CW45/P45: Flush fit magazine - UPDATED

[OneWheelLess]

I hope I did this right
[IMG][/IMG]

[Dragracer]

Thanks!

Yes, that is the right part #.

[paul105]

Before coming across this post, I bought the Kimber Kimpro Tac Mag for my CW45. It takes a bit to seat, but runs great (although only occasional slide lock) and solves a premature mag dump with Underwood 255s.

Question -- what should I look for to determine if I need some kind of modification on this magazine.

PS, slide lock not important to me -- flush mag and no mag dump is.

TIA,

Paul

[gb6491]

Before coming across this post, I bought the Kimber Kimpro Tac Mag for my CW45. It takes a bit to seat, but runs great (although only occasional slide lock) and solves a premature mag dump with Underwood 255s.

Question -- what should I look for to determine if I need some kind of modification on this magazine.

PS, slide lock not important to me -- flush mag and no mag dump is.

TIA,

Paul

If your mag "takes a bit to seat" when empty and the slide is forward, you probably need to take some material off the top front of the magazine (forward of the feed lips).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EBWZvFBeUY
http://www.kahrtalk.com/showthread.php?3317-CW45-P45-Flush-fit-magazine-UPDATED&p=34951#post34951

If your mag "takes a bit to seat" with the slide locked back you probably need to look at for a clearance issue at the mag well opening. This can be corrected by removing material from the magazine's lock window:
http://i42.tinypic.com/2z9f96o.jpg
...or modifying the frame:
http://www.kahrtalk.com/showthread.php?3317-CW45-P45-Flush-fit-magazine-UPDATED&p=58903#post58903

Regards,
Greg

[paul105]

Thanks Greg -- Do either of these conditions pose any problems other than making the mag a bit hard to seat?

Thanks,

Paul

If your mag "takes a bit to seat" when empty and the slide is forward, you probably need to take some material off the top front of the magazine (forward of the feed lips).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EBWZvFBeUY
http://www.kahrtalk.com/showthread.php?3317-CW45-P45-Flush-fit-magazine-UPDATED&p=34951#post34951

If your mag "takes a bit to seat" with the slide locked back you probably need to look at for a clearance issue at the mag well opening. This can be corrected by removing material from the magazine's lock window:
http://i42.tinypic.com/2z9f96o.jpg
...or modifying the frame:
http://www.kahrtalk.com/showthread.php?3317-CW45-P45-Flush-fit-magazine-UPDATED&p=58903#post58903

Regards,
Greg

[gb6491]

Thanks Greg -- Do either of these conditions pose any problems other than making the mag a bit hard to seat?

Thanks,

Paul

Paul,
IMO, the slide hitting the top of the magazine (or, as in the video, the extractor hitting it) is never a good thing. I feel it could contribute to feed, extraction, or ejection issues as well as unintentional mag drops. I've modified all my magazines to eliminate the chance of this happening. As the material removed is ahead of the feed lips, I've not seen the mod have any effect on how rounds feed from the magazine. FWIW, if I install 1911 followers back into the modified mags (I use Kahr followers and springs in my Officers/compact mags), they work without issue in my Officer/compact frame size Colt.

With the other condition, as long as you get full lock (plus, no dropped magazines) and you don't mind the extra effort required to seat the mag, I'd guess the major concern would be the little room for error when inserting a mag under duress (you might also consider that there could be accelerated wear on the mag latch or magazine). If it were my pistol, I'd still make an adjustment so that the mag is easier to seat.

Regards,
Greg

[paul105]

Thanks Greg!

I just hate messing with anything that works. It's not the mag catch and it only takes moderate pressure to seat the empty mag with the slide in battery.

I was getting some random magazine dumps with the Kahr mag that came with the gun. I tried the "Velcro" fix outline on the site without success. The Kimber mag (as is) solved that problem with no fail to feed issues.

I don't care about reload capability as this is my pocket gun (in pocket holster). If situation looks suspicious, I can have my hand in my pocket on the gun without anyone the wiser. As long as it functions with one mag it will serve it's intended purpose. I carry a 2nd, .44 mag revolver strong side while out and about.

With all that said, I suspect it would only take a couple of passes with a file to relieve the tight mag seating.

Thanks for all you help and the excellent thread/links covering most potential problems with CW45.

Paul

[Armybrat]

You're totin' some serious lead launchers there!

Good stuff.

[hardluk1]

Not having a smaller 45 kahr not sure if any of this will relate . I'm use mostly 8 round mags in my CT45 , 4cmc mags , a Kimber and a couple stock old gi 7 round mags . I found enough tolerance difference to know each one has to be looked at a bit differently . All needed some metal removed in front of the feed lips, all mine had a folded metal follower and the tip bend down parallel to the slide . The 8 rounders fit so tightly they all needed a bit more wiggle room to take pressure off the brass rubbing against the slide and a 1/10th removed from the top of the slide lock slot gave them the wiggle room the 8 round mag needed to insert properly and easily loaded and allowed the slide to function as if the stock mag was in it .

Not sure if much of this related to the cw / p series 45 . I look at any mag as I do the pistol and have to prof them along with any handgun . I'll pick a few, number them and use them for brake in and as time goes by the first 3 get used as carry mags with occasional range use and others become general use range mags that get proofed over time . Pistol seems to be tolerant of minor difference do to my lack of quality cuts !!

[shlike]

I have another post earlier in this thread but I guess I'm too lazy to find it in such a long thread.

In any case, I have been using this Kimber compact mag in my CW45 for CCW. I installed the Kahr spring and follower and it has worked pretty much flawlessly without any modification. The slide locks back reliably after the last round just as a Kahr OEM Mag would.

[Armybrat]

Last session out with my CW45, the MecGar Officer's mag fed all the boolets just fine, but failed to lock back on the last round - it still has the MecGar spring & metal follower. The factory Kahr mags all fed properly and did lock back on the last round, but am still going to carry it with the flush-fitter MecGar.

[zaitcev]

I tried to follow suggestions in this thread, but failed pretty badly at it. Only 1 of the converted magazines works somewhat reliably, but it does not lock on empty. The rest jam on feeding or miss the pickup and let the slide close on an empty chamber. At this point I decided that it's easier to cut losses and bought factory magazines. 1 out of 3 refuses to work :-)

[mbogo]

Bummer. See the (bad) mags for parts.

mbogo

[gb6491]

I tried to follow suggestions in this thread, but failed pretty badly at it. Only 1 of the converted magazines works somewhat reliably, but it does not lock on empty. The rest jam on feeding or miss the pickup and let the slide close on an empty chamber. At this point I decided that it's easier to cut losses and bought factory magazines. 1 out of 3 refuses to work :-)

Looking at your photo, it appears to me that you are using 1911 magazines with "Devel' style followers. You might improve reliability with these magazines by bending the front of the follower down a bit (similar to the magazine on the far right in the photo below):

Then again this might not help and, even if it does, it's been my experience that this style follower (or most 1911 followers) will not lock a CW45 slide back consistently.
Have you tried a Kahr follower and spring in any of your modified 1911 magazines? This combo has worked without issue for me in my CW45.
Regards,
Greg

[b4uqzme]

Here's my first attempt at modifying a MecGar officers mag. I tried to mimic the shape of the factory mag. I also stole the follower and spring from a factory mag a la Greg. It cycles whole rounds fine and locks the slide back. I'll range test it soon. I have three more to build if this one works well.

In the top photo the modified mag is in the center. It's on the left in the bottom photo.