How to video on modifying M&P magazine followers

timmay

timmay

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Sick in bed, and I have a camera in my Iphone, and a new mag from S&W..

Ok, the real deal is that they redesigned the follower. The new followers are really tough to insert the 10th round. We first thought it was the springs, so we would leave them loaded to the max. the only thing this did was to take some of the stiffness out of the spring. It did nothing to help with the 10th round. As it turns out, after some careful measuring, we were deforming the follower to get the last round in. This video shows the solution...



go easy on me, its my first how to video - and I'm sick...
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Tim, I think you did a good job showing the differences and the mod. Getting a 10th round in the mag is a pain. However, the real problem is trying to insert a full mag on a closed slide (ie doing 10+1). It is a royal PITA to seat the mag with the new followers. It also puts enough pressure on the slide that if you do a press check the gun may not go into battery.
 
This mod helps elevate alot of that pressure.... It creates the gap in the mag that the older followed already had.
 
timmay said:
This mod helps elevate alot of that pressure.... It creates the gap in the mag that the older followed already had.
Click to expand...

Yeah it does. I was just commenting on the the main reason to modify them. If it was just a pain to get the round in I'd use my Maglula and live with it. Not being able to seat a mag on a RWR or having the gun not stay in battery is why I've fiddled with mine.
 
Ok, I did clear side by side in the video, however nothing beats a nice still to compare them to... so I will give you 4.

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Tim,

I did the same thing with the followeres on my new M&P 9mm mags. But when I compared loading the new versus the old, I found that even with 10 rounds in the old mag, (with the older follower), that I could still depress the rounds in the mag slighty. Not enough to get an 11th round in, but still some compression room.

Even after trimming the followers on the new mags as you did, I still could not achieve the slight extra compressioin with a full mag, that I had with the old mags.

What I did next was to compare the followers and springs between the new and old mags side-by-side and found that with mine, the springs on the new mags where slightly longer than on the old.

So, I slipped off the plastic foot plate of at the bottom of the spring and using a Dremel cut-off wheel, I took off enough of the bottom loop of the spring to be able to move the foot plate up by one loop. This second modication made loading the new mags closer to what the old mags felt like.

Alex
 
I thought of that, too. However, in the video you will notice that the spring from the new mag is the one coil longer than the rest (one original, one new that has been in service for a couple (5) thousand rounds or so)... Knowing that the springs eventually break in, I choose to live with it, rather than have a mag that could eventually mis-feed sometime down the line. If you really need a little extra room, it is possible to trim a little off the triangle in the center of the follower. Again, I never found the need to.
 
timmay said:
Knowing that the springs eventually break in, I choose to live with it, rather than have a mag that could eventually mis-feed sometime down the line.
Click to expand...

This is a good call. I have old M&P magazines that, since they're so much better, I've used enough that I'm worried about the springs and feeding rate (although, not very, as I've seen them run for 10,000 or more per magazine without maintenance, and I'm not there yet at all).
 
Great Video Tim, my brother has a M&P 40 and he runs into the same dilemma so I will definitely send him the link to this. Thank you for putting it up man.
 
eisenhow said:
Just out of curiosity is their a different part number for the magazine springs for the 10-rounders? Speed shooters specialties lists one for the 15/17 rounders. MidwayUSA doesn't mention which mag they are for and only lists one spring. Brownells seems to list just one as well.
Click to expand...

If not, then the springs may be the same. I just didn't want to take that chance.
 
I ran into the same problem and found that cutting one coil off of the mag spring solved it. Easier to insert the last (10th) round and insert the fully loaded mag into the pistol with the slide in battery. I then bought a few extra mags for match use. Much to my surprise, cutting a coil off of the mag spring had no effect. Measurement of the follower revealed that it was the culprit and had to be trimmed, which solved the problem. I called S&W and complained about these mags only to find out that they are the "new and improved" models! I think that the MFRs are worried about customers finding a way to load 11 rounds in one of their 10 round mags and are makiing it as hard as possible to do so, even to the point of compromising the reliability these mags when fully loaded with ten rounds.
 
timmay, how do these look to you? I got some new mags and exhausted my supply of old followers. They are still tight but I can actually push the 10th round down a little.

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Keystone said:
Mike, did you take a dremel to that, or some other method? I don't have a dremel, and am just curious if a file will work.
Click to expand...

I took the majority of the material off using a dremel with an 80-grit sanding wheel. It's the same thing I use to trim the dog's nails. I touched them up with some 200-grit sand paper. The 200-grit wasn't scientific, it was just what I happened to have laying around. I may need to take a little more off of them, I haven't test fired them yet.
 
eisenhow said:
I took the majority of the material off using a dremel with an 80-grit sanding wheel. It's the same thing I use to trim the dog's nails. I touched them up with some 200-grit sand paper. The 200-grit wasn't scientific, it was just what I happened to have laying around. I may need to take a little more off of them, I haven't test fired them yet.
Click to expand...

You dremel your dogs? I bet they love that!

I think I'm going to try and saw mine off, then sand it down. It looks like if you go any further, you'll have to cut off some of the triangle in the middle. Let us know how it goes!
 
Keystone said:
You dremel your dogs? I bet they love that!
Click to expand...

One of them hates it, she also hates getting them clipped with the clipper. The other one doesn't mind at all (my current avatar). They each have a few dark nails so it sure beats cutting to the quick.

Keystone said:
I think I'm going to try and saw mine off, then sand it down. It looks like if you go any further, you'll have to cut off some of the triangle in the middle. Let us know how it goes!
Click to expand...

The one in the pic may be ok, a few of the others may need a little more taken off. I'm wondering if I need to taper the inside in order to guide the spring to the inside of the follower. When I placed the 10th round in and pushed further I felt a snap, as if one of the coils slipped off the flat edge I created.

The good news is that the followers are ~$2 depending on where you order them from. If you mess it up they are pretty cheap to replace.
 
You know, watching the video again, I'm wondering if maybe it would be better to only SLIGHTLY shorten the follower, but also cut the fork into it like the old ones had. That'd give it more area for the spring to catch, but also allow the thing to crush a bit easier. Maybe I should just order some followers...
 
Keystone said:
You know, watching the video again, I'm wondering if maybe it would be better to only SLIGHTLY shorten the follower, but also cut the fork into it like the old ones had. That'd give it more area for the spring to catch, but also allow the thing to crush a bit easier. Maybe I should just order some followers...
Click to expand...

Keystone if you can find any, "Old" followers please let me know. I've called every place I know to call, including S&W. All they offer are the, "New" Improved" style............
 
mac67 said:
Keystone if you can find any, "Old" followers please let me know. I've called every place I know to call, including S&W. All they offer are the, "New" Improved" style............
Click to expand...

The was a thread on mp-pistol.com about it, apparently some guys kept calling S&W until they got sent the correct pieces. It took them quite a few tries, though. I was thinking of just buying some of the new style and attacking them with a saw/file to make them match the older ones better.
 
The modification was ridiculously easy. I just nipped them with a pair of trauma sheers. After that they were easy to load that 12th round. I put about 100 rounds through each magazine without a problem.
 
Called S&W today just for S+G's, about the magazine issues. The two different guys I talked to had never heard of the issue. The one instructed me to go up to a free state and purchase a hi-cap, there. He didn't believe me when I told him that was illegal.

I'm going to take a swing at modifying my followers, I might try and make one with a fork in it instead of shortening it, just to see if it works. Worst case, I'm out a couple bucks. It might be a bit better at capturing the spring, while still allowing the follower to flex more.
 
Thanks for putting this out there. Looks like I have an experiment to try when I get a chance. I'll have to see what might work best for the job as I don't have a Dremel handy.
 

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