Wilson Mag Springs & Followers

[rhino]

Yesteday I received some new Wilson follower and spring kits (for single stack .45ACP 8-rd magazines) and I noticed that both the follower and the springs are different than the last time I bought them.

QUESTION: Which way should the springs be installed? There is now an end with a "short" coil and an end where the "normal" coil was just snipped.

Right now I have them installed with the short end under the follower, but I haven't had a chance to test them.

[Duane Thomas]

That's correct. The "short" end goes toward the top, the "closed" end goes on the bottom.

[rhino]

Thanks, DT! Looks like I guessed correctly, but it would be nice if Wilson would put a note in the packaging or something.

I don't know if they work well (yet) or not, but I am impressed with the new springs. In my opinion, the primary weakness of the Wilson mags was their (sometimes) wimpy springs, especially when compared to CMC Power Mags.

I used them to replace the guts on some Shooting Star mags BigDave recently rescued from the back of my truck. I can barely get eight rounds loaded in them, but I expect that to be less of a problem after some use.

[ChuckS]

Hi all,

Just to be clear on this, is this the end that touches the follower?

Sping pic

TIA,

Chuck

[rhino]

I can't get to your link!

[ChuckS]

Rhino,

The verizon web server has been flaky all morning. It took about 10 tries to just do a FTP login to upload the file. Some time the server does not reply at all, some times I get a a "423 Locked" error. Just stand by and it may get better. If I get really bored today, perhaps I wll call tech support.

Another attempt at linking to the web site

[ChuckS]

Hi all,

I did take time to call Verizon tech support. It was kind of funny. The guy started out (as he should) that I was doing something wrong. As he tried to work the problem, it turned out that most of his tool servers were down also! It seems there is a major fubar going on here in SoCal. But that's not why I posted.

I just got off the phone with Wilson Combat. Their take on the spring orientation is this: The end of the spring that has the coil snipped in the middle of the bend goes up to the follower and the loop that is clipped on the side and then bent inward goes to the floorplate. I am not sure if this agrees with Duane or not. Lets see if I can draw the ends with ascii:

This end goes on the bottom (floorplate)

________

(___/____ )

I can't draw the top end since I would have to cut a " ) " in half.

[Duane Thomas]

Yes, it agrees with me.

[rhino]

I thought I understood which end went where, but now I don't!

[Duane Thomas]

Geez, it's not that complicated. The "short" end goes up. The end that almost closes with a loop goes down. In other words, looking at the spring, the only way that makes sense.

[rhino]

Chuck S ... I can see you picture now!

It looks like you have one of the older springs ... I actually got one or two like that in my most recent purchase (from Midway) as well. In the latest incarnation with the super strong springs, the end that goes under the follower is an actual "loop" and the bottom end that looks like your photo goes near the base pad.