Magazine Finger Extensions : Thoughts

[sm]

Note:
I am not going to mention Manufacturers of firearms, magazines or any after market accessories.
My sole reason for sharing some thoughts, observations, and experiences, are for folks to test, think and decide for themselves.

Up front as many know, I am older and admit being old school. I was raised when many firearms offerings and accessories were simply not around.
I was around to see the "Equipment Race" as some of us call it.

I am into breaking down to the simplest - simple is good.
Less is more.
Stuff can and will break, fail at the worst time.

--

Many get extensions for magazines to better fit the hand, a place for the pinkie finger to rest and such.

I was raised that if matters were to get serious, most likely it would not be 68*F, dry weather, and soft padded ground.
I was raised to both test my guns and magazines and to take care of them.
Mentors passed on some testing even back then applicable to today.

Many here have and continue to take training classes, we have instructors here as members on THR as well. These folks see what works, what does not and all sorts of failures.

J.Q.Public that does not attend a class, training or has no Mentors - often gets caught up as being Prey by the Predators disguised as Magazines, TV, Movies , Video Games and Internet.
I personally get a bit angry at these Predators. Instead of Mentoring, teaching, sharing - they are going after wallets.

--

Observing 4 Rules of Safety, other Safety Rules, and being RO'd if you will - I repeated some things for some folks in a Impromtu Training as we call it.
From the Get-Go I let it be known stuff might be broken, scratched and all.
These folks I hang with , a tight bunch, serious bunch - said no problem.

Understand some of these folks are on budgets, even so, they want to know, and investing in knowledge is a good thing.

Magazines are a vital component of Semi-Auto guns.

1. Dummy rounds and drop mags.
Will your extension break?
Some of these if broken render the magazine useless. Bottom plate lets loose and all the ammo, magazine spring comes out.

2. Heading for cover and hitting pavement with extension.
See #1.

3. Tossing a magazine to another person.
Magazines may hit extensions first against door facings, not be caught...etc.

4. Kicking a magazine under a vehicle to another person.
One extension broke bouncing off a tire.

5. Injured person drills.
One good example is I kept using an extension with a piece missing from being bumped, for a spare mag.

One handed, I drop mag, flip gun over between knees, and my brain said "You whack that sharp sucker, you are going to hurt yourself!"
(I would normally use my hand, or hit against my knee/leg)

Mag in gun, hit on ground and the gun ran...
Second time I did this the extension cracked.
Third time magazine came apart and I just grabbed a loose round, got round into chamber and dropped slide to fire. (one handed)
[Cringe factor I know - still serious is serious and being able to get a gun to run, even one handed - you gotta know.]

Now before some cringe too much, let me add we have some guns that are intended to get beat up. Called Life. Internals and all mechanisms kept in tip-top shape. Some hurried Cold Blue or Scotchbrite pad to "refinish".

We also use slick plastic clear sheathing (Vis-queen) on surfaces to protect.


Now carpet is interesting. kicking a gun, or magazine may not always slide, some of these extensions - hang up big time!

"But you are always going on about gun fit!"
Yes I do.
I also stress Correct Basic Fundamentals.
Meaning if one learns to shoot without a extension, learning where to put pinkie finger, correctly for them, for fit - then they are not dependent on having an extension.
Don't learn on a crutch - you lose the crutch you will fall down.

Concealed is Concealed. Without the extension many/ most guns conceal better, and more comfortably.
I am not saying to use, or not use extensions for pinkies.


Think about this please.
Test your own guns with magazines with, and without extensions.
One has to know for them what works for them.

Chances are great- I am not going to be at your gunfight - Awerbuck.


Steve

 

[Mad Magyar]

Steve, interesting post....I agree with most of what you have to say....I've never gone out of my way to purchase a mag/extension; but sometimes they come with the purchase...I use them occasionally on the range and must admit they do help with the "pinkie".
However, you raised some excellent points.....

 

[ktd]

good points, but you just need to make sure things work period. I have seen plain metal floorplates fail too. One local department decided against a particular brand of all steel mags because some broke when dropped. (the factory mags broke too, but they decided the liability was better if they stuck with factory). If mine has mag extensions, they are solid enough to not make a difference. I personally tend to stay away from the IPSC add-amillion-round extensions for carry use. As I get older roundcount seems less important.

But I have seen enough to know that having a good backup is probably the best way to go. Sometimes things fail. Or sometimes you go on duty with your sidearm in the trunk!

k

 

[JDGray]

sm, good food for thought! I recently ordered a G19, and the reason I chose it over a G26, is the grip length. That pinky extension for the 26, would have helped, but glock didn't recomend using them. It seems to put force on the magazine, that it wasn't meant to see, and the things can fall off, shooting ammo every where. They also put force on the mag catch, that its not designed to take.

 

[Dionysusigma]

I love my Bersa, but if the magazines (minus the one in 'er while carried) didn't have finger extensions, I'd like it a lot less. Big hands + small guns = uncontrollability.

 

[shu]

most of my firearms are mostly stock. frankly, i just tuck the pinkie under the g-26. works for me.

 

[ktd]

JDGray, someone at Glock Inc actually said that? That sounds odd since they sell a mag extension that would function like pinkie extension. I think it was also at the armourers class where they told me about a technique where you hold onto the mag on the Glock18 that should put a lot more stress on the mag release than a pinkie grip. The only problem I had was with a very old +2 extension that one day "grenaded" and popped off and shot the rounds out the bottom. Glock's solution was to send me new style extensions.

 

[sm]

Tool Truth

...don't forget that SIGs rust, 1911's jam, USP's break firing pins, Delta Elites crack their frames, and Berettas break their locking blocks right before putting the back half of the slide through your bridgework.

The faster most folks realize that all guns suck, the happier they'll be.

-Tamara

I like this quote of hers.

 

[ktd]

SM, that is a great quote. Everytime I meet some video game player idjit who tells me AK's never jam, I wanna beat them with a certain jammed AK I used in the mid-east.

 

[psyopspec]

Good food for thought, sm. At present the only firearm I own with pinkie extensions is the P2000, which uses USPc mags. All the factory ones that I've bought came with the extended floor plates - they don't allow for higher capacity, but they do make the gun easier to grip for me. It adds to my confidence in the equipment knowing that most mag failures are caused by impact, since the ones on mine are made of hard rubber. One caveat, though, I've never tested to see how much abuse they can take.

Does anyone go so far as to test the strength of one of their magazines so they have some idea of how much they can take? For the brands referenced in this thread, it may be helpful to other shooters if anyone can prove that one brand of aftermarket extender is better than another.