Administrator for PatRogers.org
FWIW, for competition, the ghetto ~170mm mags I made is closer to 165mm, and hold 27 rounds very comfortably if you swap the follower with one from one of those 15-to-17-round conversion kits (much easier to load to 27 than loading the 17 rounders with a TF to 22). I'm not worried about overinsertion as I'm doing slide forward reloads almost exclusively.
https://taylorfreelancestore.com/tf-...nik-9-14-coil/
I just put in the notes to replace the standard +5 springs that come with the baseplates with one of those, and they've always swapped it out for me, free of charge. The VP9/P30 baseplates used to use the same spring as the M&P and Canik baseplates, not sure what's changed, but apparently now the P320 and VP9/P30 baseplates share a spring. Haven't had any issues yet though, outside of the expected feed issues when the followers get hung up due to a bunch of dirt and grit getting inside the mag.
Great info.
One change in the past couple of years with respect to the 15-17 round mag body +5 spring was a narrowing of the top spring loop to better fit the 17-round follower pocket (underside), differentiating the springs used for the former 15 round followers (wider top loop) from the newer 17 round followers (much narrower top loop). That change improves slide lock performance.
In the case of the BORTAC kits for the 17-rounders TF now specifies which spring is for which. I got burned on that earlier this year, and they fixed it since then. For those who want the 22 round solution for the BORTAC extension on a 17 round mag (USPSA 140 gage compliant), you want the "TF/Wolff Spring for Sig 320 and HK VP9/P30 +5 (13 coil)". NOT the older 15 round mag spring (and TF now has the "old" nomenclature on that part.
Interesting. I haven't noticed any lock-back issues that could be attributed to this, but I also rarely hit slide lock, and most of the times I do I'm doing Timmy drills in full kit, including gloves, and with the gloves on I've never had great luck with the slide locking back. When testing comps specifically for slide lock, I've not had any issues that couldn't be attributed to either weak ammo/comp issues. Still, good to know.
I do really, really, really fucking wish that H&K would sell the 17 round followers by themselves though.
Are we sure the followers alone are enough to convert the magazines? I seem to remember the base plate is different as well?
Difference mentioned here: https://youtu.be/Oi13RNqgPkA?si=CjBbp_mJPokfycJm
And yes, disdain for HKparts is well-founded for a number of reasons.