Blog posts of '2019' 'November'

Bottom line up front: we recommend that all S15 users upgrade their pistols to a steel mag catch. Here’s why.

First off, the proper term is mag catch, but we won’t complain if you call it a mag release (clip anyone?). S15 mags are of course made from steel, and Glock mag catches are made from polymer. This combination is potentially problematic for anyone who plans on actually using their pistol for more than an Instagram prop.

The mag catch serves a few different purposes: it secures the mag in the frame of the pistol, but it also holds the magazine in the proper position within the frame. This is an important distinction. If the magazine sits too low or too high in the frame, the slide either won’t reciprocate, or rounds will not reliably strip off the magazine and feed into the chamber.

Steel being harder than plastic, eventually using S15 mags with a plastic catch will cause feeding problems. How long this will take depends on a bunch of different factors, most importantly, your specific gun and how much you shoot. We have guns with plastic catches with many hundreds of rounds that are still functional, but some customers report excessive wear after just a couple hundred rounds. Feeding issues also seem to occur much faster in early gen 1 (silver slide) guns with plastic catches vs. gen 2 (black slide) guns because of the differences in the frames.

Since we can’t predict when your plastic catch will wear out enough to cause you issues, we are taking the safe route and recommending that you swap out the plastic catch for a steel catch. There are other options on the market, but WE ONLY TEST AND WARRANTY OUR OWN CATCH.

It’s not an expensive part to swap out, and the peace of mind is worth it.

-Brandon

Glock mags are notorious for sticking and not dropping free - do a Google search if you think I'm crazy. There are several reasons for this, and maybe we'll make a video explaining, but here's what we've tried to do with the S15 magazine to mitigate the issue.

First, it's worth mentioning that there are AT LEAST two generations of Glock 43X/48 frames. When the black slide guns were released, Glock also changed the frame. We should do a video on this as well, since this frame change set us back several weeks on the S15, and unless you REALLY look for the changes, you won't see them. Back to drop free - we spec'd the width of the S15 mags so that they should drop free in gen 1 and gen 2 G43X/48 frames based on the data we've collected. Our manufacturer, Check-Mate, runs mags through a drop free gauge with our spec during assembly as part of the QC process. Between the at least two generations of the frames and multiple molds for each gen, there's a fairly wide tolerance range at play here.

The second part of the equation is surface finish. Friction is the enemy, so a slick surface finish is important. The magazines come lightly covered in oil from manufacturing, so it's possible that there is dirt or other residue sticking to the outside of the magazine. We recommend cleaning the outside of the magazine with your favorite gun lubricant (we prefer EEZOX) to remove any dirt or residue from manufacturing and packaging.

We have six or so test guns, gen 1 and gen 2, and our S15 mags drop free in all of them. However, if despite our efforts your mags don't drop free, there is a simple fix - a hair dryer. Shooters for years have been using painters tape on OEM mags and a hair dryer to slightly stretch out their Glock frames. Do a YouTube search for details.

Hope this helps!

-Brandon