7 round mag

sempertiger · Post by **sempertiger** » January 19th, 2008, 8:48 pm

I'm looking for a 7 round mag for the p64.

for those of you not familiar with 1911's. The standard 1911 came with a 7 round mag, +1 in the chamber. The mag was modified, sometime in the last 50 years, to take 8 rounds. this was done by making the mag follower shorter.

Taking this knowledge, I took one of my mags apart to look at the follower, to see how long it is. It is approximately 1/2 inch long. I think that if this was knocked down by 1/4 inch or less, you could easily make your standard 6 round mag a 7 round mag.

has anyone done this, or know anyone that is making 7 round mags for the p64?

J

pshootr · Post by **pshootr** » January 19th, 2008, 9:27 pm

I have not tried this mod but as I remember another member of this forum has. I think it worked for him.

Post by **normsutton** » January 19th, 2008, 9:51 pm

YA and an other fubarbed his mag

don't do it

NORM

Post by **papabear** » January 19th, 2008, 10:38 pm

+1 with Norm, its a

papabear

sempertiger · Post by **sempertiger** » January 20th, 2008, 12:21 am

after reading your postes, I remembered something that an old Gunsmith friend of the family told me about modifying mags.

you can change the follower, but you also need to change the mag spring. new spring needs to be made of smaller guage spring steel, needs to be stronger and with less loops. so, if no one makes a different spring, i guess i'll be sticking with the picture. or the slide catch probably won't work, not to mention feeding issues that can also come with trimming springs to fit as well.

anyone know how to make springs?

I have alot of time on my hands, for the time being, I might look into what it would take to manufacture the internals to make a reliable mag feeder and spring.

We'll see how it goes

sempertiger · Post by **sempertiger** » January 20th, 2008, 2:00 am

I found a few spring manufacturers in the states, I'll get ahold of them on tuesday and see how much it would take to make the springs. I don't know if it would be cheaper to have someone make the follower, or just write up a procedure with exact measurments on how to modify the follower.

I wonder if anyone else notices that i'm board and between seasons.

Post by **papabear** » January 20th, 2008, 9:08 am

I admire your desire to accomplish a goal even if it is out of boredom, an old saying I grew up with "can't never could accomplished anything"......so go for it. I personally am very happy with the six round mag/clip in the P-64, but I do have pistols that carry more than 6 round of 9x18, 2 Makarov's with the 8 rd mags, and a CZ82 with the 12 rd mags. For me, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Please keep up us to date on how it goes with the 7 rd mag/clip for the p-64.

papabear

sempertiger · Post by **sempertiger** » January 20th, 2008, 3:18 pm

I ordered 2 extra mags, so I don't break the ones I'm currently using.

It's not so much that I'm not satisfied with 6 rounds, I just want to prove to my self that it can be done safely and reliably.

pshootr · Post by **pshootr** » January 20th, 2008, 6:43 pm

As I posted earlier, I have never preformed this mod on a P64, but I have on my Kel-Tec p-11 (10 to 12 rounds) and my Taurus PT-22 (8 to 9 rounds). Whether or not it will work depends on whether the manufacturer designed the magazine to hold the maximum number of rounds theoretically possible given its overall length. Most manufacturers do not, preferring to trade one or two rounds for increased reliability. It won't work with a Kel-Ted P-32, P-3At or PF-9, as these pistols have been designed by the factory to hold the absolute maximum number of rounds possible from the get go.

You don't need a new magazine spring as the distance from the floor plate to the follower remains unchanged. All you need to do is to gradually reduce the height of the follower until you can load one additional round and the loaded mag will lock into the pistol without undue force being required. The downside is that the shorter mag follower is now unstable and may cause feeding jams, either nose up or nose down. If you do experience feeding issues it will more likely be with hollow point ammo than with ball after doing this mod.

PshootR

trent · Post by **trent** » January 20th, 2008, 6:56 pm

if someone's metal savvy they could probably make a whole new mag body that's extended and would accept the same floor plate, mind you it'd probably have to have a new spring.

destrux · Post by **destrux** » October 23rd, 2008, 9:13 am

I was just messing with this the other day and even with the follower shortened, the mag spring completely collapses before you can get a 7th round in. I haven't had feeding problems with the shorter follower, but it is harder to load the mag with the first two rounds of ammo. Another problem is, on this gun the slide depresses the top round in the mag an unusually large amount. Even with the follower shorter and the spring cut (I cut two coils off and rebent the end), with 7rds in the mag you can't load it into the gun with the slide closed. Fine for addind capacity when reloading with the slide open, but not much help for adding an extra round for concealed carry (still can't carry 7+1). It would make it easier to charge the gun with the extra round in the chamber when prepping the gun for carry, but there is no easy way to lock the slide back before you insert the 7rd mag without using another empty mag. The factory mag body is just too short. We need to start emailing mag companies asking for 7rd mags to be made....

blinddog · Post by **blinddog** » October 23rd, 2008, 3:42 pm

There are some things best left unchanged and altering a mag is one of them, especially if its something you really want to depend on. +1 with Norm.

alden · Post by **alden** » October 25th, 2008, 5:30 pm

I noticed how much extra room there was in the 5 P-64 mags I now own (though it doesn't work in double action, yet) and wondered about another round -- seemed like it was SO close getting one more in there! Now I know it won't handle it. Thanks for the destructive testing on all our behalves!

On a side note, similar to your experirence, I have noted that Makarov mags take an extra round of .380 ACP but, similarly to you and the P-64, you can't put it in a gun w/the action closed. That'll probably surprise some Mak.com regulars btw...

Alden

trace · Post by **trace** » November 23rd, 2008, 4:20 am

Just bought my p64 at a gun show yesterday and shot 50 out of it today. I gotta say I'm very impressed (except for the trigger pull on double which I knew about first hand and have the springs on order to resolve) with the feel, craftmanship and accurate. I put 12 out of twelve rapid fire in 8" at 21 ft. I'm no expert but that rocks. Now, I'm with the guys that say don't mess with the mags. I just want to buy some more of these mags and get quick with them. If you need more rounds for fun, buy a glock! I put one in the pipe and I've got seven which is better than the five that I had for my other carry gun. I hope as most do that we'll not have to use them but for this nicely built and cheep carry piece, the seven rounds will do the job. I will buy a larger compacity mag when or if they are available but Ill carry two or three extra before I try messing with the ones I have. Good luck.

destrux · Post by **destrux** » January 31st, 2009, 11:06 pm

Just wanted to add one more thing since this thread popped up again. After I modded the mags, one side effect I didn't notice immediately (because I never fired the gun with those modified mags till recently) Is that once you cut the follower like that, it tilts slightly and drags on the mag body after the last round is fed and refuses to activate the slide lock. So after the last round is fired the slide doesn't lock back. The moral of the story is.... don't waste your time or money modding the mags for 1 more round.

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