Any experiences with Warne or Shield Arms standard Glock magazine extensions?

[littlejerry]

I've had good results with Taran extensions on older Gen3 and Gen3 17rd mags. I've put a lot of rounds through them and dropped them a ton.

When the 21rd PMAGS came out I started using those. They were great at first but I found them to be much more sensitive to dirt/sand and they have a short service life. I've worn out about 4 of them to where they are no longer reliable enough for competition (feed lips are chewed up, first round rotates upward).

Now I'm looking to buy more Taran extensions because they have been perfect for me.

[WDR]

So a package arrived from PSA today, with one each of 19 and 17 size Warne extensions. I installed them on relatively new Gen5 magazine bodies.

They are well machined and finished, both externally and internally. They are also marked inside the extension body what magazine size they are for, and the "+5" capacity. Screws that secure the extension are threaded through a plastic flat washer that seems intended to keep the screw and washer together. That sort of works, but I was easily able to pop them off the loose screws after removing them from the extensions. Not sure how plastic washers will hold up for retaining the bodies, but worse case, I can find a steel washer that will work. The good news here is that the fit onto the magazine bodies is very snug, and has divots for the tabs on the magazine to fit into. They are pretty secure even without the screw. I used a small dab of purple Loctite (low strength) on each screw during assembly.

The G19 sized extension was a bit easier to install than the G17 size one, as there was less spring tension to deal with while slipping the base onto the body. Both sizes came with new springs. The G19 spring snapped right on to the bottom of a Gen5 orange follower and seemed secure from popping off the spring. The G17 spring was more of an issue, and didn't want to snap into the orange follower, and wanted to pop loose from the spring easily. I used my ever present Leatherman pliers to tweak the follower end of the spring a bit ,to push more outwards and engage the small retention tabs on the bottom of the orange follower. After a couple of adjustments, I felt like the follower was now secure on the spring and finished assembling the mag. I'm a bit concerned this may cause some issues down the line. I didn't have a spare follower to try, but if it gives me issues, I'll either buy some spares or rob some from other mags to experiment with. If I have issues with it coming off, may reach out to Warne and see what they have to say.

At one point, I lost grip on the G17 base, and launched it partway across my bench and gun room, clattering on the cement floor. Oops! The anodizing shows a tiny scuff where the corner hit the concrete, but you'd have to look fairly hard to see it. I think the finish on these should hold up fairly well to dumping them on the ground.

I loaded both up with their stated capacities (15+5, and 17+5) of 147gr FMJ-FP, and unloaded them rapidly by hand, with no binding or issues. The G17 follower seemed to stay in place, and not pop off the spring. The real proof will come with live fire later this week. They would both relatively easily take another round on top of stated "+5" capacities (21 and 23 respectively), but I'll stick with only loading them to 20/22 rounds, for the sake of the springs.

Some pictures, including a lineup of the Glock mag size options: 15rd , 15+5 Warne, 17rd , 19rd OEM +2, 17+5 Warne, and 24rd



24rd, 17+5, 15+5



And for giggles, a new Browning Buckmark mag spring next to some well used early 1990's vintage springs.



A good reminder to check and change springs occasionally.

[DaBigBR]

Don't rule out Magpul 21 rounders. In my experience they're great.

I agree. I've got a bunch of them. Probably over a dozen. They do not like steel cased ammo, but that's it. I use them constantly. They are certainly no less reliable than an aftermarket extension.

[WDR]

I put a few rounds through both mags today. No issues to report. Shooting at 10 yards, rapid fire, 50ish rounds, RMR'd Glock 19:



Range was busy. I had to wait 10-15 minutes to get a lane, and ~30 minutes of Joe Q Public blasting the walls, target tracks, and ceiling, was all I could stand.

[WDR]

I put a few more rounds through both of these mags with the Warne extensions recently, about 100, split between them, with zero issues so far. I like them enough I may buy a few more.