jackruss Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 Here's my situation. I have a STI Edge in 45 with 4 tuned Dawson mags. Each mag has a capacity of 14 rounds factory. Each has a Dawson +2 basepad and the factory follower. I can load each mag reasonably easy with 16 rounds however the mags will not seat in the gun without a pretty good schwack to the bottoms. Is there any technique someone could pass along to make it fit easier? 15 rounds no problem. 16 problem. If I leave a fully loaded mag in it for a week or so will it fit a little easier? I don't believe plastic has much stretch to it but at this point I'm at a loss. Mags will get real tight the last .5 to 1 inch before seating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-ManBart Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 Here's my situation. I have a STI Edge in 45 with 4 tuned Dawson mags. Each mag has a capacity of 14 rounds factory. Each has a Dawson +2 basepad and the factory follower. I can load each mag reasonably easy with 16 rounds however the mags will not seat in the gun without a pretty good schwack to the bottoms. Is there any technique someone could pass along to make it fit easier? 15 rounds no problem. 16 problem. If I leave a fully loaded mag in it for a week or so will it fit a little easier? I don't believe plastic has much stretch to it but at this point I'm at a loss. Mags will get real tight the last .5 to 1 inch before seating. There are a couple of things you might try. The Dawson +1 follower would probably make seating 16 easier. You could also try the Gram's follower and spring kit which would also likely make seating 16 easier. Either might even get you a 17th round, but I'm sure someone else here can verify that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ihatepickles Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 This happens with all guns and calibers in some fashion. I'd load and make ready with 1 in the pipe, 16 in the magazine with only 15 rounds in my other magazines. You may end up with 2 mag changes on long field courses vs. the 1 mag change that .40 guns are making, but that's the name of the game shooting .45 vs .40. I think that's your best option for reliability, but if you're set on some tweaking... For a easier to reload 16 rounds, you'll need to clip springs. This might make the mags less reliable or at very least you'll need to replace mag springs frequently to keep the mag running. I'd assume the feed lips are set to correct dimensions from Dawson, but it's worth checking (sorry, don't know the .45 spec off the top of my head). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al503 Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 I'd try the 11 coil grams springs and followers. You also have to remember that loading them up that tight may take it's toll on the grips with a nice crack near the mag release. I load up with the max only when it absolutely necessary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackruss Posted February 22, 2007 Author Share Posted February 22, 2007 (edited) I'm currently waiting on some back ordered +1 followers from Dawson. My plan is have one in the pipe, start with the first hard to seat mag that will be loaded to 17(new follower) and have the rest loaded to 16 which will not be as tight with the new followers. The 16 round loaded right now is not crazy tight. I do use a loader but the 16th rounds does fit reasonably well. Hard to believe it would swell the mag tube enough to cause problems. I hesitate to cut any springs. After two days of leaving in a full mag it does fit just a little looser than it did before. I feel that if I paid for a 14 round mag and added a +2 base pad on a tuned mag I should get 16 rounds without having to worry about cracking my grip. I'm going to have to call bulls*&t on that one. My Sig 226 with MecGar 17 round mags holds 17 out of the box. Not 16 plus send it to Italy for $100.00 and maybe get 17 if the moon is in the right phase. I'm just a little frustrated. On top of it all my new 14 round tuned mag I just bought with a +1 base pad and +1 follower won't fit eithier without some love. What did I spend $120.00 for????????? 14 + 1 + 1 = 16 not 14 + 1 + 1 + $120.00 new grip. Edited February 22, 2007 by jackruss Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al503 Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 (edited) I feel that if I paid for a 14 round mag and added a +2 base pad on a tuned mag I should get 16 rounds without having to worry about cracking my grip. I'm going to have to call bulls*&t on that one. The force you're using to seat that mag doesn't disappear when the mag clicks into place. It's transferred to the mag release that's being held in place by the grip itself. Go ahead and call it what you will. I can understand your frustration but while I can't speak for anyone else, I'll think twice about answering your next question. Hopefully, your grip won't crack but don't say no one warned you if it does. Edited February 22, 2007 by al503 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-ManBart Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 I'm currently waiting on some back ordered +1 followers from Dawson. My plan is have one in the pipe, start with the first hard to seat mag that will be loaded to 17(new follower) and have the rest loaded to 16 which will not be as tight with the new followers. The 16 round loaded right now is not crazy tight. I do use a loader but the 16th rounds does fit reasonably well. Hard to believe it would swell the mag tube enough to cause problems. I hesitate to cut any springs. After two days of leaving in a full mag it does fit just a little looser than it did before. I feel that if I paid for a 14 round mag and added a +2 base pad on a tuned mag I should get 16 rounds without having to worry about cracking my grip. I'm going to have to call bulls*&t on that one. My Sig 226 with MecGar 17 round mags holds 17 out of the box. Not 16 plus send it to Italy for $100.00 and maybe get 17 if the moon is in the right phase. I'm just a little frustrated. On top of it all my new 14 round tuned mag I just bought with a +1 base pad and +1 follower won't fit eithier without some love. What did I spend $120.00 for????????? 14 + 1 + 1 = 16 not 14 + 1 + 1 + $120.00 new grip. I know exactly what you're feeling. I bought some tuned mags from Dawson with +1 pads and could barely get 18 in them (.40) at first. I wasn't all that happy a camper. After using them for a while (couple of weeks) they loosened up and I can get 19 in most pretty easily (one is still nearly impossible to get 19 in). Leaving them loaded for a couple of days didn't seem to do much, but loading, shooting, loading etc made a big difference. I've read more than one school of thought on this, but one group says that cycling the spring (load/unload) softens them more than leaving them compressed does. On the other hand tuned mags with Gram's springs, followers and 4mm pads give me 20 about as easily as I get 19 in the others and are reloadable without having to really thump them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aircooled6racer Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 Hello: I use STI mag tubes in my 40 with Grams follower and spring. I use the Dawson +1 base pad and get 19 rounds. If I cut some coils off the spring I get 20 rounds. Remember 1 round in most cases will not change much and being reliable is more important. On your mag I would cut one coil off at a time till you get the round count you want. Then try one for practice and see if it works EVERY time. Do one mag first. This is part of the fun stuff. Hope this helps. Thanks Eric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
38superman Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 Just out of curiosity, why are you loading 16 rounds? If you shoot lim 10 it's not an issue. If you shoot limited you're giving away a lot of capacity to the 40 gunners. I own a 45 edge myself. Not a problem to get 16 in a Grams tuned mag. I just don't ever do it. Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlamoShooter Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 I think its called a +2 base pad in ref. to the 9mm/38 super. The thing you get with it is ease of break down for cleaning & checking. After the mag is loaded the last round still has to be able to move down -just a bit-. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benny hill Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 If you load to full max. & compress the springs hard it will not be long before you will have first rd. nose dives as the spring will just give up. Better to down load 1 rd. for reliability. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott R Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 You may want to check your mags with +2 base pads in a mag gauge before going to a major match. You could find yourself shooting in open division . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 You may want to check your mags with +2 base pads in a mag gauge before going to a major match. You could find yourself shooting in open division . +1 If you have 140mm mags and add Dave's + 2 you will be over 140...I have a +2 on an OPEN mag and it is definitely longer than the 140s with Dave's +1... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackruss Posted February 22, 2007 Author Share Posted February 22, 2007 (edited) They are about 10mm longer than 140mm. Just shooting at the club level shouldn't be any issues. All in good fun. Its not like having a 150mm mag agains't 140mm 40S&W mags is giving me any unfair advantage. I'll just download them all 1 round and save a tight one for load and make ready. The reason I shoot the Limited Division and not Limited 10 is so I have more people to compete against. Golfing by yourself is no fun eithier. Edited February 22, 2007 by jackruss Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 They are about 10mm longer than 140mm. Just shooting at the club level shouldn't be any issues. All in good fun. Its not like having a 150mm mag agains't 140mm 40S&W mags is giving me any unfair advantage. I'll just download them all 1 round and save a tight one for load and make ready. The reason I shoot the Limited Division and not Limited 10 is so I have more people to compete against. Golfing by yourself is no fun eithier. At local matches i'll bet you get by just fine especially since it's a 45. I shot the SV .45 IMM "Miami Vice" gun at a match last year. IT WAS SMOOTH! I was using 13 round 140 mags and a 17 round 170 mag. It didn't slow me down that much..if you can get 18 rounds in the gun just once it works out at the local level.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackruss Posted February 22, 2007 Author Share Posted February 22, 2007 (edited) Personally I think every stage should have a mandatory reload. It just makes sense to me to integrate that skillset into it. Since I'm just shooting at the club level I don't think 40 vs 45 will make any discernable difference. I've only shot USPSA 5 times and 3 of those in Limited class. My 3 qualifying scores put me in the meat of C. I'll stay with the 45 through the summer and if I reach B bracket maybe I'll make the move to 40. Edited February 22, 2007 by jackruss Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-ManBart Posted February 23, 2007 Share Posted February 23, 2007 Personally I think every stage should have a mandatory reload. It just makes sense to me to integrate that skillset into it. Since I'm just shooting at the club level I don't think 40 vs 45 will make any discernable difference. I've only shot USPSA 5 times and 3 of those in Limited class. My 3 qualifying scores put me in the meat of C. I'll stay with the 45 through the summer and if I reach B bracket maybe I'll make the move to 40. I'm not arguing the point over mandatory reloads or not, but the skillset for reloads is tested already...built into many standard exercises and a lot of stages are going to require a reload at some point anyway, but it's done at the shooter's discretion, rather than at a mandatory point in the stage. If you mess up your discretionary reload you're still hosed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LPatterson Posted February 23, 2007 Share Posted February 23, 2007 They are about 10mm longer than 140mm. Just shooting at the club level shouldn't be any issues. All in good fun. Its not like having a 150mm mag agains't 140mm 40S&W mags is giving me any unfair advantage. I'll just download them all 1 round and save a tight one for load and make ready. The reason I shoot the Limited Division and not Limited 10 is so I have more people to compete against. Golfing by yourself is no fun eithier. I don't understand your wanting to have more people to compete against when you know you are breaking the rules to start with. When you play golf do you improve your lie also? Personally I think every stage should have a mandatory reload. You already have an illegal length magazine but you want the 40 shooters to have a mandatory reload so you can have more people to compete against. Cheaters are only competing against themself when they break the rules. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crusher Posted February 23, 2007 Share Posted February 23, 2007 They are about 10mm longer than 140mm. Just shooting at the club level shouldn't be any issues Most "knowledgeble" RO's will pick up on the length issue very fast. At our locals we run the same rule set one would expect to see at a level II or III match, no execptions. We do this not to be "pr!cks" but to prepare the newer shooters for level II or III matches and for them to know what to expect with regard to the "game". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Posted February 23, 2007 Share Posted February 23, 2007 Personally I think every stage should have a mandatory reload. It just makes sense to me to integrate that skillset into it. Since I'm just shooting at the club level I don't think 40 vs 45 will make any discernable difference. I've only shot USPSA 5 times and 3 of those in Limited class. My 3 qualifying scores put me in the meat of C. I'll stay with the 45 through the summer and if I reach B bracket maybe I'll make the move to 40. When I ran some matches for several years I always tried to get enough shots in the stage to be 2 more than most OPEN shooters can hold in their mags. And then make it easy to figure out where to make the reload.....Then jack them up with other mind games.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackruss Posted February 24, 2007 Author Share Posted February 24, 2007 (edited) Master plan........Buy 4 new +1 mag bases and compete in Limited(legit) and Limited 10. If anybody is looking for 4 Dawson +2 basepads (2 red and 2 blue) in perfect condition make me an offer. Pics available upon request. Edited February 24, 2007 by jackruss Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aircooled6racer Posted February 24, 2007 Share Posted February 24, 2007 Hello: Sounds like you have a plan that will work. The plus 2 base pads you should be able to sell to the open guys to add to there 140mm mag tubes. Just place the add here and they will sell fast. Thanks Eric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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