Brian_in_Pullman

I have 3 of the KCI G17 mags. 2 would not drop free from my G17, so after a little looking I determined that it was the front to back dimension of the mags causing the problem. So I tweaked them in my vise (meaning squished them a little) and now they drop free fine. I've had them since Feb/March and have been using them in matches with no problems, in fact I used them for a 2 day pistol class (860 rds) a couple of weekends ago and they were fine. But, I'm not going to use them for Area 1 this year, I think they are fine for local matches, but for a "big" match I don't want to take the chance. ETA: When I first got them, I accidentally dropped a fully loaded one on concrete and it broke the base pad. I have been running that mag with a spare Glock base pad with no problems.

HighVelocity, Nice looking shooter, I'm glad I'm not the only one who did a budget limited gun! A local shop had a G35 top end w/ a titanium striker and 1 mag for $250 so I bought that to use with my G17 frame. But then I saw used G22's for $350 at Summit Gun Broker, so I now have a gen 2 G35. I added: Dawson Ice Magwell Dawson FO front sight Heinie rear sight 3.5# connector Ghost mag release polished the trigger parts a trigger over travel stop like lone wolf (drilled and tapped the trigger housing myself) and some Arredondo mag extensions

My carry gun Glock 23 mags, that I leave loaded for extended periods, are the first to go soft. Notice I said "If the the spring is sized properly". If the spring is getting compressed past it's elastic limit when the magazine is fully loaded all bets are off in terms of spring rate, free height, and fatigue life. ETA: This means that there would be plastic (permanent) deformation and the free height of the spring will change.

I've got all 17rd mags, so I thought that the springs would be ok forever, being that I never put more than 10 rounds in them. I think it is the 100's of times I have loaded them and unloaded them that is causing the issue. Exactly, it is fatigue that wears out magazine springs. If the spring is sized properly for the application, compressing it when loading the mag should be in the elastic range of the spring (non permanent deformation), so simply loading a mag and letting is set will not wear out the spring. The numerous cycles of loading unloading of the spring is what wears them out.

I just got one of these. They have a little holster wear, but the internals are pretty good. The Gen 3's are early ones without the 3rd pin (Nov 1998 production). Also very quick turnaround on the order.