weighted magazine base pads?

[Crosswind]

Hey everybody,

Up here in the Great White North, pistol magazines are typically limited to 10 rounds, and many magazine manufacturers produced shortened magazine tubes and replace the remainder of the length with a plastic base pad.

One issue I've been having with reloading on the move is that the partially loaded mag always hits the ground feed-lips first; sometimes the top cartridge gets jammed inside the magazine tube in a weird angle and other times it can pop out of the magazine. I'm guessing since the rounds will always be pushed up the to top of the mag, due to centre of gravity, that end will tend towards the ground first.

My question is, are there aftermarket products available out there, where we can replace the factory plastic base pad with a heavier weighted base pad?
And before anybody says anything, yeah I know they're not allowed for IPSC production division.

If not, has anybody ever experimented with or have any ideas on weighted magazine base pads?

Thanks,

 

[heavenIsAlie]

depends what gun, some of my 1911 mags have a solid steel base pad, durable and heavy.

rounds popping out of the mag isnt because the mag hit feed lips down, its from having feed lips that have bent/shifted outwards and then when the mag hits the ground (either way up, or on its side) the rounds are forced past the lips. just use a brass hammer and and tap the feed lips back together. This is one of the reasons I always like to have practice mags and match mags

 

[alpining]

Every open gun setup I've seen had what looked like weighted magazine base pads. It makes magazine ejection faster and more consistent, I think.

If you've got issues with your rounds bouncing around inside you mags when they hit the dirt, you might have weak magazine springs (and/or bent lips, as above). I've dropped a lot of mags, and never had that happen with mine. I don't think my mags land top down all that much, either. If you're dropping them while the pistol is in a more or less vertical orientation, they just don't have time to rotate on the way down. Test it yourself by dropping mags on a blanket and watching how they land.

It might actually be more of an issue when the mag lands on its base: Then the remaining stack of rounds will bounce against the follower, possibly leading to the situation you described. But proper mag springs should keep it from being a real problem.