BN91205 Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 Hello everyone, My gunsmith is putting the final touches on my Para race gun and we've got it running with STI mags 100%. With this said, which extended base pads are you folks having the best luck with? Dawson obviously makes a great product but I was told that Grams springs and followers are excellent - why wouldn't their base pads be good too? The Grams product comes in a couple of sizes and I just want to make sure my "big stick" is USPSA legal. Sorry for the dumb questions. Thanks, Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larry cazes Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 Hello everyone,My gunsmith is putting the final touches on my Para race gun and we've got it running with STI mags 100%. With this said, which extended base pads are you folks having the best luck with? Dawson obviously makes a great product but I was told that Grams springs and followers are excellent - why wouldn't their base pads be good too? The Grams product comes in a couple of sizes and I just want to make sure my "big stick" is USPSA legal. Sorry for the dumb questions. Thanks, Brian They are both excellent products. If I were starting from scratch, I would buy some of each to use for a while and decide for myself based on real experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-ManBart Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 Hello everyone,My gunsmith is putting the final touches on my Para race gun and we've got it running with STI mags 100%. With this said, which extended base pads are you folks having the best luck with? Dawson obviously makes a great product but I was told that Grams springs and followers are excellent - why wouldn't their base pads be good too? The Grams product comes in a couple of sizes and I just want to make sure my "big stick" is USPSA legal. Sorry for the dumb questions. Thanks, Brian The answer, unfortunately, is "it depends". Both make good basepads, but the various combinations of basepads, springs, followers, tube dimensions etc can cause problems if they're not all matched up. Some combinations will allow the rounds to go below the ribs causing the follower to roll and turn the mag into a salt shaker, some will be too long to fit the gauge etc. My one remaining STI 170mm tube fits the gauge with a Dawson +1SNL basepad on it and doesn't have problems with follower roll etc using a standard Grams 13-coil spring and follower. It's not the highest capacity setup possible, but it's dead nuts reliable. R, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BN91205 Posted April 28, 2009 Author Share Posted April 28, 2009 (edited) Hello everyone,My gunsmith is putting the final touches on my Para race gun and we've got it running with STI mags 100%. With this said, which extended base pads are you folks having the best luck with? Dawson obviously makes a great product but I was told that Grams springs and followers are excellent - why wouldn't their base pads be good too? The Grams product comes in a couple of sizes and I just want to make sure my "big stick" is USPSA legal. Sorry for the dumb questions. Thanks, Brian The answer, unfortunately, is "it depends". Both make good basepads, but the various combinations of basepads, springs, followers, tube dimensions etc can cause problems if they're not all matched up. Some combinations will allow the rounds to go below the ribs causing the follower to roll and turn the mag into a salt shaker, some will be too long to fit the gauge etc. My one remaining STI 170mm tube fits the gauge with a Dawson +1SNL basepad on it and doesn't have problems with follower roll etc using a standard Grams 13-coil spring and follower. It's not the highest capacity setup possible, but it's dead nuts reliable. R, I think I'm gonna go the route of the Dawson basepads with Grams springs/followers, just gonna keep it simple. What size Grams springs do you recommend on STI 140 mags using 9mm Major with DP basepads? *EDIT* Changed my mind, gonna buy all Grams stuff from Brazos. The information on their website regarding the Grams product is excellent and I think I understand it a lot more now. Thanks for all the help guys, Brian Edited April 28, 2009 by BN91205 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ironb Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 Hello everyone,My gunsmith is putting the final touches on my Para race gun and we've got it running with STI mags 100%. With this said, which extended base pads are you folks having the best luck with? Dawson obviously makes a great product but I was told that Grams springs and followers are excellent - why wouldn't their base pads be good too? The Grams product comes in a couple of sizes and I just want to make sure my "big stick" is USPSA legal. Sorry for the dumb questions. Thanks, Brian grams springs and followers and a dawson +1 SNL base pad. I just put together 6 or so mags this way to go with the other 4 i have this way. i love 'em. get them in silver and polish them up nice. HSMITH does a great job of that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeamGE Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 Hello Brian, My base pad part #'s coincide with the length that they add to the over-all-length of the mag tube. When choosing mags for Open Class, maximum length allowed for any of your mags is 171.25mm. Most common used pad is my BPS-4 (4mm) for the so called "170" STI/SV tube. This tube actually measures 167mm, +or- 1mm. This manufacturing tolerance in tube length is why I make a BPS-2.5 (2mm) pad also. You must accurately measure and choose the right pad to make sure you fit the mag length gauge. With this mag length you would use a FKS-13 Follower kit. Your short mag tubes (so called 140) measure 137mm, +or- 1mm. Since you can go all the way to 171.25mm, you can use any pad you want. When using a 4mm pad, I recommend using a FKS-11 Follower Kit, and load to 22 rounds.This combined OAL of tube and pad also fits the rules for Limited Class at 141.25mm. A FKS-13 Follower kit is used when your combined mag and pad OAL is over 145mm. You can use my 7mm or 8mm base pads to achieve this length. An easy 23 round and up to 24 rounds can be had with my BPS-11 (11mm) pad and 13 coil Follower Kit, but some mag tuning can be necessary to enhance reliability. You are always welcome to call me direct for any advise on this matter. I will gladly discuss the pros and cons of using my competitors products at the time of your call. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BN91205 Posted April 29, 2009 Author Share Posted April 29, 2009 Beven - Thank you so much for the help! I really appreciate the advice and look forward to talking to you soon. I'd also like to thank everyone who posted regarding this subject, your advice and opinions have helped me come a long way. Cheers! Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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