Reliability of using extended mags in Glock subcompacts?

Has anyone noticed the "play" when using a larger mag in a Glock Subcompact? It seems as though this would cause issues with reliability, as a grip on the extended mag can cause the mag to tilt forward and down.

There is the same amount of play regardless of whether you are using a flush fit mag or a longer mag in a Glock.

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Maybe, but it doesn't come out to the same as using a larger mag in the subcompacts. With a Glock 19, you can use a 15rd mag or a 17 rd mag and never notice the play because you have a full grip on the PISTOL, never touching or pushing the mag with your fingers or hand.

With the subcompacts, when you put a 15rd or 17rd mag in it, due to the shorter grip of the pistol, you end up pulling on the front of the magazine unwittingly. This causes the magazine to dive forward a bit.

I've only had a couple of malfunctions with 33rd mags, and even then once or twice, rarely. But each time I noticed the bullet dived down and failed to feed. I couldn't help but wonder if it was the play, and my grip on the extended mag pushing the nose down.

Looks like most have not had any issues. I haven't had any either that I can definately attribute to this. But I was tinkering with it and got to wondering...

I doubt that is what it is. If your pinky is pushing a 33rd mag, it is definitely going to be pushing the baseplate of a 10rd mag. Note that there is actually a gap between the baseplate and the frame, so if there were any effect from touching the mag it would be the same regardless of mag size.

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This is incorrect. When using a flush 10rd mag, your pinky rides underneath the magazine. It is not pushing/pulling it back like it would be with a 15 or 17rd magazine. That pushing/pulling is what causes that magazine to dive down at the nose a bit. But apparently it doesn't seem to be causing issues for anyone, so it must have lose enough tolerances to not matter.

+1

I also noticed that any larger cap mags in the compact or standard work fine, but in a subcompact it goes forward a bit due to the pinky grip. I haven't had a single malfunction in my subcompact using 15, 17 or 33 rounders, but the mag play does make me curious as to how much of an impact the forward pressure may have on feeding. I think the only reason it fed okay in my case is because I only used FMJ rounds in the 33 rounders. If I used a more popular defensive JHP load, I may have experienced a malfunction, maybe not. What kind of ammo were you using when the malfunctions happened in your subcompact?

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I was actually using FMJ as well, WWB 115gr to be specific. It only happened once to twice, and towards the end of the mag when it was nearly empty. It did also seem that the spring was a tad weak there too, but the issue went away next time. It did only happen a couple of times, but it still got me to thinking.

I shoot with the extended 15/17rd mags, both Korean AND factory, and have no issues, even doing defensive drills with a convulsive grip. But sitting here putting one in, and pushing it back, you can tell there is considerable play, and that the nose of the bullets do dive down when you do this.

It got me to thinking if the malfunctions
I had with the 33rd factory mags a couple times wasn't due to this, as when I stopped to see what the stoppage was, the rounds had nose dived and failed to feed. Hmmm...Must have been a fluke. I have heard the 33rd mags do tend to be a little bit less reliable.