I just did this yesterday and signed on today to post about it. I cut out the indentations on the bottom of my subcompact 9mm magazine. What happens is that the follower cannot compress below the indentations... these dents' only purpose is to limit capacity to AWB standards.
Using a dremmel I drilled out the dents, leaving as much metal as I can at the bottom of the mag, to maintain the strenght of the steel. I also cut off 4 links of the spring from the bottom, and bent the tail in to mimic the original shape that rests on the mag-plate. Finally, I removed from the bottom of the follower enough plastic that you can see maybe 1/3 of that circle that is in the middle (does that make sense?).
I did the snipping of the spring in increments, first 2 links, then another two. I also removed bits of the follower in increments. This was because I was hoping to keep as much of the internals intact as possible, while increasing capacity.
The Results?: 1) After all that, I am still able to only fit 12 9mm rounds in the magazine. 2) Putting in that 12th round was an m'f'er until I removed the final bit of the follower. It is still a pain in the thumbs to put the 12th in, but not unbearable. I doubt, however, that any amount of time left full will compress the spring enough to feed a 13th round. For that, I will just have to break down and buy a .40 sub mag, if I can find them at a time when I haven't spent all my money on Christmas presents for my neice.
3) at the range, the magazine now feeds perfectly. The first time I fired it with 12+1, it was a bitch to insert the mag in the pistol. After firing the chambered round, the first from the mag did not feed into the chamber and I had an out of battery failure. The second time I tried this 12+1 configuration, and each time thereafter, there was no flaws. I think there was too much pressure that did not allow the slide to cycle properly, and it never stripped a round from the magazine. Firing the pistol the first time corrected this.
All in all, this method worked to increase capacity from 10+1 to 12+1. I'm not sure that 2 rounds was worth the effort, but perhaps if I do it again it will be easier (It was my first time using a dremmel, and took a lot of getting used to for me.) I wouldn't use this magazine for carry, at least until it reliably feeds about 500 rounds or so, because of the modifications to the internals and with my luck, if something will go wrong, it will happen when I need it to go right. It is a great range magazine now and I'm glad I did it.
I will post side by side pictures of the modifications and the standard mag parts when I get home Tuesday, to where my digital camera is. Sorry this is very long-winded and I hope it helps.
Using a dremmel I drilled out the dents, leaving as much metal as I can at the bottom of the mag, to maintain the strenght of the steel. I also cut off 4 links of the spring from the bottom, and bent the tail in to mimic the original shape that rests on the mag-plate. Finally, I removed from the bottom of the follower enough plastic that you can see maybe 1/3 of that circle that is in the middle (does that make sense?).
I did the snipping of the spring in increments, first 2 links, then another two. I also removed bits of the follower in increments. This was because I was hoping to keep as much of the internals intact as possible, while increasing capacity.
The Results?: 1) After all that, I am still able to only fit 12 9mm rounds in the magazine. 2) Putting in that 12th round was an m'f'er until I removed the final bit of the follower. It is still a pain in the thumbs to put the 12th in, but not unbearable. I doubt, however, that any amount of time left full will compress the spring enough to feed a 13th round. For that, I will just have to break down and buy a .40 sub mag, if I can find them at a time when I haven't spent all my money on Christmas presents for my neice.
3) at the range, the magazine now feeds perfectly. The first time I fired it with 12+1, it was a bitch to insert the mag in the pistol. After firing the chambered round, the first from the mag did not feed into the chamber and I had an out of battery failure. The second time I tried this 12+1 configuration, and each time thereafter, there was no flaws. I think there was too much pressure that did not allow the slide to cycle properly, and it never stripped a round from the magazine. Firing the pistol the first time corrected this.
All in all, this method worked to increase capacity from 10+1 to 12+1. I'm not sure that 2 rounds was worth the effort, but perhaps if I do it again it will be easier (It was my first time using a dremmel, and took a lot of getting used to for me.) I wouldn't use this magazine for carry, at least until it reliably feeds about 500 rounds or so, because of the modifications to the internals and with my luck, if something will go wrong, it will happen when I need it to go right. It is a great range magazine now and I'm glad I did it.
I will post side by side pictures of the modifications and the standard mag parts when I get home Tuesday, to where my digital camera is. Sorry this is very long-winded and I hope it helps.
