EGW "high" mag release, feeding issues, yada yada

[Wild Gene]

Ok, STI .40 S&W Sentry. With the stock mag, it ran great.

I needed more than one mag so I did some research and came up with Wilson Combat Mags. I bought the Wilson mags and they would just not feed reliably. I played with the feed lips, polished the ramp a few times, tuned the extractor, but it still would not feed reliably. I read a thread talking about the EGW High mag release. I ordered one, slapped that puppy in and VOILA! The Wilson mags work. They feed, everything.

Now for the big BUT. It is very difficult to seat a mag with 9 rounds in it, other than in an open slide configuration and the stock mag will not latch any more. So now, I am down to 4 Wilson mags and no barney mag (my stock sti mag, which I hate anyway, it has a very short base on it and thus is up inside the magwell).

So did I just create a band-aid for another problem, should I just buy a couple more Wilson's and call it good, or are there more issues?

BTW, the Wilson mags do not touch anything they shouldn't inside the gun. I double checked the ejector. One other thing, the slide lock is now 100% with the empty Wilson mags.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

WG

[Wild Gene]

Want to add this. I took out the Wilson mags and a box of PMC 165 grain .40 S&W's. The gun ran perfectly. BUT, again, I could only run 8 rounds in each mag. I also, just for kicks, tried a Wilson .45 mag. They wouldn't lock in either. I am not sure what to think.

Thanks,

WG

[bofe954]

If all you want to do is shoot SS and the gun functions perfect with 8 rounds, I'd call it good. If you can load 9 with an open slide, you don't need a barney, just lock your slide open at make ready, put in a mag with 9 and release the slide.

I don't have the high mag catch and tried 5 different mags in my 40 SS. I ended up with metalforms with the metal follower, they only hold 8. They have enough room to make reloads easy and I know I'll never get kicked to open for accidently running a 9 round mag.

To me, if it runs for the game I want to play, I'm done messing with it. Now if the mags are really hard to seat with 8 or something, I'd go back to the old catch and try another mag.

I sent you a pm too.

[JerryShoots]

Try filling up the Wilson mags and leaving them that way for a few days. This will let the springs get used to having a load on them. After this you should find they load a bit easier. Then fill one and load it in your gun against a closed slide and lock it up safe for a day or so. If the springs have enough room to flex after being trained they should let you load them into the gun with the slide closed. If this helps with the first one then do the same with all of them in turn. If you can use dummy ammo for safety sake.

Also do the mags go in hard when they are totally empty? If so the mag catch may need some fitting to work better with all mags. EGW tends to oversize their parts rather than risk them being too loose. Some fitting may be needed to get the catch to work it's best.

Good luck!

[Wild Gene]

If all you want to do is shoot SS and the gun functions perfect with 8 rounds, I'd call it good. If you can load 9 with an open slide, you don't need a barney, just lock your slide open at make ready, put in a mag with 9 and release the slide.

I sent you a pm too.

I read the rules again last night, figured out the same thing and was thinking along the same lines, but thanks. I replied to the PM also.

Try filling up the Wilson mags and leaving them that way for a few days. Also do the mags go in hard when they are totally empty? If so the mag catch may need some fitting to work better with all mags. EGW tends to oversize their parts rather than risk them being too loose. Some fitting may be needed to get the catch to work it's best.

Good luck!

Already tried the loaded mag thing. I do think it helped. Empty mags or mags loaded with 8 rounds load very easily. They drop right out also. Thank you for asking!

I am more concerned that the gun will feed most ammo than if only really works with one particular type magazine, but it would optimum to be able to use any ammo, and any mag.

I may try some metal form mags too. They appear to be closest to the stock mag.

Thanks,

Gene