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How many rounds in a STI edge 140 mm magazine


Alaskapopo

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I just bought a new edge and love it. I shot it today in a USPSA match and got 6th overall with it. (only 15 shooters lol)

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Anyway the manual says it holds 17 rounds in the 140 mm mags. I can squeeze 18 in them and it ran ok. Someone on another site thought I should be able to get 19 in the mags. The 18th went in very tight no way I could get 19 in. Is there something I am missing or don't know about. Will loading 18 damage the mag springs.

The gun is accurate too. This is a 1.8 inch group fired at 25 yards off hand with the gun. I love it.

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Forgot to mention its a 40sw.

Pat

Edited by Alaskapopo
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I"ve got an edge just like yours. With Grams springs and followers and Dawson base pads I get 19 reliable and one gets 20 in time I think the others will get 20 also but I'm not going to force it. Been shooting mine since june of last year and like it better every time I shoot. good luck

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Pat,

I have Grams followers and springs in my mags. I can consistently and reliably get 18 in them. All day long, no hiccups.

You can force 19 or 20 into a mag and usually have no problems, but I wouldn't push it past 19 myself. I have had a magazine disassemble itself while in the mag well of my gun while I was shooting a COF because I had crammed too many in it. So I learned to load 18 and if 19 will give me a significant advantage, I'll put 19 in it.

FWIW, YMMV

dj

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I got mine from Brazos. They are all 20 round mags but easily reloadable with 19 rounds in them. I use Dawson basepads with Grams internals. I can reload with 20 in them but I have to really push the mag in hard.

Edited by jasmap
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I only have three at the moment and all hold 20 rounds reloadable. Now two have Grams pads and one has a Dawson "SNL" pad. All fit the gauge and have Grams springs and followers. Howard Smith tuned the two with Grams pads, but the SNL is a stock STI mag body that I slapped the basepad on and has worked flawlessly. YMMV But if you need 1-2 mags with 20 reloadable- see Howard! Or you can buy them at Shooter Connection.

Edited to add- Nice job at the match by the way! :cheers:

Edited by Rocket35
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If you use the Grams spring and follower kit and add either a 4mm Grams or Dawson +1 SNL (Sometimes not legal) basepad you should get 20 rounds in most of your mags. Some of them will be a tight 20 rounds that would be very hard to reload and some will have a touch more room in them so that you can reload them on the run...just depends on the tube dimensions. At the very least you'll have a couple so you can start with 21 in the gun if you need to and then reload with an easy 19....that's enough for pretty much any stage.

I don't start with 21 in the gun if it's not necessary as it puts extra stress on the grip (they can crack eventually from doing this too much), but it's nice to be able to when you want/need it.

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If you use the Grams spring and follower kit and add either a 4mm Grams or Dawson +1 SNL (Sometimes not legal) basepad you should get 20 rounds in most of your mags. Some of them will be a tight 20 rounds that would be very hard to reload and some will have a touch more room in them so that you can reload them on the run...just depends on the tube dimensions. At the very least you'll have a couple so you can start with 21 in the gun if you need to and then reload with an easy 19....that's enough for pretty much any stage.

I don't start with 21 in the gun if it's not necessary as it puts extra stress on the grip (they can crack eventually from doing this too much), but it's nice to be able to when you want/need it.

Nicely put G-man ;)

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Hey Pat,

You'll get better answers here than over where I found you at ;) . Every combination you can think of, someone here has tried it and put it thru the wringer.

But now you have your answer :)

By the way, you did say the mags you bought were the "tuned" version, but the mag you have inserted in the gun looks to be a stock basepad.

Edited by yoshidaex
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Alaskapopo,

The round count of a particular magazine is determined by the parts you use and the condition of the mag tube. Most factory (OEM) mag tubes with factory type "flat" base pads will hold 16 to 18 rounds. The reason for this fluctuation of round count is because the tubes are coming out of the factory with inconsistent internal dimensions. If a STI/SV tube is tuned correctly, and you add an "Extended" base pad of the right length to fit the mag length gauge, 20 rounds will be easy to get. You will need to use an aftermarket competition "Follower Kit" to make all the room you can inside the mag. If you would like to have a 21 round Limited legal mag, call me and I will be happy to answer any questions.

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Not all magazines come from the factory with the correct measurements (internal, external tube measurement, feed lip spacing, etc, etc). The mag tuners shape and work their magic so you can get the maximum capacity, smooth feeding and/or convenience (witness holes on the backside of the mag).

Edited by yoshidaex
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I got a 5 pack of .40 HSMITH tuned mags from shootersconnection last week. All 5 hold 20 rounds reloadable, although you have to push hard. All are extremely easily reloaded with 19 rounds and they look great.

If you don't have any mags yet you may want to look into the tuned mags. They run about 20 dollars more than it would cost to buy the mag, springs and basepads and put them together yourself. Plus they have been "tuned" for optimal demensions, spit shined and have witness holes (perfectly aligned) to allow you to keep tabs on rounds in the mags.

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I got some H Smith tuned mags from Chuck at Shooters connection. They hold 20 reloadable. Never had a problem, and they look great.

JS

Thanks I will give you a call. Thanks to all of you by the way. I ordered everything from Dawson. I paid $20 extra to have the mags tuned to the gun. I ordered 8 mags with the gun. I used all int he match and they worked fine. I actually have 9 mags as the gun came with a 126 mm mag. Which is pretty much useless for me. I use it to chamber the first round then I insert a 140 mm mag. My question is if I buy new internals will I lose reliability and will the mags need to be tuned all over again?

I just looked at Dawson's site and he lists them as 18 round mags just as mine hold. Looks like I spent a lot of money I could have used elsewhere. I will have to order some 20 round mags now too.

Pat

Edited by Alaskapopo
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I just looked at Dawson's site and he lists them as 18 round mags just as mine hold. Looks like I spent a lot of money I could have used elsewhere. I will have to order some 20 round mags now too.

Pat

I think Dawson uses his competition follower with the ISMI spring. Going with the Grams spring and follower kit might get you another round.

Regardless, I would get maybe 1 or 2 mags that will run 20 rounds. There won't be too many courses of fire where you will need more than that.

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The Grams follower and spring kit will get you as much capacity as you are going to get. It won't get a full round over a Dawson though, more like a half of a round if you follow that logic. Swapping in the follower kit will add some capacity, but it isn't going to make an 18 round mag hold 20 or a tight 19 hold 20 and reload. A 20 round reloadable mag needs to have the body formed to proper dimensions. Then you get into all the other adjustments that need to be made to have the most reliable magazine possible. 20 reloadable with Dawson +1 pads can be done with about some of the STI tubes out there and the SV tubes are a little easier but it still is tough to do. The Grams 4mm pad adds almost another round and almost every STI tube will gage with them on. SV tubes vary a little more in length, but the good news is that if the Grams 4mm is too long the Grams 2.5 or the Dawson +1 is just right. The Dawson SNL is equal to or just slightly greater in added capacity when compared to the Grams 4mm.

Getting a reliable 20 round STI/SVI magazine by buying parts and assembling them can and has been done, but the odds are not in your favor at all. Contact the mag tuner or gunsmith of your choice and see if they can help you. With all the money we spend to play this game the fee's to have your magazines worked over by who ever you choose won't hurt too bad and will be well worth it in the long run.

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The Grams follower and spring kit will get you as much capacity as you are going to get. It won't get a full round over a Dawson though, more like a half of a round if you follow that logic. Swapping in the follower kit will add some capacity, but it isn't going to make an 18 round mag hold 20 or a tight 19 hold 20 and reload. A 20 round reloadable mag needs to have the body formed to proper dimensions. Then you get into all the other adjustments that need to be made to have the most reliable magazine possible. 20 reloadable with Dawson +1 pads can be done with about some of the STI tubes out there and the SV tubes are a little easier but it still is tough to do. The Grams 4mm pad adds almost another round and almost every STI tube will gage with them on. SV tubes vary a little more in length, but the good news is that if the Grams 4mm is too long the Grams 2.5 or the Dawson +1 is just right. The Dawson SNL is equal to or just slightly greater in added capacity when compared to the Grams 4mm.

Getting a reliable 20 round STI/SVI magazine by buying parts and assembling them can and has been done, but the odds are not in your favor at all. Contact the mag tuner or gunsmith of your choice and see if they can help you. With all the money we spend to play this game the fee's to have your magazines worked over by who ever you choose won't hurt too bad and will be well worth it in the long run.

Thanks I didn't even know about Dawson mag bottoms until now I just ordered two. I will order more on my next pay check. I blew most of my extra cash on the gun. Do I need 20 rounds to be competative. I am used to small matches. If I go to a big match are their a lot of stages where 20 vs 19 round mags will make a difference. Thanks for your time.

Pat

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Pat, I can only tell you what I have seen.....

I carry 7-15 40 mags to a match, and probably only have 3-5 with me at any given time that are 20 round reloadable magazines. If the stage makes sense to start with 21 in the gun for some reason I will start with a 20 and reload to a 19 round beater mag 99% of the time. If it makes more sense to reload into a 20 I will start with a 19 round mag in the gun and go into the part after the reload with 21 in the gun. I think if you have some 20's you will have your bases covered, that will give you 40 or 41 rounds to use in the stage depending on how you load and what you load to. For me, if I can't finish a 32 round stage with 40 or 41 rounds I will probably just unload and let it be scored as it stands. 20, 21 and 22 round stages are what confuses the matter a little, but with the new rules and a max of 8 rounds from any one port/position it evens out a bit more than it used to. If you have a 22 round course of fire you are going to be shooting at 3 different arrays of targets, the odds of those arrays being so close that there isn't a place to reload are pretty slim. It could happen, but it won't be often. I don't think I would try to shoot a 21 round stage with 21 in the gun anyway unless there just wasn't anywhere to do a reload, I have seen me miss a target before and it very well could happen again :D

I wouldn't want to be without a couple good 20 round reloadable mags, but I don't think you need to have a sack full of them either.

Here is the other thing, reliability is paramount. Doesn't matter if you have 23 round mags if they aren't reliable, if your gun doesn't run 100% the match is over before the first beep. Look for reliability first, get some magazines you can really trust. After that things are a lot easier.

I also have certain mags that I just beat up, use them for just about everything and another set I try to keep nice for matches and to show people. Having a set of 'match' mags and a set of 'everything else' mags makes sense, and keeps some of the wear and tear off your match mags. Mags take a pretty good beating in this game.

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It's good to start with 20, but you seldom need it. You do need one. Two if you feel you need a back-up (buy one now, save up for another).

Thanks Flex I took your advice and ordered two 21 round mags from Gram. One for use and one for back up. Thanks to everyone who responded.

Pat

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  • 3 weeks later...
anybody starting 21+1? I am able to start with 21+1 and reload the 21 in 3 mags. Dawson SNL, Grams internals.

I also just recieved 2 grams basepads and seem to be a little shallower than the Dawsons and am not able to get 21.

Check those 21 rounders with the SNL (Sometimes Not Legal) basepade in a mag gauge. Although I have not tried the SNL pads I can get 20 in a 140mm STI tube with a standard Dawson +1 and Grams guts and with a bit of work (on the tubes) 20 is reloadable

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anybody starting 21+1?

Yup, every stage. I have 10x 141.25mm legal 21 rounders. I haven't had to reload to one in a long while but I did it at the nationals twice in one stage (don't ask). :rolleyes:

I've seen and handled mags tuned and set up by HSmith and TeamGE and would feel confident spending my money with either. They're both good guys, and like has been said; if you're spending $3k on a gun, spending a little more to have 100% flawless mags, seems like a good investment.

same goes for spending money learning to run the thing, but that's another can of worms entirely. :blush:

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