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Need your thoughts on Mag-Wells


Mberry

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I recently purchased a 4P from Canyon Creek and I am happy with that choice. There are a couple of things that I may change about it, but I am going to shoot it for a while and see if I should change my habits before I go changing the gun.

My main interest is in 3-Gun competitions, but I enjoy shooting in general. USPSA is fun for me as it allows me to practice with the pistol while giving me the opportunity to practice forming stage strategies. I bought the 4P with the intent of running production in USPSA and Tactical Optics in 3-Gun. Well, I didn't read the USPSA rules that well and I thought you could run with full mags, as long as they were 140mm or less. Oops. I'm probably an "A" class production pistol shooter with potential to hit Master after I get some additional gaming experience.

Sorry for the long back-story, here's my question:

Should I just suck it up, put on a Mag-Well and run limited in USPSA? I don't really understand the game that well yet, and would like to be competitive. In my mind, I have a better chance of doing well against other production shooters in USPSA. Running a XDm against a Bennie Hill custom isn't that appealing to me. With that said, rifle is my strong point and I should do much better in 3-Gun as a whole. In 3-Gun, there is no change in classification for running a Mag-Well.

Is there a Mag-Well that you can take on and off?

Is there really a reason to stay production class in USPSA?

Does a Mag-Well even help that much? I don't currently struggle with re-loads, but if I'm running against guys that have them, I feel like I should have one too.

Ultimately, I'm in this to have fun. Losing is just not my idea of fun... I know a piece of kit isn't going to make me a GM over-night, but if It can shave 1/10th of a second for me repeatedly, it's worth it to me.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts, opinions and experience.

Edited by winmagfrog
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Mark,

What caliber? If you are running 9mm and slap a mag well on it, you will be Limited, but shooting Minor PF. If .40, slap a mag well on and run Limited at Major PF. If you want to run in Production, no mag well is allowed, load your mags to 10 rounds and go play.

Production division seems to be growing at a pretty quick pace. While Production was created as an "entry level" division, do not mistake that for "easy". Lots of very talented shooters in Production.

I would suggest re-reading the rules again, more carefully, and then make a decision.

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Shooting 9mm, so minor PF for me. My budget will keep me in 9mm for the foreseeable future. No 40 for me, unfortunately.

I understand the negatives of running minor PF, but I did not account for the fact that many more shooters in limited are running major PF. Good point there, thanks.

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In exchange for major pf, you should be able to squeeze in an extra round or 2 and you should have that much less recoil to contend with. There are plenty of plastic pistols beating guns costing 5 times as much, M&P, Glock, and XD just to name a few. Its much more the indian than the arrow. You can be plenty competitive in Limited with an XD shooting minor. When you get to the point where that is costing you a win, worry with it then.

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I like shooting minor just for the competition. I normally shoot a 45 but love to shoot 9mm or 38 super in SS to see if I can keep up with everyone else. I am no spring chicken(64 years old) but I am still able to push the younger guys. Not the masters but most of the average shooters even when they are shooting major.

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If your going to shoot in limited them get one. Get the one from CC as it is stainless and will give you a little more weight in the gun. Buy another one for production, we always need a reason to get another gun.

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Does anyone know of a Magwell that I can install and remove without too much hassle?

If I can't find one that I can take on and off to try out, I'll probably just skip it for now. I'd like it for the extra weight, but I don't think it will make enough of a difference to push my scores up. After looking at my last match, I need to slow down and concentrate on accuracy a bit more anyways. I'm consistently fast, but I blow the wheels off my bus with speed sometimes. Faster mag changes aren't going to put my scores into the next category, better hits will!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Does anyone know of a Magwell that I can install and remove without too much hassle?

If I can't find one that I can take on and off to try out, I'll probably just skip it for now. I'd like it for the extra weight, but I don't think it will make enough of a difference to push my scores up. After looking at my last match, I need to slow down and concentrate on accuracy a bit more anyways. I'm consistently fast, but I blow the wheels off my bus with speed sometimes. Faster mag changes aren't going to put my scores into the next category, better hits will!

I recently happily added a PistolGear magwell to my .40 XDm 5.25,(silver was on backorder black was still available) and while I was at it , I dropped two 135grain lead 9mm projectiles into the cavity beneath the backstrap for more weight. After blending the magwell-opening to the frame/handle, I now have a very functional LIMITED gun but with a few quick steps I can return it to "stock" for PRODUCTION. The gun runs major or minor with the same internals. And YES the magwell comes off without damage to the frame, I did have to clear some grip-tape from the bottom half-inch of the gun 'cause the magwell fits very snuggly

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I had to do some blending in order to get the magwell to function but I'm pretty sure once you place demel to frame you are out of production. The pistol gear removable magwell will leave side ridges and a mass of front ridge on the XDM which will just cause you to miss more reloads than you would without it unless you blend.

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You can blend to a point, see rules. If you over blend like with a PG mag well where there is a smooth transition from mag well to frame that will be too much and not legal for Production when removed.

Rich

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  • 2 months later...

I had to do some blending in order to get the magwell to function but I'm pretty sure once you place demel to frame you are out of production. The pistol gear removable magwell will leave side ridges and a mass of front ridge on the XDM which will just cause you to miss more reloads than you would without it unless you blend.

How difficult is it to blend it?

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I just recently added a Pistol Gear "Unlimited" size magwell to my XDm40 5.25". This is the largest size magwell they sell.

The magwell is great. There is no movement at all once attached. And it is very easy to put on and remove.

I haven't and won't blend the edges inside the magwell. After doing many dozens of practice mag changes I haven't had any issues at all with the mag catching the edges.

On a side note, it also helps improve my grip by having the magwell as it keeps my hand up high on the gun.

This magwell is definitely worth the money.

Here my XDm so you can see what it looks like with the Unlimited size magwell:

XDm40withmagwell_zps975d8ede.jpg

Edited by JGus
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I just recently added a Pistol Gear "Unlimited" size magwell to my XDm40 5.25". This is the largest size magwell they sell.

The magwell is great. There is no movement at all once attached. And it is very easy to put on and remove.

I haven't and won't blend the edges inside the magwell. After doing many dozens of practice mag changes I haven't had any issues at all with the mag catching the edges.

On a side note, it also helps improve my grip by having the magwell as it keeps my hand up high on the gun.

This magwell is definitely worth the money.

Here my XDm so you can see what it looks like with the Unlimited size magwell:

XDm40withmagwell_zps975d8ede.jpg

That's sexy as hell. I ordered the small patriot model because it's the largest one that will let it fit in the box with the 45ACP frame size. It's going to be my CDP gun.

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I just recently added a Pistol Gear "Unlimited" size magwell to my XDm40 5.25". This is the largest size magwell they sell.

The magwell is great. There is no movement at all once attached. And it is very easy to put on and remove.

I haven't and won't blend the edges inside the magwell. After doing many dozens of practice mag changes I haven't had any issues at all with the mag catching the edges.

On a side note, it also helps improve my grip by having the magwell as it keeps my hand up high on the gun.

This magwell is definitely worth the money.

Here my XDm so you can see what it looks like with the Unlimited size magwell:

XDm40withmagwell_zps975d8ede.jpg

That's sexy as hell. I ordered the small patriot model because it's the largest one that will let it fit in the box with the 45ACP frame size. It's going to be my CDP gun.

Thanks. Also using Dawson Precision extended basepads that will allow me to get 19 in the mag and added a Pistol Gear Tungsten guide rod for added weight. It's really a great set up for the price vs what a lot of other high end Limited guns cost. And as anyone who has ever shot an XDM 5.25" knows, these guns are incredibly accurate.

I shoot a Sig X-5 Competition model in Limited competition, but set this up to be my back up gun should something go wrong with my X-5.

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