170 MM Para tubes

[Steve Moneypenny]

Gearing up for Open with a Para, and wondering if there are any "origional style" para mags available, i know STI makes some and i have one of those on the way, however, i am sure the normal Para mag will hold atleast 1 maybe 2 more rounds giving me 28, or 29 atleast. (yes, an extra round or 2 is very important to me!

so are these made? or can i get base pads to do the same?

lastly, where can i get one?

Thanks in advance!

[HANDGUNNER]

No such animal,I have seen para tube's welded together to make a big stickMy last para 38super race gun held 24+1 rds.

[Mike Dame]

Check out the Dawson Precision site. he has a based pad kit to get 24 rounds in a factory tube. I have two off his pads that I use on my limited gun and my open gun and they work great.

[Steve Moneypenny]

gotta have more than 24, i get 22 in my Para Limited gun. Thanks for the replies, think i'm just going to go with the para "sti" substitute.

[ChuckS]

I talked to Jack Norris (Practical Shooting Supplies) at Area II. He is looking into having some 170 mm tubes made from two standard tubes at a local machine shop.

Later,

Chuck

[TeamGE]

Hi smoney,

You should be able to get 28 or 29 rounds of super in the STI 170mm replacement tube for the Para. If not, your not using the right parts in the tube, or there is something wrong with the tube itself. I tune them for 29 rounds of supercomp all the time. The welded Para mags in super are not very reliable, so I would recommend going the STI route. The shorter 140mm STI tubes will hold 23 to 24 rounds.

[Garrett]

Yeah, what Bevin said.  I have heard of people using the welded up tubes and getting 30+ rounds in a mag.  My factory Para mags are the least reliable mags I have though (in Super anyway).  I can get 29 rounds of regular Super in my STI mag with Grams follower/basepad.  

[Spaceghost]

I'm bumping this ancient thread to see what the current status is of getting 170mm para mags. My gunsmith is reluctant about welding them together but will (and did it in the past).

I was also thinking about welding MecGar mags instead since all I'm looking to do is create a long tube and they will get refinished at some point.

Thoughts??? This is for a major 9 project.

[Flatland Shooter]

STI no longer manufactures magazines designed for ParaOrdnance. That leaves several options.

1. Purchase a modifed STI magazine where the gunsmith has welded up the STI mag catch notch and recut it to fit a Para mag catch. (Among others, Bevin Grams with Grams Engineering does this.)

2 Modify your mag catch to enable the use of stock STI magazines. (Richard Dettlehouser with Canyon Creek does this.) Going with this option means your stock Para mags will no longer work so you will need to purchase additional STI magazines.

3. Find a gunsmith that can weld up two Para Hicap magazines making one big stick. I went this route a while back but the results were not satisfactory. You may have better luck.

I recently went with the second route. Some needy person walked off with most of my Para magazines, and since I was basically starting from scratch, Richard modified my mag catch, Bevin is building me a big stick, and Brownell's has several 140mm STI mags on back-order.

HTH

Bill

[ChuckS]

Well, since we last chatted STI had dropped the "for Para" line. You may seem some pop up in the classifieds every now and then but don't hold your breath. I have heard that some folks have modified the mag catch for the STI-style STI tubes. But that will negate the use of any para tubes you have.

Later,

Chuck

[Garrett]

You might check with Mike Sessa (aka. BustOff) at BustOff@comcast.net.

He has successfully cut & welded numerous rifle and subgun magazines. I have one for a full-auto M11 which has worked flawlessly for me. Getting something that holds 58 rounds and still feeds on full-auto is pretty impressive. I had to look closely to find the weld. You would just have to make sure he knows you want as close to 170mm without going over.

I imagine you could get 32 or 33 in a para tube.

[jjanglin]

Get a hold of a 170 mm SVI mag have a smith modify your mag release

it works great.

Jim

Sailors Custom

[Sam38]

My advice would be to get a hold of a 170 mm SVI mag have a smith modify it by welding up the mag catch and re-cutting it.

Although taking two Para mags and making one big stick is also a viable route.

Doug Jones at ACC-U-RAIL (1.248.852.6490) can do either for you.

-Sam

[9MX]

I'm bumping this ancient thread to see what the current status is of getting 170mm para mags. My gunsmith is reluctant about welding them together but will (and did it in the past).

I was also thinking about welding MecGar mags instead since all I'm looking to do is create a long tube and they will get refinished at some point.

Thoughts??? This is for a major 9 project.

SPS 170mms works fine with Para, no mods needed.

[Spaceghost]

SPS 170mms works fine with Para, no mods needed.

Great... I appreciate the advice.

I was going to use cutting some stock length para tubes as an excuse to buy a small chop saw. (yes I know I could just use a hack saw).

[Shawn Knight]

I'm bumping this ancient thread to see what the current status is of getting 170mm para mags. My gunsmith is reluctant about welding them together but will (and did it in the past).

I was also thinking about welding MecGar mags instead since all I'm looking to do is create a long tube and they will get refinished at some point.

Thoughts??? This is for a major 9 project.

I have 3 SPS 140 tubes built up with Grams kits for my LTD gun and they work great. I don't see why the 170s for Para wouldn't work just fine.

Edited January 31, 2007 by Flexmoney

[9MX]

SPS 170mms works fine with Para, no mods needed.

Great... I appreciate the advice.

I was going to use cutting some stock length para tubes as an excuse to buy a small chop saw. (yes I know I could just use a hack saw).

oh just to clarify,my Para is a super .38

[Spaceghost]

I appreciate that, I intend to use them for 9mm.

[Paul B]

170mm Para mags are relatively easy to make for .38 super. You just use 2 para mags and join them accurately. One good way to do this is to use welding rod of the appropriate diameter and braze them into the recesses on the sides of the mag after brazing the parts together. Just be sure they are straight. You can hold a lot of bullets this way with the right follower and spring - 29 +1 is possible.

For 9mm the process is different in that most of the 170 Para mags for 38 super tend to jam with 9mm. I have seen some success with a Mecgar 9mm upper and a Para lower as the Mecgar has a deeper indentation in the front that keeps the 9's straight.

[Spaceghost]

If I weld up two mags I will likely use Mec Gar mags as they are less expensive. Why do you suggest using a Para lower?

Is there a difference in the 9mm vs .38S Para mags? What I have ordered for the gun are 4 standard length Para 9mm mags.

[Flatland Shooter]

If I weld up two mags I will likely use Mec Gar mags as they are less expensive. Why do you suggest using a Para lower?

Is there a difference in the 9mm vs .38S Para mags? What I have ordered for the gun are 4 standard length Para 9mm mags.

From my understanding:

The indentations on the side of the Para magazine extend further down towards the base when compared to the MecGar mags. These indentations help to keep the bullets from spreading apart side to side and jam up the follower, hence the recommendation.

The difference between 38 Super and 9x19 mags is a spacer in the back of the 9x19 mag to compensate for the shorter cartridge. This is intended to help bullet feeding. When you extend the mag length, the spacer will probably need to be extended also.

Bill

[Paul B]

If I weld up two mags I will likely use Mec Gar mags as they are less expensive. Why do you suggest using a Para lower?

Is there a difference in the 9mm vs .38S Para mags? What I have ordered for the gun are 4 standard length Para 9mm mags.

Supposedly there is no difference "now" between the Para .38 Super and 9mm mags. Para has put a front indentation on both sides of the mag now that is a little deeper than when the mags were for .38 super only, but they should work for both - at least that has been my experience.

That, though, is only for the standard length mags. When you extend the Para mag to 170 it needs even more indentation in the front to prevent nose downs and feeding problems. We found this out when we tried to use older 38 super mags at full capacity with a 9mm LDA. The .38 super mags would feed 9mm fine if you put in only 10, but if you went to 15 it was jam city every time. The Mecgar has that deeper front top indentation so the 170's I've seen that work for 9mm have Mec Gar uppers. I have always seen them with Para lowers, but all Mec Gar might work also as long as the indentations go down far enough (like Flatland shooter said) that you don't end up with the shells jammed at the bottom caught under the indentations. I've never seen any spacers in Para mags for 9mm but that might work.

As always someone else may have a better answer or have no trouble at all just putting together any mags. One thing to remember is to try to use the welding rod trick if you can. The first 170 Para mag I had built was just welded without the rods in the indentations and it cracked at the nationals and it took me 3 stages to figure out why the gun was jamming until I realized I could flex most of the weld open with my hands.