Beretta Magazines, Springs

[Jesusguy]

So i have a bunch of used mec-gar 18 and 15 round Beretta magazines and I'm replacing the springs. The 18 rounders use a 13 coil and and i went ham while ordering them so I have a few extra.

When I replacing the springs I noticed in the 15rd mags run an 11 coil. But the will accept the 13 coils This there any downside to this? magazines function fine, still hold 15 rounds. I know when a spring hits it's solid height it will lose it's elasticity. Causing them to wear our faster, but i don't believe they do in this case. If anyone has any experience with this that would be awesome!

 

[Ohen Cepel]

I wouldn't rely on the coil count to indicate spring strength as I think other things come into play there (diameter, steel type, etc).

I would order from someplace like Wolff Springs and take their specs for what I need.

 

[Jesusguy]

I asked a gun smithing question, in a gun smithing forum.... only to be met with... ask someone else.

 

[Mizar]

You will be over compressing those springs, resulting in more rapid fatigue, which will bring sooner to happen magazine related malfunctions. But if it's not a carry gun and you can load and insert the said magazines fully loaded, then go for it - you ain't going to break your pistol.

 

[herrwalther]

Post 2 is correct. Too many people focus on the coils in the springs and not about the rest of what makes a spring like steel used, strength etc. You can get a Mec-gar mag and a Promag with a different number of coils but they will (or should) function the same. Anything outside OEM or Wolf springs I would be leery on in the trust department in terms of reliability. So what I would do is keep a close eye on the mags and their replacement springs. Use a paint marker or something and mark the magazines some way you can remember. Like the coil count (even though it is useless) or the brand the spring is. Some way to know that if you have a failure you can narrow down the cause easier.

 

[Mizar]

If the OP is using springs, designed for 18 round magazines, in a 15 round magazine it will not be quite OK, even if those springs allow loading the magazine to full capacity. But if OP is only counting coils on springs, designed and marked for a 15 round magazine, it's an entirely different matter - there is a subtle difference between those two scenarios.

 

[JTQ]

The 15 round and 18 round mags use different followers and the springs function differently. I'm not not sure a 15 round follower will work properly with an 18 round spring and vice versa.

 

[JTQ]

This Ernest Langdon video will give some detail. The whole video is good for basic high capacity mag understanding, but the specific Beretta 92 15 vs 17/18 round mag spring and follower information begins at about the 2:55 mark.