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magazine tuning ?


cecil

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I bought a STI Steel Match in 9mm... the magazine that came with the pistol.. works great... i bought 2 STI 140mm magazines from Brazos because they were the only people that had them in stock... one of the magazines from Brazos does not load as well at the others.. it hard to load it because it seems to bind loading it..

anyone have any advise how to alleviate this problem with one magazine would be greatly appreciated..it does have a plastic shim in the magazine...

thanks,

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after reading about magazine tuning..... i decided to take the springs, followers out of my magazines.. i called Precision Dawson to talk to the tech guy. about how to improve the feeding/loading problem... he said they sand inside of their magazines with a special tool... so i got some 2000 grit sandpaper and sanded inside of my magazines and all the edges where the bullets feed (just to remove any burrs or sharp edges).. then i used some auto polishing compound & used some woodworking scotch bright pads to polish my mags some more... i then used my vibratory tumbler with some walnut media for about 2 hours.. then corn cob media for a hour.. the mags are highly polished and smooth inside & out.. went to the range to test and they work ----- P-E-R-F-E-C-T...

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Cecil, I had a loading problem with one of my 140mm 9Major Mags-as I would try to get more rounds in they would bind & then nose dive as I pressed them down on the follower,but if I nudged them forward just a millimeter or two they would go right in & straight down into the Mag.I called STI Tech service & they told me it was the Spacer-it was cut too short for the Mag,He said they cut each one seperately depending on the Mag ( I don't think you need them with 38 Super Mags-Just 9mm Mags) So he said he would cut another one to fit & send it out to me.I'm waiting, it was only 3 days ago....

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Cecil, I had a loading problem with one of my 140mm 9Major Mags-as I would try to get more rounds in they would bind & then nose dive as I pressed them down on the follower,but if I nudged them forward just a millimeter or two they would go right in & straight down into the Mag.I called STI Tech service & they told me it was the Spacer-it was cut too short for the Mag,He said they cut each one seperately depending on the Mag ( I don't think you need them with 38 Super Mags-Just 9mm Mags) So he said he would cut another one to fit & send it out to me.I'm waiting, it was only 3 days ago....

Nelly: the mags i was having problems with are 126mm's .. they were the only ones i could find.. i have 140mm's on order from 2 vendors... no telling when they will arrive with all the shortages lately... if the mags still give me problems..i will call STI.. thanks !!!

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Cecil, I just recieved the new spacer for my 140mm 9mm Major Mag from STI,& it fits well & all 20 rounds loaded correctly & without Issue.How are you getting those 126's up into the well ? do you have big bottoms on them....

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Cecil, I just recieved the new spacer for my 140mm 9mm Major Mag from STI,& it fits well & all 20 rounds loaded correctly & without Issue.How are you getting those 126's up into the well ? do you have big bottoms on them....

nope no big bottoms..i was told they would not fit.. but i am still having problems with one mag..i will call STI tomorrow

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Does anybody offer to tune SVI 9mm mags? I've dropped one on the concrete range floor, bent the feel lips and now the follower does not go all the way to the top.

I know DawsonPrecision sells a STI mag tuning kit but they state it will not work for the SV's.

BC

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Adrian Cobb, mag blueprinting. He's a vendor here. Just did two svi mags for me. Great turnaround and the work is top notch.

I also had Adrian Cobb tune (2) old style SV big sticks for 9 Major. Both hold 30 rounds without a problem and look great!

Thanks. Will send them off to Adrian.

BC

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You can straighten the feed lips on your mags with a pair of small pliers. Tape the jaws on the p[liers so you don't scratch or make rough spots on the feed lips. Go to the STI website and look up the feed lip specs and adjust yours accordingly. The feed lip specs from STI are the same as SV.

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Go to the STI website and look up the feed lip specs and adjust yours accordingly.

I must be dense. I looked at every page on the STI website and could not find the dimensions for the magazine lips. Could you point me in the right direction?

Thanks,

BC

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Bill, try using a small adjustable wrench instead of pliers. No need to wrap the jaws up, and they are already straight.

Dave Dawson gives these numbers for feed lips:

9 --- .350~.355

38 - .355~.360

40 - .380~.385

9mm lips should be from .350-..355 with a .003-.005 taper back to front. This is info from Dawson.

Thanks Chris & Steve.

Could one of you describe how these measurements are done? I do have a set of digital calipers but my expertise ends with measuring bullet over-all lenght...

BC

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Bill, try using a small adjustable wrench instead of pliers. No need to wrap the jaws up, and they are already straight.

Dave Dawson gives these numbers for feed lips:

9 --- .350~.355

38 - .355~.360

40 - .380~.385

9mm lips should be from .350-..355 with a .003-.005 taper back to front. This is info from Dawson.

Thanks Chris & Steve.

Could one of you describe how these measurements are done? I do have a set of digital calipers but my expertise ends with measuring bullet over-all lenght...

BC

I am having some issues with STI mags as well.. so i am VERY interested in the measurements also...

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Measure the inside of the feed lips from side to side at the back of the mag. Should be .350-.355 then measure the front of the feed lips side to side and should be slighty larger to help feeding .002-.005

That's from the Dawson video

Edited by calvinc78
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I just sold my Howard Smith Tuned magazine set for $650. I think it is about what i paid for them in 2009. I met Howard on this forum back in the day. 1 x 170mm and 3x 140mm numbered 1-4. They were sweet and really too pretty to drop on the ground. Lol.

Edited by Locomotion
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