Full magazine tight fit in Glock

[GLK_19]

Pardon my noobness if I'm missing the obvious here.

My carry gun is a Glock 19 with 15 rd mags. I've been noticing lately that when I put all 15 rounds in the mag, it's hard to load the magazine into the well completely. I have to sort of smack it a little hard to get the catch to click. The slide still cycles normally, and loads a round into the chamber just fine. I usually load 10 or less rounds into my mags when I'm at the range, so I used to be unaware of this before I started to carry more often (with full mag of course).

I took it to the range to make sure that it operated correctly with the mag full, smacking it into place, operating the slide and firing all 15. It works the same, no failure to feed or eject.

Any other Glock owners experience this? Is this normal?

Note: I've had some formal pistol training, but not specifically with Glocks. So I'm open to any Glock experts' input on this.

[biggs88]

This is VERY normal for a Glock.

No worries!!!

[LittleRedToyota]

it is normal.

that's why i carry my spare glock mags downloaded by 1 round...so they are easier (and, thus, more reliable) to seat completely under stress

[GLK_19]

Thanks, guys. You saved me a trip to my smith to ask him in person.

Is there a purpose for this? Is it a design flaw, or just a consequence of other features that doesn't require much attention?

I suppose that's why practice is so important. If I were trying to load a full mag into the gun in distress, I might rack the slide only to find the magazine on the ground.

[LittleRedToyota]

Is there a purpose for this?

it is just a by-product of squeezing as many rounds into the magazine as possible.

I suppose that's why practice is so important. If I were trying to load a full mag into the gun in distress, I might rack the slide only to find the magazine on the ground.

absolutely. i have seen that happen to more than one person in training and have had it happen to me once in training (only once because, after that, i started to download all my spare glock mags by 1 round).

in theory, it is not necessary to download...using proper technique, you can always seat a fully loaded glock mags. however, under stress, sometimes technique is not perfect...and your hands might be sweaty (or covered in blood), you might be in an awkward position, etc. etc.

downloading the mag by one round leaves some room for error...and in a gun with a relatively high mag capacity, losing that one round in your spare mag is not that much of a trade-off.

[Kaos]

Thanks, guys. You saved me a trip to my smith to ask him in person.

Is there a purpose for this? Is it a design flaw, or just a consequence of other features that doesn't require much attention?

I suppose that's why practice is so important. If I were trying to load a full mag into the gun in distress, I might rack the slide only to find the magazine on the ground.

That's a software (training) issue, not a hardware issue.

The reason it occurs is that the spring is under full tension and the round on a closed slide is pushing against the slide, providing resistance.

You would only notice this during a tac load, or during a malfunction clearance depending on how you manipulate the slide when you clear malfunctions (everyone learns/teaches various methods).

When reloading from slide lock, you should not have this issue. If it exists during slide lock as well, the magazine could be slightly out of tolerance - I would delegate it to range use only at that time.

I will carry the 15rd magazines in my 19 but I can load that in a controlled, stress free environment.

The spares I carry with me are usually G19 mags with the +2 extension. I don't have issues seating those under slide lock even when loaded to 17. But that's likely because the spring was designed for a 15rd g19 mag and is now normally decompressed an extra .5" or so.

[biggs88]

it is just a by-product of squeezing as many rounds into the magazine as possible.



absolutely. i have seen that happen to more than one person in training and have had it happen to me once in training (only once because, after that, i started to download all my spare glock mags by 1 round).

in theory, it is not necessary to download...using proper technique, you can always seat a fully loaded glock mags. however, under stress, sometimes technique is not perfect...and your hands might be sweaty (or covered in blood), you might be in an awkward position, etc. etc.

downloading the mag by one round leaves some room for error...and in a gun with a relatively high mag capacity, losing that one round in your spare mag is not that much of a trade-off.

It is a lot easier to tap a mag in a glock with one less in said mag. Good idea for leaving spares -1. . .

I gotta share the rep around first.

[GLK_19]

That's a software (training) issue, not a hardware issue.

The reason it occurs is that the spring is under full tension and the round on a closed slide is pushing against the slide, providing resistance.

You would only notice this during a tac load, or during a malfunction clearance depending on how you manipulate the slide when you clear malfunctions (everyone learns/teaches various methods).

When reloading from slide lock, you should not have this issue. If it exists during slide lock as well, the magazine could be slightly out of tolerance - I would delegate it to range use only at that time.

I will carry the 15rd magazines in my 19 but I can load that in a controlled, stress free environment.

The spares I carry with me are usually G19 mags with the +2 extension. I don't have issues seating those under slide lock even when loaded to 17. But that's likely because the spring was designed for a 15rd g19 mag and is now normally decompressed an extra .5" or so.

So you're suggesting that if you load 15 rounds into the mag, to open the slide before inserting the magazine? And that should take care of the difficulty with insertion?

[ExCopInPhilly]

Remember, in the event that you have shot an entire magazine, the slide should be locked open, and inserting a new full magazine would be no problem. The tightness only exists when the slide is forward.

[GLK_19]

Remember, in the event that you have shot an entire magazine, the slide should be locked open, and inserting a new full magazine would be no problem. The tightness only exists when the slide is forward.

You are correct. The problem I was encountering happened when I was loading my pistol for a day of carrying. The slide is forward in that case.