Grams/Dawson basepads for IDPA

[taxlawmax]

I'm sure this has been addressed somewhere, but I haven't found it. Would any of the grams or dawson basepads be legal on 126mm mags in a 2011 for IDPA?

[RickB]

The IDPA box will allow "slampad" style basepads, but I don't think any of the "+" bases, designed to increase capacity, will fit. A firend of mine shoots a Para P-14 in CDP and USPSA Limited, and he has to remove his Dawson pads for the gun to fit in the box; I suspect the same is true of S_I guns.

[taxlawmax]

Gotcha. Do you know if your friend was using +1's or +2's?

[Joe4d]

Para 16-40 with Novak, the 126mm factory tube (or dang close) with the Dawson +2 pads is 10mm to long to fit in box.

[Gregg K]

I'm sure this has been addressed somewhere, but I haven't found it. Would any of the grams or dawson basepads be legal on 126mm mags in a 2011 for IDPA?

It would probably be considered a weighted magazine even if it did fit in the box. Weighted magazines are not allowed. Here is the definition of weighted magazines.

Weighted Magazine: Any magazine that weighs more than one

(1) ounce over the weight of a factory standard magazine for the

specific pistol in question.

[Clint U66]

The only "aftermarket" basepads that I know will fit the IDPA box on the end of a 126mm mag are the Dawson International +1 pads and the Arredondos that are basically the same as the Dawsons, but made of plastic. SVI makes one similar to the international style but I think it will only fit if it is on a 124mm SVI mag. I've tried the Dawson and Arredondo but ended up going back to the factory STI carry pads. Clint

[Joe4d]

factory standard flush fit para mag... 2.81 ozs......with Dawson +2 3.52 oz

[Aircooled6racer]

Hello: The Dawson international base pad fits in the IDPA box with 126mm STI magazines just fine. They are legal as well. Hope this helps. Thanks, Eric

[Nik Habicht]

I'm sure this has been addressed somewhere, but I haven't found it. Would any of the grams or dawson basepads be legal on 126mm mags in a 2011 for IDPA?

It would probably be considered a weighted magazine even if it did fit in the box. Weighted magazines are not allowed. Here is the definition of weighted magazines.

Weighted Magazine: Any magazine that weighs more than one

(1) ounce over the weight of a factory standard magazine for the

specific pistol in question.

A Glock 19 with Arredondo +5 pad on the mag is a tight fit in the box. An empty G19 mag weighs 2.38 oz; one with an AA pad weighs 3 ounces.....

[taxlawmax]

Hello: The Dawson international base pad fits in the IDPA box with 126mm STI magazines just fine. They are legal as well. Hope this helps. Thanks, Eric

I'm a bit confused. Is the "international" base pad the +1? Or something else? Or are you just saying "Dawson International"?

[austinkroe]

I'm a bit confused. Is the "international" base pad the +1? Or something else? Or are you just saying "Dawson International"?

Two different animals. The international basepad is wedge shaped and it does give you +1 but the +1 pad is a traditional shape.

International

http://www.dawsonprecision.com/ProductDeta...0000-1094593465

+1

http://www.dawsonprecision.com/ProductDeta...0000-1094593465

You can read on dawsons site for more info.

But, here is my skinny.

If you use a magwell on a 2011 the international pads make it easier to seat. The added capacity makes no real difference in IDPA because you are limited to 10 rds. In MY gun (9mm) the international pads cause my slide to lock back with a round in the mag. So for idpa I either use a standard mag to start (that always locks back the slide correctly) and an international padded one to reload or I just disable the slidelock and rack with every reload.

[taxlawmax]

Gotcha. Is your experience with the international pads (that they cause premature slide-lock) common? Any idea why it happens?

[Aircooled6racer]

Hello: I use the Dawson international base pads with the 126mm STI tubes that hold more than 10 rounds or high cap magazine. I load them to 10 rounds for IDPA and they lock the slide back when empty. Hope this helps. Thanks, Eric

[austinkroe]

Premature slidelock seems to be a problem in all 2011 guns and can be fixed. I am too lazy to modify my IDPA mags to work right because I don't shoot that much IDPA anymore.

The reason they do this has to do with how the followers work in wide body mags (they sit higher than SS mags)

If you do a search for "slide lock" you will find some answers or you can go to the brazos custom (www.brazoscustom.com) site and there is an article there under tips and tricks. There is more information on this site than I can repeat or summarize.

I have seen guys with the international pads IDPA that their guns run 100%. My problem was that every once and a while the slide would lock back prematurely with the int'l pad but never with the stock pads. It was weird and I attribute it to the fact that the pads change the angle of the spring in the bottom of the mag.

To get the mags to run right all I would have to do is take a file to the range and have some patience (do a little filing on the followers).

[taxlawmax]

Premature slidelock seems to be a problem in all 2011 guns and can be fixed. I am too lazy to modify my IDPA mags to work right because I don't shoot that much IDPA anymore.

The reason they do this has to do with how the followers work in wide body mags (they sit higher than SS mags)

Yeah, I got my SVI 170mm .45 mag in the mail (I should get my gun & STI mags from Bob & Ingi in a couple of weeks), and I was really surprised at how high the follower seemed to sit at the top of the mag. Looks like the thing could wiggle straight out. Made me a little nervous.

[A_Med]

I was going to start a new thread but if you don't mind I'll tack onto this one since my questions fall right in line. I recently purchased some 126mm STI mags and Dawson Int'l pads so that I could make my Limited gun do double duty in IDPA. Some differences I noticed about the 126mm vs. my 140mm raised questions.

First I noticed the Mag Catch on the 126 is shaped more like an oval. Any issues with this I should watch for?

Second, the stock STI follower in the 126 has a section that sticks up above the rear wall of the mag. I noticed this area is catching ever so slightly on the corner of the breechface when I drop it from slidelock. Just barely enough to hold the slide back at times. Should I take a little material off this corner of the follower or should I switch to a Grams follower? I was led to believe the Grams sits a little higher and may cause premature slidelock. Any truth to this?

Lastly, the feed lips on the 126 seem much tighter. Specifically the left lip seems to curve in more in this image. It seems like it really drags on the round when feeding. Normal for these 126 mags?

Thanks for any feedback.

Angel

[austinkroe]

As for the mag catch holes i dont think it really makes a difference. Both my 140s an my 126 feed just fine and they have the mag catch difference.

I am not going to claim to be an expert on this topic but I will give you all the insight I can.

Almost all of my STI followers stick up like you show in your picture and they work fine. I dont think trimming would cause problems if you do it carfully (start by just rounding edges). (However, I never drop my slide on an empty mag from slidelock). From what I have heard the grams are more likely to cause premature slidelock. I have no expeiriance with this because my grams guts mags were trimmed to not lock back from the start. For this problem I would say maybe do a little trimming and schoot the mags like crazy in practice to see if there are any problems.

As for the feed lips, have you checked the deminsions?

If the 126s feel tighter then there may be a problem. You can always polish the lips with some fine sandpaper followed by some kind of compound like maas.

Some of my mags came a bit tighter than others. I just adjusted the feed lips as per the deminsion reccommendations by STI as found on this site.

Hope this helps.

If not I know there are many threads on mag tuning and one of them is bound to have an answer.

[Hot Brass]

As for the mag catch holes i dont think it really makes a difference. Both my 140s an my 126 feed just fine and they have the mag catch difference.

I agree. It is probably cheaper to punch round holes than it is to punch square holes in the steel before the magazine is formed and welded. This is simply a tooling change in the maufacturing process. You could argue that the corners of the square notch may crack, but I doubt that would ever happen since there is very little load on the part.