running Glock mags w/o the floorplates "insert"

[TRG65]

Has anyone ever done this for any length of time?

A friend of my shoots minor 40 in a G35. He was having problems w/ the gun cycling when he was using one of his 10 round mags and he took the "insert" that rests between the floor plate and the spring out. There was a noticable reduction in magazine tension and all the cycling problems vanished. He as shot this in practice for a while and in match; it seems to be holding up.

I was thinking about doing this in my 9mm but wanted to see if there was any other experiences out there.

Thanks

[EricW]

Not the best idea in the world. Sooner or later, all the rounds in the magazine and parts thereof will rocket out the bottom.

Clip the spring if you need to. Don't remove the plate.

[Flexmoney]

I haven't tried it, but it is worth a shot.

What's the worst that could happen? Speed unload? I think that might be worth the risk (compared to risking jams due to those overly tight ten-round Glock mags )

[mcoliver]

IIRC, the last glock mags I had, the +2 bp's definitely didn't have that insert and they worked fine.

In my stock pads, there're those little tab thingies at the side-edge of the pads that prevented it from getting pushed forward easily. Without the floor plates, I think these little thingies are the only ones preventing the floor plates from getting pushed forward. But the last time I tried to push them out (with a full mag! One of those DUH moments), it took a good deal of pressure to be able to budge them.

[EricW]

I'm not denying that Glock 10 rounders are a total PITA, but how is the "Tactical Speed Unload" a better failure than a jam?

I had a floorplate on a particular mag that wasn't seating right and I was literally having mag explosions at least once per match. Stock Glock basepads just don't stay on w/o the floorplate. Clip 1/2 a coil off the spring or trim the follower and all will be well.

Just my experience, YMMV.

[Flexmoney]

I'm not denying that Glock 10 rounders are a total PITA, but how is the "Tactical Speed Unload" a better failure than a jam?

Not better. Perhaps, less likely is all. I'd like to see an easy fix...explore all options.

[Garrett]

It's not a problem. I bought some factory 10mm mags from Glock (at a GSSF match) and they did not have the bottom plate. They came from the factory this way. I asked the Glock armorer at the match about it. He said not to worry about it and it wasn't a problem.

I did eventually get some floor plates for these mags, but I never had a problem shooting the mags without them.

[Custom Glock Racing]

Its only a matter of time until the mag blow out the bottom. Better to trim the spring.

[TRG65]

Thanks for all the feedback. I'm going to give it a try this weekend. I'm making several changes to my guns, all to make cycling easier. I usually shoot a stock guide rod assembly and have never thought much about modifying the mags because I've never needed too. My wife on the other hand can't reliably get our Glocks to cycle from retention as required IDPA stages. So I've used lighter recoil springs and/or different loads in her gun. This is getting to be a real pain. Also if one of our 34's goes belly up the other is set up drastically different. I've ordered 2-13# ISMI spring and am going to take the "inserts" out of our mags. Hopefully, this will result in two guns that either of us can use w/ the same load.

If I have "speed unloads" I'll repost to let everyone know the test has failed and also take the other route and clip the spring.

I've got 12 mags that are used for competion, if any of them unload this experiment is going to end real quick.

Thanks for the opinions, prevailing notion seems to be that they aren't really needed but are a reliablity adder.

[Joe D]

You can also shorten the follower to get a little more space in the mag.

[EricW]

If I have "speed unloads" I'll repost to let everyone know the test has failed and also take the other route and clip the spring.

I've got 12 mags that are used for competion, if any of them unload this experiment is going to end real quick.

I think a lot of it has to do with the tolerances between the magazine and the baseplate. It's pretty easy to mold polypropolene (or whatever derivative of Nylon or PP) Glock mags are made out of over/under size. I'm pretty sure that I had an oversize baseplate and an undersize mag - only one mag did the Tactical Speed Unload. Unfortunately, I blew a couple of stages before I got smart and used that one as a barney mag until I could trade parts with the Glock armorer.

As always, YMMV. Best of luck with your experiment.

[Flexmoney]

Seth,

At $16 for a 10-round mag...maybe just super glue that base pad on there? If you every wear it out, buy a cheap replacement.

Eric, Can you glue plastic well enough?

[TRG65]

Another shooter from around Charleston got a new 34 a few months ago. First time he brought it to practice both mags he got with it blew out. He had the same thing as you Eric, oversized baseplates. you didn't have to squeeze the sides at all to slide them off.

Flex this particular shooter used pieces of duct tape and hasn't had the problem since.

Also one can hope that in a few months all this 10 rd mag nonsense goes away.

[mcoliver]

Could it be the "oversized" BP's should have been for a large-framed mags? Are the mags for the large-frames use different BP's?

[Flexmoney]

I like the tape idea (electrical tape would blend well )...didn't know if IDPA would allow it (or Production)?

[Custom Glock Racing]

He had the same thing as you Eric, oversized baseplates. you didn't have to squeeze the sides at all to slide them off.

You should never have to squeeze the mag body to remove the baseplate.

[Flexmoney]

I do. Maybe not the mag "body", but certainly the "nubs".

A little squeeze...a little push on the corner...off they come.