STI mags

drmitchgibson

drmitchgibson

The white Morgan Freeman
Joined
Jan 13, 2011
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Does anyone shoot regular STI mags? Are they crappy, even at $60? Are "tuned" mags a gimmick to double or triple the price?
 
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Any metal mag should be tuned at some point. I've bought a few STI mags and ran them "off the shelf" with little to no problems but the perform much better/faster when tuned. I know folks that have had issues they've attributed soley to mags & I don't doubt them. When you buy a tuned mag from Dawson for $119, realize you're also getting an upgraded base pad (your color choice) & follower as well as engraving of your choice of mag number.

So, do you really expect to run a $2000 on $20 mags?
 
Getting mags tuned to run properly is a huge part of the overall package. I've recently started tuning mags here and there and would be happy to help out if you get or have some mags that aren't cooperating.
 
I'm not expert but here goes... Whem we are talking about tuning double stack mags this includes adjusting the overall dimension of the mag body, polising the inside and outside, setting the feed lip dimensions, and getting the follower smoothed up. The tuned mags you see on the interweb generally have all of this and "optimized" base pads, springs, and followers for maximum capacity...

I tuned a set of 9mm 1911 single stack mags recently. These mags went from constant malfunctions to runnning great with minimal work... Tuning makes all the difference.
 
I think Rusty is on top of this.
I have a AMT Auto Mag in .22 mag that has a mag problem. Rusty and I talked, and he told me how to make it happen. The mags for this pistol cannot be bought anymore, so I'll have to use his method. Was going to do it tonight, but realized I needed to load some .45 for the IPSC shoot in Ponca Saturday.

Pulling the handle as we speak.
 
To be clear, I didn't come up with any o this on my own. lol... I got a Dawson mag tuning kit recently, so all of my information is coming from Dave Dawson of Dawson Precision.
 
dennishoddy said:
I gave you a chance to be a super star!! :D
Click to expand...

lol... I know Dennis, but I don't wanna take credit where I'm not due.

I'm so stoked that I'm able to do any of this sort of thing and make it work. Fixing those 9mm 1911 mags was pretty awesome!
 
There are plenty of $6000 custom guns that run on $20 mags. That's ridiculous to say an expensive gun that comes with standard mags should use the "best" mags to function reliably. This isn't Formula One racing, it's pure mechanics, it's simple stuff, formed metal. I realize that things can be optimized, and I've repaired and "tuned" mags myself. My question is "Does anyone use stock STI mags, and do they work every time?"

My Glock 17 mags work every time, my Hi-Power mags worked every time after I refurbished them (military crap), my 1911 mags work every time, my Buckmark mags worked every time, my AR mags work every time and none of them cost more than $30. Isn't that amazing? No, it's expected, it's normal, it's run-of-the-mill, it's quality and value at the same time.
 
I dont know of any hi-cap 1911 (STI, SVI, Para) that will run reliably without tuned mags. A 2011 is like a Ferrari, everything needs to be just right......

The weakest "mechanical" part of any weapon system is always the magazine. Care to guess to weakest part in general?
 
It seems weird that this is the case, since there are other high capacity guns that don't have finicky magazines with poor tolerancing.
 
Loose tolerance guns with loose tolerance mags vs. tight tolerance guns with tight tolerance mags... simple.

Troy nailed it. These things are like high end race cars, everything needs ot be just so in order to achieve maximum performance. There has to be some reason the top shooters are all running the same kind of gear. No harm in trying to find a better way, but if it's not there, it's just not there.
 
Dr Mitch said:
There are plenty of $6000 custom guns that run on $20 mags. That's ridiculous to say an expensive gun that comes with standard mags should use the "best" mags to function reliably. This isn't Formula One racing, it's pure mechanics, it's simple stuff, formed metal. I realize that things can be optimized, and I've repaired and "tuned" mags myself. My question is "Does anyone use stock STI mags, and do they work every time?"

My Glock 17 mags work every time, my Hi-Power mags worked every time after I refurbished them (military crap), my 1911 mags work every time, my Buckmark mags worked every time, my AR mags work every time and none of them cost more than $30. Isn't that amazing? No, it's expected, it's normal, it's run-of-the-mill, it's quality and value at the same time.
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Glock tunes their mags all of the time, everytime they update their followers. Don't even get me started on the Glock 22 recall that wasnt a recall. Hi-Power, 1911 (if in 45 or 38 Super), and Buckmark are all running rounds that the gun was designed and intended for. Same with the AR, but there have been numerous upgrades to make them reliable (anti-tilt followers, Pmags, etc).
You have to understand that we are talking about a pistol (the 1911) that morphed into a widebodied gun. The gun wasnt designed for 40, 9mm, etc. Therein lies the problem. The real question should be, "why do I buy a magazine from the company that makes the gun and magazine, and still have to have it tuned?". Why aren't my mags tuned from the factory, and why are the enhanced parts standard?"
Aren't we talking about competition pistols? They should come, ready to comp.
 
Stock mags suck. The STI internals will not give you the capacity or reliability you need to be competitive in a hi-cap division.

You are going to replace the followers, springs, and base pads anyway, why not make sure the mags are in spec as well. You've got $100+ in parts for each mag, why wouldn't you make sure they were in spec?
 
Dr Mitch said:
Does anyone shoot regular STI mags? Are they crappy, even at $60? Are "tuned" mags a gimmick to double or triple the price?
Click to expand...

Don't buy full mags, buy tubes, add good parts, and set the feed lips to .380 at the back widening to .385 at the front and they should work.

$60 doubled is $120 and that's about what it takes to get a mag full of good parts instead of the STI crap.
 
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