Pinned Magazine Question

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gburdzin

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Still waiting on all of my 5 transfers, and as a new RPAL holder I have no handgun experience just yet. Hoping those with experience can answer my questions below.

Since I've been looking for additional magazines for some of my purchases, I was wondering about pinned magazines. Does the pinning process affect the spring in the magazine at all? Like for a regular unpinned mag, I assume it is straightforward to replace the spring if it ever wears out and basically have a like new mag again. But for a pinned magazine, do they replace the spring for the lower round count, or is it just pinned with the original capacity spring in there? When it comes time to change the spring in a pinned mag, is it possible to do so, or is it basically throw away at that point?

Thanks
 
Yes I believe all of the ones that I will be receiving are 10 rounders. But my question was specifically about pinned mags and whether there is any downside to buying them as extra mags.
 
If pinned, spring might get out if not held in the follower by a hole were the spring tip pass through.
Sometime, they do not. Pin have to be drilled out ( most likely a rivet, sometime a rivet and a plate)) to remove spring and follower.

I got mags that are 30 years old with original springs and no need to be replaced. They work perfectly.

Since you are new to handgun, you don’t compete and shoot thousand of rounds, drop mag on hard surface or need tuning, new follower ect..to work 100%. Springs replacement is not a factor.

Get the mag you need , pinned or not.
 
Janeau said:
If pinned, spring might get out if not held in the follower by a hole were the spring tip pass through.
Sometime, they do not. Pin have to be drilled out ( most likely a rivet, sometime a rivet and a plate)) to remove spring and follower.

I got mags that are 30 years old with original springs and no need to be replaced. They work perfectly.

Since you are new to handgun, you don’t compete and shoot thousand of rounds, drop mag on hard surface or need tuning, new follower ect..to work 100%. Springs replacement is not a factor.

Get the mag you need , pinned or not.
Click to expand...

And just to illustrate the malevolent nature of those in power, once OP drills out that rivet, he/she will be in possesion of a prohibited device right until that rivet is back in.

In other words don't tell anyone what you are doing when it comes to unpinning a mag if you are doing it (or planning to do it).
 
gburdzin said:
... my question was specifically about pinned mags and whether there is any downside to buying them as extra mags.
Click to expand...

Pros and cons. Maybe each are relevant to you, maybe not.

Sometimes it makes magazine disassembly more difficult or impossible, and sometimes it can interfere with inserting the magazine in the pistol.

With some magazine designs and some pin-jobs, the mags become easier to load to 10 rounds than "factory" 10-rd. And sometimes it also makes it easier to seat the magazine into the pistol.
 
There are other ways of limiting magazine capacity aside from rivets - Sometimes people (and retailers) say "pinned" when they mean "limited".
 
“pinned” usually refers to a rivet inserted to prevent the magazine follower from moving beyond the 10 round capacity.
Cons:
The follower cannot be removed = makes it harder to clean the mag.
The rivet may catch on/interfere with the mag spring.
Sometimes the rivet is installed too high, and the top round cannot move at all (pinned to 10, instead of 10.5). Makes it hard or impossible to insert the mag on a closed bolt/slide. Prime example is Glock mags with a rivet in the corresponding witness hole in a PCC.

Most factory mags have indentations in the mag tube instead, to prevent rounds from going in beyond the intended capacity. E.g. CZ MecGar mags can be fully disassembled and cleaned no problem. Glock 10-rounders are made single stack, no an ideal solution.
 
5.45 said:
“pinned” usually refers to a rivet inserted to prevent the magazine follower from moving beyond the 10 round capacity.
Cons:
The follower cannot be removed = makes it harder to clean the mag.
The rivet may catch on/interfere with the mag spring.
Sometimes the rivet is installed too high, and the top round cannot move at all (pinned to 10, instead of 10.5). Makes it hard or impossible to insert the mag on a closed bolt/slide. Prime example is Glock mags with a rivet in the corresponding witness hole in a PCC.

Most factory mags have indentations in the mag tube instead, to prevent rounds from going in beyond the intended capacity. E.g. CZ MecGar mags can be fully disassembled and cleaned no problem. Glock 10-rounders are made single stack, no an ideal solution.
Click to expand...

+1 to all points.

I had a Glock pinned mag in which the follower/spring became stuck at a recessed level and wouldn't come up during a range session. Won't elaborate further what had to be done to resolve this but it was an annoying process.

I have also had the unable to load a "full" pinned mag on a closed bolt in a PCC (Ruger PC Carbine, FO FX9)

If using pinned mags, it seems (to me anyways) that 9mm Magpuls and ProMags (to a lesser extent) have more tolerances to being pinned than factory Glock mags.
 
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