This video is an excellent demonstration of how important the magazines are in any semi automatic firearm. They are the most common root of malfunctions by far.

@oklahomahank2378

4 ай бұрын

A designer once said you design the magazine and build the gun around it.

@JG54206

4 ай бұрын

@@oklahomahank2378 it’s so true.

@Frank7G

4 ай бұрын

​@oklahomahank2378 that's what I heard about the Sig 365

@actionjaxxson1749

3 ай бұрын

iv had gen 1 SA mags for my 43x for years and it's my EDC. Never once had a feeding problem while using the slide release. iv never had a single problem with any of the mags

@JG54206

3 ай бұрын

@@actionjaxxson1749 Many people haven’t had any issues at all with them, but some have. This tells me that there’s likely an issue of tolerance stacking between different examples of pistols and mags. One particular G43X or G48 may work fine with certain examples of S15 mags, while another particular pistol may not for example.

Glock needs to just make a high capacity OEM steel mag for the 43/43X/48

@dannybarton940

4 ай бұрын

I would submit that Glock doesn't "need" to do anything at all. Those three models are still flying off the shelves as fast as they can make them. Would I like to see Glock make a 15 round mag for my 43x? Damn straight! If I was Glock would I? Not a chance.

@Austinole11

4 ай бұрын

⁠@@dannybarton940there’s not a chance you would create another product that would “fly off the shelves”? What are you talking about?

@kodiak7964

4 ай бұрын

​@@dannybarton940 Companies should do what the customers want. The days of manufacturers that are "too good" for the civilian market are over. I don't like Springfields at ALL, but I love the Hellcat OSP/Pro because its just a far better value than my 43x and has 15rnd metal mags standard.

@dannybarton940

4 ай бұрын

I could be wrong. I hope I am. But don't you think someone at Glock looked at a higher capacity than 10 rounds during the R&D phase for the guns? For them to introduce the 43x with 10 after the 6 round 43 shows they wanted max capacity. How long has the market been crying for 15 rounds now? Even as the guys at Shield Arms made a killing, Glock seems to remain disinterested in the idea. Instead, they introduced four or five new models since the 43. I'm thinking that's where their return on investment focus is and probably should be. But then I don't run a gun manufacturing business. I do observe the company certainly isn't going broke.

@DerWaidmann_

4 ай бұрын

@@dannybarton940 It's mainly because Gaston really wanted to keep the polymer sleeve mags

As a Glock armorer/nut, this is terrific information

"School of the Austrian Pistol" 😂

@ratagris21

4 ай бұрын

Ja it's Gut!

@concernedcitizen2898

4 ай бұрын

School of the tupperware led seed dispenser.

FINALLY a video that explains it instead of conjecture... Thank you

I haven't had that problem on mine but that doesn't mean I won't inspect and modify as need. Thanks for your diligence and willingness to share your knowledge!

You are the most trustworthy person on this platform that discusses modern firearm gunsmithing. Like on the level of Mark Novak. (He does older stuff mostly) I would love to see more stuff like this in addition to AR content. I’ve always stayed away from the 43x because of the limited capacity and problems of higher cap aftermarket mags. Thank you very much.

@SchooloftheAmericanRifle

4 ай бұрын

Mark and I are good friends. Thank you for the compliment.

@thrillkillcult999

2 ай бұрын

Would it be possible to send you pictures of magazines that have altered via instruction on your video so you can look at them to see if they were done correctly sir question mark I assume you are a busy man and I appreciate and thank you in advance for your time​@@SchooloftheAmericanRifle

@icebox829

21 күн бұрын

@@SchooloftheAmericanRifle I’ve been stuck in a debate with some guys at work about non factory mags. In your experienced opinion do you think those modifications make the PSA magazines reliable enough for an EDC.

Really like the general gunsmithing content, particularly magazine work. Good stuff!

An HONEST review of these PSA Micro magazines. Was always curious how they actually function. I hope PSA sees this and works on the issue! Thanks for sharing, you've probably saved alot of people some money and maybe even someone's life. Sticking with the Glock mags for now.

Once again, Chad & Mrs. Albrecht have offered valuable information for free. No BS, no shilling, no politics. Just quality content. As always, thank you.

Great information. A little side note, not all “Non Chlorinated” brake cleaners are created equal. Some will attack polymers (plastics). Make sure to test on a small area that won’t affect the function if it gets melted. An alternative would be “Electronic Parts” cleaner. More expensive, but less reactive with plastics.

Chad, I love your no-nonesense approach to "working the problem" very systematically! I would gladly let you work on any firearm I had a problem with, even if you don't change the name of your school! 😉

Guys like you and videos like this make our community better. We should be sharing knowledge and helping each other out. Please keep these vids coming and hope all those who see this have peace and health.

My greatest hope right now is that Glock will start coming out with this stuff themselves now that Gaston is gone. They've rested on their laurels too long and really need to start listening to customer demand.

@zerohero6602

4 ай бұрын

Their profit comes from military and law enforcement contracts. I don't think glock is concerned with ccw community, unfortunately. All we can do is hope and rely on aftermarket

@brett9382

3 ай бұрын

​@@zerohero6602 idk about them not having to worry about ccw. Many police departments choose their handguns based on what companies the higherups like and have experience with. Ccw is where a lot of this experience comes from.

@icebox829

21 күн бұрын

@@zerohero6602I don’t see how that’s necessarily true. People have been buying their guns for CCW for ever. The 43 and 43x as well as several other guns exist for that purpose only. If they come out with their own mag to get to 13 or more capacity for the 43x lots more people will start buying it. Most people won’t buy it because relying on aftermarket is silly and they want the capacity so they pick other guns

I’ve learned more about guns from his channel than I have any wear else. This guy is a Dr.

I am using Shield arms 15 round S15 magazine for my G43X, absolutely zero problems, been super reliable.

@Whitefeather83

4 ай бұрын

Yeah same here. Definitely a hit and miss from what i have heard and seen regarding the s15 mags..

@masonwilhelmy2613

4 ай бұрын

I have 2 gen1’s and 2 gen2’s. The Gen1’s needed the upgraded springs to get reliable lock back after last round, and my Gen 2’s were reliable from the start. No feeding issues on mine at all.

@PaulFrancisAAA

4 ай бұрын

I'm running the black Shield Arms gen2 S15 mags with the upgraded (extended springs) and the metal mag release. I've had zero issues as well.

@marcusborderlands6177

4 ай бұрын

​@@Whitefeather83honestly both these mags are hit and miss sometimes, when I worked at a range a while back we had dozens of both Gen1 and Gen2 shield arms mags that worked fine, and just as many that had endless problems, regardless of generation.

@EarthAltar

4 ай бұрын

S15 Gen3 on mine. I put the NDZ aluminum base plates on them. Not a single malfunction as of yet. A couple hundred rounds so far of CCI, Magtech, Hornady, Sierra, and Norma. JHPs and FMJs. All were 124gr. One thing I've noticed is after about 100 rounds my index finger has had enough of that trigger snap. It's accurate enough and reliable enough, but I wouldn't consider it a fun gun to shoot.

Good to see. There seem to be very few videos made about problems with pistol magazines, yet it is one of the most important topics. It was a hot topic in gun magazines of the mid to late 1980s, but faded from view as the many forms of Wonder 9 began to arrive and writers were no longer being paid to write about 1911 stuff. Absolutely the wrong brand of magazine can cause a malfunction. Followers shape is also critical, and so is proper spring tension. Modification of feed lips should be considered an art form and not for the unskiiled.

There is something to be said about stock stuff from a good manufacturer. I find this particularly interesting as this is my carry gun. On a side note for my 1911 I tend to use factory or a Wilson combat mag. Thank you for your insight and for sharing.

@Ralph.U

4 ай бұрын

Wilson Combat for my 1911 mags

Im surprised no big companies have tried to recruit you for there R&D department you know your stuff bro. Excellent video!

@SchooloftheAmericanRifle

3 ай бұрын

They have. Just because I share good ideas does not mean a companies bean counters or managers will agree.

Nice video, however a correction is in order, I possess ten Glock 43X OEM mags, and just as with the Micro-Dagger mags, everyone of them pushes up the slide-stop in exactly the same fashion you demonstrate, everyone of them! I rotate 8 PSA Micro-Dagger mags in my 43X and not a single problem ever! However like you, I did reduce the front lips on them just a hair, aside from, that they are entirely flawless in the little Glock and I carry them every day in complete confidence, totally superior magazine to the Shield Arms offerings....

shame glock wont just release a reliable 15rd mag. Hopefully Magpul will make a good one since they're making metal mags for the 320 now

@elo-matey

4 ай бұрын

Better than them releasing an unreliable 15rd mag. But I get what you're saying.

Haven’t run into these problems but if I do, now I’ll know where to check first. Thanks!

The “I’ve not had an issue” crowd.. have you actually checked the above items? How much do you really shoot? If at all? I work on a lot of PSA products. It will almost always fails when needed the most. He has half a dozen mags sitting there with the issues.. Stuff like this isn’t difficult to check and fix nor does it cost much. I have already seen people going after the feed ramp and chamber in the glock clones (oem glock chamber and ramp shouldn’t have to be fooled with).when the issue/s is actually the mag.

Great to see a video that explains it instead of people simply saying that the mag is out of spec or unreliable without saying why

It's wild that I was searching about this issue within a day of you posting this video. As always Chad, the info is much appreciated.

Chad, Thank you as always for elevating your viewers’ knowledge. Greatly appreciated.

Always love learning about & gaining knowledge on all platforms! Thank y’all for sharing! 🤙🏻

I should add to the previous comment. Shield Arms was excellent about refunding my money. Excellent customer service.

Void the warranty...what warranty??!! I have been fighting PSA on multiple mag replacements. I've had a really bad experience with them and continue to have many of the issues you pointed out after several new mags. Today I had complete failure to hold the slide open on the last round one with mag, but works very positive with the other. They did change their follower material, slight spring design and molding process on the Gen 2 mags, but still having issues with those as well. Tried S15 mags also Gen 1-3 as you mentioned without much luck. To me these are the best carry guns out there....if we could just get some quality 15 round mags for them! Great video.

@AkiraFollower

4 ай бұрын

Yeah, PSA mags are shit. Very disappointing… They didn’t even bother to sand/smooth the inside of the polymer where the follower catches on the surface nor did they bother to design a base plate that doesn’t bulge.

@ShinyLightzInTheSky

3 ай бұрын

My mags work great. Also the appeal is you can use Glock mags…. Why not use Glock mags?

@mrgrump2534

3 ай бұрын

Bulge 😭 wtf are you talking about? I’ve got like five of them and none of mine bulge only problem I have is they jam the gun up every other round lol

@AkiraFollower

3 ай бұрын

@@mrgrump2534 Bro, the base plate bulge is common haha. Look it up. It’s a mag with a great idea, yet shit quality control- all around. There’s even a video on how the feed lips are specced incorrectly.

Just did this to my new PSA micro mag...removing the excess polymer some filing, sanding and a little buffing made a good deal of difference. Thank you for the video and informing people how to improve the already very good PSA mag for the Glock 43x.

Wow! Thank you for sharing your knowledge and insight on this specific topic.

Its abhorrent that such a simple design flaw needs to be adjudicated by the user, rather than the manufacturer. Disgusting. Thank you for this information 🙏🏻

@user-xp5vi6oy4g

2 ай бұрын

Damn right !! Shield Arms and sadly even PSA were so greedy that they just basically used us as BETA Testers ! I hope they learn from all the pissed off people that payed a premium price for mediocre engineering.

Great info. Never had an issue out of the PSA mags with the way I load and shoot but these are great areas to look at to make them just that more reliable.

We learn something valuable from every video you post. We appreciate you.

All I have is a bunch of factory 43X and 48 mags and never desired aftermarket mags until the dagger mags . Thanks for sharing this knowledge and experience with this product.

Very informative, thank you for this video. I recently picked up two of these mags for my 48, and they are very difficult to insert and seat on a closed slide. This has given me a few more ideas to make these mags friendly enough to carry with.

Awesome troubleshooting and attention to detail. My collection is full of stuff that “didn’t work” when I purchased it

Thank you for this information, it is incredibly helpful! I'm in the process of testing a PSA micro dagger and will take a look at the mags.

Just plain awesome man . Best stuff ever. Beautiful detail, craftsmanship, finesse, everything. All three dimensions. Makin it fit. Thanks for sharing what you have learned and can do.

Man I'm always impressed with your videos! I've been watching for the last few years and all these companies should be paying attention. I love PSA as well I have some of the black micro mags as well as the slick ones that you got. Haven't had the chance to use them yet.

Thanks Chad. Haven't had any malfunctions with mine, but now i know where to look if they occur.

Good info. I haven't had these issues, but then I haven't checked them like you've shown. I'll be looking at these issues. I did have to remove the interior flashing like you mentioned.

Just got a glock 48 used and just purchased 3 psa mags they are on the way and this video should help me a lot thanks for the detailed video

You answered a ton of peoples questions. Once again great video!

Great video.Excellent diagnostics.PSA need to step up and deal with all of this on their own

Great video and props to whoever was working the camera!

Regardless of the issue being discussed, I just learned a lot about semi automatic pistols that I didn’t know.

Good information. I checked my Shield mags, and they are polished and relieved right where you showed. Makes me glad i waiting till they got it right.

Great advice that works. I have three magazines that all had failures to feed. After your tips and a little interior clean up, they all ran 100 %. Ammo prices limited me to only two full load outs through each but I have hope now rather than paper weights.

Awesome and informative video as usual. Thanks for sharing the “free advice” to those who pay attention! I personally don’t have this setup, but it’s informative nonetheless. Thanks again!

You always have the best videos. Thank you for making quality videos!!

Wow ! That’s a really good tip. I have two of the PSA magazines, I test fired both the magazines ( two full loads for each ) with no issues but I’ll definitely do your tests. Thank you

Another excellent presentation. Thank you.

Great video. I was just considering a 48 and getting these and the shield arms magazines. Solid information as always.

Excellent video! Informative, to the point and well produced. Tell your camera man/lady bravo on the fine work!!!

great video, Chad. thank you for sharing your experience and knowledge

Thank you for doing this. Just purchased 2 micro daggers.

@mrgrump2534

3 ай бұрын

I wish they would hurry up and release the goddamn frame instead of making us buy the whole pistol, especially for us who already bought the slides earlier llast year… You know they’re doing it on purpose to try to milk every dollar they can because most of us will get frustrated and just buy the whole complete pistol

Just checked both of my mags with that slide stop trick and they worked great but I was thinking of buffing it out more. I got two pretty decent mags the insides needed cleaned out but I’m glad to see a gunsmith really show how to make these better.

Upmost respect for this man. You notice every step in function check & exam of part he stops & checks if clear. Its quick but if ya know what your looking for 😊

Really good video. I also have had no good luck with the shield, arms magazines. I’ve been pretty lucky with the PSA magazines, but it’s really good video for diagnostic modification.

Another excellent tutorial, thank you.

I don't have either but I found this video fascinating. TYVM for sharing this.

Thank you for this. I bought one to test and inspected it as I watched your video. Only issue I found with mine was it pushing the slide release up.

Great video. I’ll have to do this on my father’s mags if he has issues. Very similar process to what I had to do to a couple of Colt SMG type mags that were binding on the bottom of the bolt/pusher.

Dude… you could honestly sell these and people would buy them… just fyi lol - Awesome vid. Radically changed the way I look at all mags.

Perfect and thank you. I imagined there would no doubt be some compatibility issues even though so many other freedom devices are modeled off of this legendary piece of molded plastic. Everything from the claims of compatibility really needs to be inspected and then tested before it’s put into that everyday use.

Amazing info, (I also run the Overwatch flat trigger on my 48) I'm definitely gonna give my PSA mags a check cause they both hang up in the first round when I load all 15rds. When new the slide didn't want to lock back on last round but now that they are broken in a bit they operate pretty smooth apart from the first round hanging up, definitely noticed in the vid how PSA mags ramp up high so I know that's my issue, seems like an easy fix thanks again! *The base plates also bulge out at the bottom quite a bit, hopefully PSA makes them thicker on the new batches, haven't had one blow out yet 😬🤞

@mrgrump2534

3 ай бұрын

I have four mags from PSA and none of them bulge

@mrgrump2534

3 ай бұрын

At least not anymore than the normal OEM base plate… To be honest, I stopped carrying my Glock and bought a 365 FCU to build around when the macro came out because you just can’t beat 17 rounds in a carry gun just as small as a 43X but also shoots waaaay flatter

Sir, you can teach all of your knowledge, doesn't matter the platform you're working on. we are here to be "entertained"...... thank you 😁

This is very interesting and informative, I’ve personally only ever had problems with factory Glock mags and maybe I just got a bad bunch but I’ve never had problems with aftermarket for any models, only from Glock branded products and the little feed ramp extension on the front of the Magazine was always the cause. Appreciate you demonstrating the fix for these issues 👍

Thank you for the information i just ordered a couple of these for the exact same reason and didn't wanna get the sheild mags bc of all the problems ive heard and having to use a metal mag catch/release

Great information! Thanks so much for posting this! 👍

Outstanding educational content!

Great info…So many people sent the SA Prodigy back for a 3rd party mag issue I made a video similar to show a mag fix.

Thank you sir for the information and great advice.

Great information as usual sir! Thank you for sharing all your knowledge as I have learned a ton from watching many of your videos. I am curious what back plate is on the wife’s 43x? Thanks for your time and effort and keep up the great work.

Upload all the vids you want. The more info, the better! 👍

Great presentation as always.

Pretty cool bro. Thanks for sharing

Well, ... That's what I call seriously helpful information. I appreciate the thoroughness of your methodology. I've been holding off buying Shield or PSA, now I know what to do. It's sad though that Shield Arms (on their 3RD iteration) and PSA were in such a rush for profits, that they didn't engineer these to be rock solid from the beginning.

Great breakdown job well done.

I don't care about a warrantee. I care about the magazine working. Lots of people have this misconception that factory is always best. Often factory means get it made as fast as possible and skip things like deburring to increase production and lower the price of the end product. Today it seems uncommon for a carry pistol to not function close to 100% reliably, but in the 80s and 90s, semiautos, especially budget semiautos jammed all the time. People use to bring me their Jennings, Larson, Llama pistols so I could get them running reliably. This is great information.

Thanks for the video. I’ve been intrigued with the PSA mags so this will definitely be something to take into consideration if I get them for my 48. To answer your initial question of the efficacy of the Shield Arms Gen III’s: it’s hit and miss. The QC issues are still hitting some people hard (I’ve been spared) and feeding issues are less common but still occurring. Bear in mind, this is a sample size of myself and four other friends who run Glock 48’s and 43X’s in a mixed bag.

Now i have to go try inducing these failures with mine. Havent experienced them. What i did have happen was deformation at the mag catch cutout on the all black mags. Fail to stay seated when firing. The all black mags had polymer over the entire cutout and seemed softer than the silver replacements i got. They were shallower too. Cut them down to the sheet metal. All gens of the s15 are trash btw. Threw mine away. A 15lbs recoil spring seemed to help cycling reliability for me.

Great video Chad, love this kind of content

Should do more videos like this it was great to get a knew video and of something unexpected love it

I use that Dewalt Gyroscopic screwdriver too. Have been for years. I love that thing.

@Isaac_5.56x45

4 ай бұрын

One of the most useful tools around

Alpha Foxtrot produced their S15 (introduced at 2023 SHOT) around the SA 15 round mags. Even the gun editors noted mags falling out at range day. I found all this out while trying to troubleshoot the same issue with my sub 200 s/n S15. SA told me to shove off..then Gen2 and now Gen3. Brownells did honor their forever warranty. Great job here! I now have 10 modded and dedicated mags.

Holy crap I think you may have just helped me fix the same issues I was having with my aftermarket mags... I just finished deburring the feed ramp lips and I was planning on picking up a dremel at my local Harbor Freight once I get paid. Do you recommend using a slight amount of grease or oil on the inside of the mag? Not a crazy amount just a little bit to keep things smooth?

If you use the shield arms magwell that should get rid of the slop on the S15. I have the polished dagger mags and i can only fit 14 with the magwell reliably.

I have two of these mags that have problems. While I really appreciate you providing solutions, I think I'll just stick with OEM if I have to do this much to get these to work properly.

I got my psa mags yesterday and I think they fixed all the issues mine are the black ones and they have different revisions then these slick ones

Thank you Very informative as always

Excellent Vid. Exactly what I experienced with Shield Arms mags Gen2. Last year sent them PPT presentation of possible fix to eliminate slop. Looks like they implemented, and I exchanged my Gen2's for Gen3's. However, I don't like the need for metal mag catch so will go with PSA mags and apply your fixes.....thnx much!!

Great video, thank you for this.

I can relate to this completely. I have a Glock 36 at home and the slide lock was oversized for the OEM mag. This caused the slide to lock back every single shot with a loaded mag. I performed a very similar trick and ever since, my Glock has run flawlessly. Just goes to show that even well-built products can have imperfections.

IMO I think after the first batch they made is when lil problems started I have 30 PSA micro mags from the very first batch and all of em run smooth and load in smooth. Nice video. I’m glad I never have had an issue with mine.

Great video. I am still on the fence about the PSA daggers

I carry full size pistols and plan on purchasing one of the upcoming PSA sabre dagger pistols. Now I know this is the micro dagger, but I feel the issue can apply to the full size so this is excellent information. Thanks Chad!

@mrgrump2534

3 ай бұрын

No offense, but I think you’re a little off here. I’ve never heard of any saber, dagger line. The only thing in the saber line is for rifles unless you have some kind of insider information I’m pretty sure they would’ve told us about that shot show if they had some kind of premium dagger, pistol line.

@ForceRecon112

3 ай бұрын

@@mrgrump2534 they did show them at shot show lmao they had a whole video on the PSA youtube on the sabre line of daggers lol full and compact, 4 side stippling, threaded or non threaded barrels, optic cut, in black, m81 woodland or m81 arid. they're a more premium version of their current dagger lineup

Fascinating!!! I battled with Shield for months regarding their Glock 43 10 rd mags. What a disgrace they are! I'll never use any after market mags in my G43, G43x, or G19. Can't speak for the PSA mags. Thanks again for your awesome video in expertise. Only wish I'd stumbled upon your channel 2 years ago

Perfect video I was wondering why my mag was feeding so hard and I just shaved the top left side with a razor knife and it feeds so much better