TSO mag spring and follower

[Stevetford]

Looking for opinions on a spring and follower kit for a TSO .40 mag. I have 10 mags all set up with Taylor Freelance baseplates and stock guts. In this configuration I can only get 19 rounds in a mag. Hoping for at least 20 rounds (21 would be nice but not holding my breath) 5 of these mags I bought used (with the TF baseplates) and the previous owner was using Grams guts but said he had nothing but problems so installed the stock guts back before selling them to me. Obviously i'm a little hesitant on ordering the Grams kit if this is what I have to look forward to. 

  CZC offers a spring and follower kit, and I've read several positive things about them but CZC baseplates were also being used. Anyone using the CZC guts with TF baseplates? Is there a trick or tip to get the Grams stuff to work? This rig will be used for USPSA Limited and I'm not worried about last round hold open. Appreciate any suggestions.

[Lowsc3]

I se the cz custome guts and have zero issues. But then again I have the cz custome base pads. I'm sure they'd work in the Taylor one as long as there's no lip to catch on. 

[HesedTech]

10 hours ago, Stevetford said:

the previous owner was using Grams guts but said he had nothing but problems so installed the stock guts back before selling them to me. Obviously i'm a little hesitant on ordering the Grams kit

The grams follower is obviously smaller to allow for extra rounds, but once the spring is “tuned” there are zero problems. 
 

Basically you have to bend the spring so the follower is angled to prevent it from rotating sideways and jamming up near the joint between the base and mag body. Once done zero issues. Yes I have many Grams followers in both 40 and 9 all functioning perfectly. 

Here’s a couple of pics. 

 

Edited May 29, 2022 by HesedTech
Added pics

[Stevetford]

9 hours ago, Lowsc3 said:

I se the cz custome guts and have zero issues. But then again I have the cz custome base pads. I'm sure they'd work in the Taylor one as long as there's no lip to catch on. 

That seems to be the way to go, all CZC parts. Unfortunately I have too much invested in these TF baseplates to start all over. How many rounds are you able to squeeze in the mags with your set up, assuming you're using .40 

[Stevetford]

7 hours ago, HesedTech said:

The grams follower is obviously smaller to allow for extra rounds, but once the spring is “tuned” there are zero problems. 
 

Basically you have to bend the spring so the follower is angled to prevent it from rotating sideways and jamming up near the joint between the base and mag body. Once done zero issues. Yes I have many Grams followers in both 40 and 9 all functioning perfectly. 

Here’s a couple of pics. 

 

I assumed it was a simple tweak to get the Grams stuff to work properly. Really appreciate the explanation along with the pictures. So the second picture is what i want the follower to look like once properly tweaked? How many rounds are you able to get in the .40 mags and with what baseplates?

[HesedTech]

5 hours ago, Stevetford said:

How many rounds are you able to get in the .40 mags and with what baseplates?

With both Henning and Taran 140 mm baseplates mags I get 23 9mm and 17 40sw maybe 18 if I really push.  Basically it adds about 5. 

[Stevetford]

30 minutes ago, HesedTech said:

With both Henning and Taran 140 mm baseplates mags I get 23 9mm and 17 40sw maybe 18 if I really push.  Basically it adds about 5. 

I take it these are standard 75 mags and not TS mags. 

[HesedTech]

20 minutes ago, Stevetford said:

I take it these are standard 75 mags and not TS mags. 

Yes, run them in Shadow 2, & SP01, and if it helps Tanfoglio Small frame. However, I have at least a dozen grams followers all running great in CZs and both small and large frame Tanfoglios, 140mm and Taylor F 170 mm extensions with grams followers and the fix is the same no matter what mag or caliber. 

 

 Shot many thousands of jam free rounds with this simple fix.

 

 

Edited May 30, 2022 by HesedTech

[Stevetford]

16 hours ago, HesedTech said:

Yes, run them in Shadow 2, & SP01, and if it helps Tanfoglio Small frame. However, I have at least a dozen grams followers all running great in CZs and both small and large frame Tanfoglios, 140mm and Taylor F 170 mm extensions with grams followers and the fix is the same no matter what mag or caliber. 

 

 Shot many thousands of jam free rounds with this simple fix.

 

 

Sounds good, I appreciate your help

[ULshooter2491]

I use the TF pads and grams springs/followers in a 40cal TSO. I’ve had no issues what so ever with grams springs straight out the package. 20+1/20reloadable is all you are going to be able to get in the 40 set ups. 

[DewarsH2O]

I have five TF plus 3 baseplates that I run on my stock CZ magazines in the TSO (granted, 9mm).  They run flawlessly with the stock spring / follower.  I bought some super de super bigger springs but found out not required.  Sometimes the quest for one more round simply isn't worth the effort IMHO vs. reliability.

 

[Stevetford]

On 5/31/2022 at 7:06 PM, DewarsH2O said:

I have five TF plus 3 baseplates that I run on my stock CZ magazines in the TSO (granted, 9mm).  They run flawlessly with the stock spring / follower.  I bought some super de super bigger springs but found out not required.  Sometimes the quest for one more round simply isn't worth the effort IMHO vs. reliability.

 

Totally agree, and after adding up what this extra round cost me I’m not feeling so well lol. Anyways, just to follow up I ended up with the Grams follower and 11 coil spring kit FKCL-11  and able to get 20 rounds in each mag. No go on 21, maybe after some break in on the springs but I’m happy at 20. Have yet to verify if 20 is reloadable but I believe it will be. There was a note on the grams packaging that the springs were already “tuned” so I installed as is. Hope to do some live firing this weekend and see what happens. 
  Thank you all for the help and suggestions. 

[Guitarmageddon]

On 6/10/2022 at 11:20 PM, Stevetford said:

Totally agree, and after adding up what this extra round cost me I’m not feeling so well lol. Anyways, just to follow up I ended up with the Grams follower and 11 coil spring kit FKCL-11  and able to get 20 rounds in each mag. No go on 21, maybe after some break in on the springs but I’m happy at 20. Have yet to verify if 20 is reloadable but I believe it will be. There was a note on the grams packaging that the springs were already “tuned” so I installed as is. Hope to do some live firing this weekend and see what happens. 
  Thank you all for the help and suggestions. 

Did it work ok for you? Ive used grams FKCL-11 in my .40 tso for about 8000 rounds this year, among my 3 main mags without issue. Ive gotten a few weird issues lately with what I suspect is mag springs not pressing all the way up. I think Ive ruled out any wierdness with the extractor. Perhaps the springs need a little bit of a stretch. I may do my own post about this to consult the opinions of the hive mind. But grams totally cured the issues I had at first when I got the gun. Id hate to think those issues are coming back though because it only took 8000 rounds to wear the springs out? unless Im overestimating and 8k on a few mags is a lot of duty cycles....

[WildPete]

On 5/29/2022 at 10:03 AM, HesedTech said:

The grams follower is obviously smaller to allow for extra rounds, but once the spring is “tuned” there are zero problems. 
 

Basically you have to bend the spring so the follower is angled to prevent it from rotating sideways and jamming up near the joint between the base and mag body. Once done zero issues. Yes I have many Grams followers in both 40 and 9 all functioning perfectly.

That's probably why they didn't work for me. I ordered 2 to try out and gave up. They would bind in the mag when I used them.