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Free homemade big button mag release


obsessiveshooter

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I was about to buy the Glockstore extended mag release. I've wanted one for a while and my G35 Limited gun really needed something bigger than the stock extended release. I was about to start entering credit card info when it hit me, that tiny speck of aluminum and two screws was going to cost me $42.50. Hell no!

My first try was to bend a penny in half, cut it to shape, and drill it for screws. This would have allowed it to step up in thickness where you need it, and allow it to be thin where it extends over the grip frame. But, a penny is too thin. A nickel would have worked better, but I didn't think it would bent as nicely in the vise as a penny.

Then I looked in a junk drawer and, Gosh, that half of a brass snap sure looks a lot like an SJC big button! By brass snap I mean like snaps for a western shirt, but heavy duty and bought in the craft section of walmart. I drilled a hole in the center, stole a screw from one of my kid's plastic toys, drilled the mag release, and installed it. Check out the result- The black and brass color goes quite well with the zev magwell.

post-52094-0-35726600-1433647327_thumb.j

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I just finished some dryfire practice and it does exactly what I wanted: I can easily drop a mag without breaking my grip, and it doesn't come close to my grip to where accidentally dropping a mag is a concern. It holsters fine. The attachment is solid.

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looks great! How far does it stick out from the frame? Are you worried about bumping it with your grip hand at all?

Really does match the zev, now you just need brass pins, and you'll be looking mighty sharp!

Thank you for sharing your project!

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LOL, I didn't replace the screw. In my defense, have you ever taken apart a plastic kids toy? They have a million screws. You could remove half of them and it would still hold together. This screw came from something that doesn't work and was on the way to the trash can anyway.

I predrilled the mag release with it still installed on the pistol. The first hole was too close to the middle and the screw protruded into the channel the magazine needs to travel. About 1/8" away from the side closest the trigger worked better. Of course this would be obvious to anyone installing in on a mag release that you have taken out.

BTW, the wire spring that holds the release in place used to be really, really stout and made it require a lot of force to drop a mag. I pulled it out with needle nose pliers and filed on two opposing sides of the part that stuck out of the hole it goes in. This made it flex much easier along a single axis, and I put it back in so the flex was in the direction that the mag release moved. Problem solved.

Edited by obsessiveshooter
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  • 1 month later...

Okay, I have to admit it. This thing is too big and has been screwing me royally. I was .5 pts away from making B class and the last classifier I shot was a table start. Dropped the mag both starts. I've also been dropping mags here and there on stages from just not having a consistent grip. My 'official' grip doesn't hit it, but in the heat of a match I guess I don't always have it right.

I removed the button and took the mag release out and found that I don't have the extended glock mag catch in there, but the standard one. I bought the pistol used and the previous owner must have switched it out. So, I've ordered the factory extended one ($8 shipped) and I'll see if it's sufficient.

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I put an extended mag release on my EDGE had the same issues with table starts so I just swapped it out before running those particular stages. The one I used in particular is more oblong and I could angle it up and away from my grip so I had no issues with dropping mags during the COF.

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LOL, I didn't replace the screw. In my defense, have you ever taken apart a plastic kids toy? They have a million screws. You could remove half of them and it would still hold together. This screw came from something that doesn't work and was on the way to the trash can anyway.

I predrilled the mag release with it still installed on the pistol. The first hole was too close to the middle and the screw protruded into the channel the magazine needs to travel. About 1/8" away from the side closest the trigger worked better. Of course this would be obvious to anyone installing in on a mag release that you have taken out.

BTW, the wire spring that holds the release in place used to be really, really stout and made it require a lot of force to drop a mag. I pulled it out with needle nose pliers and filed on two opposing sides of the part that stuck out of the hole it goes in. This made it flex much easier along a single axis, and I put it back in so the flex was in the direction that the mag release moved. Problem solved.

Be careful. If it snaps in half and you don't have enough left to grab to pull it out -- time for a new frame....

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I only removed maybe 25% of it's thickness along about 2" of the rod. But yes, if it broke that would be a serious problem.

I've got a chunk of brass I'm about to take out to the shop to cut into a tab that will mimic the mag releases sold at glockstore.com.

The oem extended mag release came in the mail today. I'm disappointed- it's only about 1/32" taller than the one I took out. Not nearly enough difference for it to be sufficient.

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