts?

[JV_]

Is the mag well vertical when dropping the mag, or is it canted?

[Chris Rhines]

Strip the frame completely. Glue some medium-grit sandpaper to the magazine body, then run it in and out of the magwell until it loosens up. Seriously.

-C

[LeeC]

Is the mag well vertical when dropping the mag, or is it canted?

Vertical.

[LeeC]

Strip the frame completely. Glue some medium-grit sandpaper to the magazine body, then run it in and out of the magwell until it loosens up. Seriously.

-C

Thanks Chris. I have to admit that I laughed out loud until I got to the "seriously." Increasing the size of the mag well slightly sounds like a viable solution, at least on the surface. However, it makes me wonder. Is this something that some models of some makes of gun need, or an out-of-tolerance manufacturing issue? Also, "medium-grit" sandpaper (P60 or P80) is fairly thick stuff. Do you suppose that after increasing the size of the magazine by that thickness, it will actually fit into the magazine well? Is this a procedure you have performed before. Seriously?

[Magsz]

Um...

When the slide is forward in battery and there are no rounds in the magazine the follower will push on the slide resulting in whiz bango, ejecting magazines.

When the slide is locked back you have nothing but gravity to work for you. Add in any angle other than straight up and down, ie straight vertical and friction starts working against gravity.

Instead of sanding your magwell apply armorall to your magazines. Once it "dries" you will have a slick magazine with no greasiness, no film, nothing but a lower coefficient of friction.

You might also want to work on the angle at which you reload as this can prevent magazines from reliably dropping.

[Joseph B.]

There are several “techniques” for conducting a slide lock reload out there and many of them are very efficient and fast. However, depending on your shooting environment, purpose for the use of the pistol and training regime, will determine the best advice.

Absolutely good advice on “insuring the magazine well is free and clear of debris and or glues, sticky chemicals, etc” as well as adjusting your position to ensure clear path for the magazine to fall free.

What is needed is to fully understand your intent for the pistol (i.e. defensive, tactical, competition, etc). Making modifications for winning matches is one thing, but making modifications for winning gunfights is another. I personally do not recommend modifications to a carry pistol, unless the shooter is 1) extremely experienced and well trained, and 2) fully understands how the modification will affect the pistol and possibly change the functions or reliability, and the big one being the tactical effectiveness of the pistol.

Now understanding that this is simply an “I want my magazine to fall free at slide lock” I would say there are two things to understand. The first is that a new pistol that has not had the wear from use will always be tighter in tolerances and will have issues such as gravity not working to release a mag at slide lock. The other is training in how you release the magazine so that you can insure the mag will be ejected from the mag well every time.

For tactical use (i.e. defensive carry, LE, Mil, ect) I teach to “kick the magazine” when pressing the magazine release button. Similar to what you will see in the MAGPUL video’s of Haley turning his rifle rapidly while pressing the magazine release button, thus allowing gravitational pull to toss the magazine clear. The difference in what I teach is that you would do the same, but rotating your hand to throw the magazine away from the body and not toward your reloading side. This allows you to ensure a proper ejection of the magazine from the well, and keeps it from hitting you in the shoulder or face.

Step 1: Press magazine release.
Step 2: Rotate wrist (butt of pistol) outward quickly and aggressively.
Step 3: Rotate wrist back into work space (eye level/magwell facing reload side).

This is not a “go as fast as you can for USPSA” type reload, this is a guarantee that you don’t have a magazine in the well while reloading in a gunfight type reload. Is it slower? A very small tad-bit, for me about a tenth of a second. However, I have practiced this a lot and made it part of my training regime. Individuals new to this technique may see a slower time until they ingrain it into muscle memory, but the end result is you will never have to worry about stripping an empty mag with a loaded mag in your reload hand. lol

I wish I had some video to post here; I am still working on getting the media stuff together. But I will try and put some pictures (possibly a video) together and post them soon…

[JV_]

I would also verify your mag doesn't have a plastic burr at the base of the magazine catch cut-out.

After a bit of use, that burr can cause enough extra drag to stop it from dropping free. I trim mine flush with a razor blade.


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[LittleLebowski]

A coat of FrogLube rubbed onto the surfaces mentioned fixed this for me.

[Chris Rhines]

Is this something that some models of some makes of gun need, or an out-of-tolerance manufacturing issue?

I've needed to do it on every Glock I've ever owned. I have no idea if the sticky magazine thing is a tolerance problem, a deliberate design choice, or just something that Glock regards as 'not important enough to fix.' I've seen many, many Glocks with the same issue, though.

Also, "medium-grit" sandpaper (P60 or P80) is fairly thick stuff. Do you suppose that after increasing the size of the magazine by that thickness, it will actually fit into the magazine well?

Sorry, I was thinking medium-grit in metalworking terms. I start with 180-grit wet-dry paper. You don't want to go to fine, because you don't want to polish the inside of the magwell - that can actually increase friction between the magwell and magazine. I cut a piece to fit on the side of the magazine, then glue it on with Elmer's Spray Adhesive. Run it into the magwell a few times, until it loosens up. Then add a similar piece to the other side of the magazine, and repeat. Rinse and dry the frame before reassembling it.

Is this a procedure you have performed before. Seriously?

Seriously. I've done it to four different Glocks, and it worked flawlessly on all of them. Be careful, go slowly, and if you have any doubts, take your gun to a professional.

-C