I started by removing a factory mag bottom and tracing around the bottom of the magazine on the piece of sheet metal with a pencil. That gave me a rough outline for cutting. I left a millimeter or two extra on each side to form the folded portion. I also cut the blank quite long so that I'd have a 'tail' to hold on to during the next couple of steps. Next, I cut another 'dummy strip' out of the sheet metal that was the same width as the lips on the bottom of the mag. With this strip as a guide I used a combination of vise, pliers, and a mallet to gradually bend the edges of the new mag bottom up and around the dummy strip. It wasn't very easy to extract the dummy strip from the mag bottom after hammering it into shape, so I was glad to have the long 'tail' to pull on with vise-grips! With the folding done, I used a file to align the inner edges of the folds so it would fit nicely onto the magazine. Then, I used a hacksaw to cut a groove in one side so the magazine spring will latch it in place just like the factory mag bottom. Then, finally I snipped the long 'tail' piece off and had a complete mag bottom.
I then headed to the range with the new mag bottom installed to see how they felt while shooting. I was pleasantly surprised that they are actually quite comfortable for me, and didn't seem to affect my accuracy. In fact I liked it so much I made another one. I finally got around to painting them black this weekend. Until now they were the same beige color as the 1960's chest freezer I made them from. Now they look like they belong on the gun! I snapped a couple photos after painting. Enjoy!
- Comparison of factory and DIY mag bottom (top view).
- Comparison of factory and DIY mag bottom (bottom view).
- Magazine with new mag bottom installed.
- P64 with modified magazine inserted.
