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.
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
@@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.
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.
@@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.
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.
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!
Once again, Chad & Mrs. Albrecht have offered valuable information for free. No BS, no shilling, no politics. Just quality content. As always, thank you.
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.
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
@@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.
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.
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.
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.
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! 😉
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.
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
@@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.
@@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 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.
@@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.
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.
The front edge of mag catching casing of bullet is not a problem when in the gun. The feed ramp on barrel tilts the bullet upwards and doesn’t hit the edge when feeding a bullet into chamber. I’ve seen same issues on AR GI mags. It’s only a problem when unloading by hand.
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.
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.
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....
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 🙏🏻
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.
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.
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.
@@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.
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.
I watch you all the time.......that being said I've had that same issue as far as last round hold open not locking back and sending the slide home and just chalked it up to it being aftermarket, and I missed this video until right now. Grabbing ALL my dagger mags now and getting to work to get the 43x to hold open. Thanks brother
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.
Been watching your videos for a while for the ar15 stuff. Great content. Just bought a 43x and so glad the algo recommended me this video. The empirical observations and how to troubleshoot/remediate each is amazing. These companies should just hire you to fix these issues so everyone gets the benefit. 💯
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 😊
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.
Nice work, takes me back, carried 45's just before EOS. Magazines came from Italy and run out stamping, the upper ramps did same thing, I got all new magazines prior to being issued. Basically same steps as you. Rule of Thumb, always function fire gun and components prior to carrying.
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.
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.
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.
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 😬🤞
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
Me too had problems with the Shield Arms magazine,. mine had issues loading the ammo into the chamber because of the angle of presentation of the cartridge. Other sample of mag had problems with the front lip (same as shown). My conclusion is an absolute no-go for a carry gun witch I should trust my life on.
I have an issue with my gen 5 G19. When I flipped the mag catch to left hand, all of my Glock mags would bind to the point of preventing me from inserting a magazine. The mags have a bevel on the right side to push the mag catch out of the way but lack the same bevel on the left side. Online solutions suggested modifying the mag catch but that would ruin it for right handed use. My solution was to bevel each magazine on the left side to match the right. That part of the magazine isn't a contact point for seating so it seems to be the best non-destructive solution that maintains the reversible mag catch.
And this is why TH-cam is great.and big up to this guy for sharing this. I dont know anyone who has a 10rnd glock 43x that doesn’t want more capacity. And why PSA would have an issue with this instead of sending him a free gun and 10 mags for this info , is beyond me.
Over the years I have had to "detail" magazines from different manufacturers...and even some aftermarket ones as well.. Though I don't own one of the pistols discussed in the video I do know people that do...so good info for me since most of the time they call me on problems...
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
Just had two arrive this morning in the mail “w/micro slick finish” didn’t have an issue with shell casing catching the lip of the magazine. So far they’ve run flawlessly, also the base plate for the magazine seems to be made more sturdier, there is no bulge at full capacity so far. Leaving them fully loaded to see if the “bulge” occurs at max capacity load.
I had similar problems with IWI jericho mags in my Jericho 941.The factory IWI mags had different geometry at the top of the mag and caused feeding issues and my CZ/ Mecgar mags run fine with no issues. I modified the iwi mags and they work better but I still would never trust them in a defensive situation.
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!
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.
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.
My oem glock mag pushes up on the slide release before being fully set in...just like you showed with the unmodified psa mag. Also my oem mag doesn't really drop out easily...it just feels tight inserting and ejecting the mag.
I just ordered 3 psa micro mags, mine are all black, instead of black and silver.i don't have any problems like mentioning in this video,maybe mine are a different generation of the psa mags. Great video either way 🤙🏽👍🏽
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 👍
I just checked my PSA mags. Front edges were slightly frayed when new and I did have a couple ftf’s. I filed off the frayed plastic with a diamond fingernail file. The edges of the mags were smooth and did not push the slide step up and shown in the video. All has been good since I did that little bit of filing, which took all of two minutes each.
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.
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
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.
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.
With the gen 1 and 2's you had to heat up the 43x grip and squeeze it to make them function but now with the gen 3 they have fixed the issue with adding bump-outs on the mag to make it fit tighter regards, Rick
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.
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.
PSA is a marketing company first and a sales company second, and a manufacturer third. Refreshing to see some honest critique of their products, and a solution to boot. I had to file an upper of theirs to get it to fit with the lower one time, they wanted me to send all accessories including the optic in, instead of just buying it back and selling me another one. They also engage in some scummy pricing practices online, like raising by a dollar if you view a page then come back to it, and they do that with shipping costs too. They certainly make good bargain basement stuff but when you get a dud they don't stand behind it.
Well they sure put a butload of money into their manufacturing facility. I have watched two different walkthroughs of their factory and it is first rate by any objective standard.
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.
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
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!
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.
@@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
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
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.
This is a remarkable video. With these modifications, how confident are you in using these mags in a carry scenario? Thanks for puttiing this together!!!
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.
This is why my G48 stays in the safe. I personally haven't had a single issue with my P365xl. I'm well over 5k rounds through it and train with it several times a month. G48 just makes an occasional range trip. I might give it some more time now though.
thats because gunsmithing isn't really a thing anymore it's just basic mechanical work no one's hand making guns and such anymore it's just basic machine work at most
IMO these PSA mags are the game changer for the 43x. I have not had one problem. I did just check my mags and while the slide closed fine the bullets did grab a bit on the front and the slide stop did also catch when inserting. less than a minute with each mag and a file and both problems totally corrected. I took almost nothing off the side right where the plastic area bumps up and that totally solved the slide stop, cant even get it to catch is i push the mag that way when inserting. For those that are thinking about it, a small file is all you need and barely need to take anything off.
I had the same problems and fixed them the same way. I really didn't see any inherent design flaws, it's just that the fit and finish is bad enough to cause issues. After I deburred, relieved, and polished everything they work fine. I should not have to do that after paying $40 for a mag though.
I have numerous Shield Arms mags, first and second generations. I've never had an issue. I just ordered some Palmetto State magazines. I'll find out about those too.
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.
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?
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.
I've never considered that apsect of magazine design! Engineering a bit of tolerance for non-exact dimensions is a fine engineering art where a lot of things can go wrong.
Great video. I have a PSA Micro Dagger and tried to replicate the issue with the slide stop and couldn't. I know the PSA Micro comes with a Gen 3 style slide stop but can use the same Gen 5 style slide stop with the spring. Or maybe the dementions on the micro vs the 43x are just a little different. I know that PSA first came out with mags with a different treatment but now are just pumping out these "slick" coated versions now. These mags were meant for their Micro Dagger line, maybe it would be worth it to get a micro frame in house and do some comparisons to the 43x frame?
@@mrgrump2534 the Micro Dagger uses a "gen 3" style parts for the slide lock and the trigger bar where as the 43x is gen 5. I bought some stock 43x triggers w/bar to play around with my trigger shoes on my Micro and was disappointed to find that they were incompatible with the micro. I know there isn't a Gen 3 43x, just explaining there are nuances to both pistols, this is probably due to patent issues which is why PSA went the "Gen 3 style" route. I believe the connector is different and the firing pin is also different on the Micro from the 43x.
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.
A designer once said you design the magazine and build the gun around it.
@@oklahomahank2378 it’s so true.
@oklahomahank2378 that's what I heard about the Sig 365
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
@@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
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.
@@dannybarton940there’s not a chance you would create another product that would “fly off the shelves”? What are you talking about?
@@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.
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.
@@dannybarton940 It's mainly because Gaston really wanted to keep the polymer sleeve mags
As a Glock armorer/nut, this is terrific information
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!
Once again, Chad & Mrs. Albrecht have offered valuable information for free. No BS, no shilling, no politics. Just quality content. As always, thank you.
FINALLY a video that explains it instead of conjecture... Thank you
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.
Mark and I are good friends. Thank you for the compliment.
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
@@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.
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.
Why is he running PSA magazines in his Glock?
@@larryschmidt3594it’s his wife’s carry and she wants higher mag count
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.
Really like the general gunsmithing content, particularly magazine work. Good stuff!
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.
I’ve learned more about guns from his channel than I have any wear else. This guy is a Dr.
"School of the Austrian Pistol" 😂
Ja it's Gut!
School of the tupperware led seed dispenser.
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! 😉
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.
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
@@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.
@@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 am using Shield arms 15 round S15 magazine for my G43X, absolutely zero problems, been super reliable.
Yeah same here. Definitely a hit and miss from what i have heard and seen regarding the s15 mags..
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.
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.
@@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.
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.
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
The front edge of mag catching casing of bullet is not a problem when in the gun. The feed ramp on barrel tilts the bullet upwards and doesn’t hit the edge when feeding a bullet into chamber. I’ve seen same issues on AR GI mags. It’s only a problem when unloading by hand.
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.
Wilson Combat for my 1911 mags
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.
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....
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 🙏🏻
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.
Haven’t run into these problems but if I do, now I’ll know where to check first. Thanks!
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.
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.
My mags work great. Also the appeal is you can use Glock mags…. Why not use Glock mags?
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
@@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.
Im surprised no big companies have tried to recruit you for there R&D department you know your stuff bro. Excellent video!
They have. Just because I share good ideas does not mean a companies bean counters or managers will agree.
@@SchooloftheAmericanRifle Is this something you can elaborate on at all? It would be interesting to know details.
@@ssspencerjr if it dont make money it dont make sense 🤣🤣
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.
I watch you all the time.......that being said I've had that same issue as far as last round hold open not locking back and sending the slide home and just chalked it up to it being aftermarket, and I missed this video until right now.
Grabbing ALL my dagger mags now and getting to work to get the 43x to hold open.
Thanks brother
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.
Been watching your videos for a while for the ar15 stuff. Great content. Just bought a 43x and so glad the algo recommended me this video. The empirical observations and how to troubleshoot/remediate each is amazing. These companies should just hire you to fix these issues so everyone gets the benefit. 💯
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 😊
Superb video, much appreciated.
That said, what I got out of it is aftermarket Glock 43X mags aren’t worth the trouble for me…
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.
Nice work, takes me back, carried 45's just before EOS. Magazines came from Italy and run out stamping, the upper ramps did same thing, I got all new magazines prior to being issued. Basically same steps as you. Rule of Thumb, always function fire gun and components prior to carrying.
Great video.Excellent diagnostics.PSA need to step up and deal with all of this on their own
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.
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.
Lotta headache for a owner, good job for being the quality control officer for a manufacturing company
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
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.
Awesome troubleshooting and attention to detail.
My collection is full of stuff that “didn’t work” when I purchased it
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 😬🤞
I have four mags from PSA and none of them bulge
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
Me too had problems with the Shield Arms magazine,. mine had issues loading the ammo into the chamber because of the angle of presentation of the cartridge. Other sample of mag had problems with the front lip (same as shown). My conclusion is an absolute no-go for a carry gun witch I should trust my life on.
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.
I have an issue with my gen 5 G19. When I flipped the mag catch to left hand, all of my Glock mags would bind to the point of preventing me from inserting a magazine. The mags have a bevel on the right side to push the mag catch out of the way but lack the same bevel on the left side. Online solutions suggested modifying the mag catch but that would ruin it for right handed use. My solution was to bevel each magazine on the left side to match the right. That part of the magazine isn't a contact point for seating so it seems to be the best non-destructive solution that maintains the reversible mag catch.
And this is why TH-cam is great.and big up to this guy for sharing this. I dont know anyone who has a 10rnd glock 43x that doesn’t want more capacity. And why PSA would have an issue with this instead of sending him a free gun and 10 mags for this info , is beyond me.
Over the years I have had to "detail" magazines from different manufacturers...and even some aftermarket ones as well..
Though I don't own one of the pistols discussed in the video I do know people that do...so good info for me since most of the time they call me on problems...
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
Just had two arrive this morning in the mail “w/micro slick finish” didn’t have an issue with shell casing catching the lip of the magazine. So far they’ve run flawlessly, also the base plate for the magazine seems to be made more sturdier, there is no bulge at full capacity so far. Leaving them fully loaded to see if the “bulge” occurs at max capacity load.
I had similar problems with IWI jericho mags in my Jericho 941.The factory IWI mags had different geometry at the top of the mag and caused feeding issues and my CZ/ Mecgar mags run fine with no issues. I modified the iwi mags and they work better but I still would never trust them in a defensive situation.
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!
Dude… you could honestly sell these and people would buy them… just fyi lol
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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.
Thanks Chad. Haven't had any malfunctions with mine, but now i know where to look if they occur.
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.
My oem glock mag pushes up on the slide release before being fully set in...just like you showed with the unmodified psa mag.
Also my oem mag doesn't really drop out easily...it just feels tight inserting and ejecting the mag.
Same here bro I just bought my 43x recently, Is it because the mag is new and haven’t been shot yet?
I just ordered 3 psa micro mags, mine are all black, instead of black and silver.i don't have any problems like mentioning in this video,maybe mine are a different generation of the psa mags. Great video either way 🤙🏽👍🏽
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 👍
Chad, Thank you as always for elevating your viewers’ knowledge. Greatly appreciated.
I just checked my PSA mags. Front edges were slightly frayed when new and I did have a couple ftf’s. I filed off the frayed plastic with a diamond fingernail file. The edges of the mags were smooth and did not push the slide step up and shown in the video. All has been good since I did that little bit of filing, which took all of two minutes each.
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.
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
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.
My PSA dagger micro magazines DO NOT do that. At least not in the gun they were designed to be used in, my Dagger Micro. Good video explanation.
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.
With the gen 1 and 2's you had to heat up the 43x grip and squeeze it to make them function but now with the gen 3 they have fixed the issue with adding bump-outs on the mag to make it fit tighter
regards, Rick
Excellent! Why are these companies not fixing these problems like you showed here? They keep releasing the same mags…
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.
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 😁
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.
Had the same issues, all went away after switching to the shield plus. Great video tho!
PSA is a marketing company first and a sales company second, and a manufacturer third. Refreshing to see some honest critique of their products, and a solution to boot. I had to file an upper of theirs to get it to fit with the lower one time, they wanted me to send all accessories including the optic in, instead of just buying it back and selling me another one. They also engage in some scummy pricing practices online, like raising by a dollar if you view a page then come back to it, and they do that with shipping costs too. They certainly make good bargain basement stuff but when you get a dud they don't stand behind it.
Well they sure put a butload of money into their manufacturing facility. I have watched two different walkthroughs of their factory and it is first rate by any objective standard.
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.
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.
You answered a ton of peoples questions. Once again great video!
Finally! I wouldn’t bet my life of SA mags. Good bless who do.
Thank you for doing this. Just purchased 2 micro daggers.
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
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!
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.
@@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
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
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.
This is a remarkable video. With these modifications, how confident are you in using these mags in a carry scenario? Thanks for puttiing this together!!!
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.
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
This is why my G48 stays in the safe. I personally haven't had a single issue with my P365xl. I'm well over 5k rounds through it and train with it several times a month. G48 just makes an occasional range trip. I might give it some more time now though.
Had these issues with my 43x. Haven't had any of these problems with the Dagger Micro. In fact, it's run flawlessly with psa mags
I should add to the previous comment. Shield Arms was excellent about refunding my money. Excellent customer service.
Exactly just bevel the edges... I'm no gunsmith but I have been mechanic for years and the same principal's apply.... Good video for alot of people
thats because gunsmithing isn't really a thing anymore it's just basic mechanical work no one's hand making guns and such anymore it's just basic machine work at most
@@Johnny-tq9no I know I "gunsmith" on my own stuff
IMO these PSA mags are the game changer for the 43x. I have not had one problem. I did just check my mags and while the slide closed fine the bullets did grab a bit on the front and the slide stop did also catch when inserting. less than a minute with each mag and a file and both problems totally corrected. I took almost nothing off the side right where the plastic area bumps up and that totally solved the slide stop, cant even get it to catch is i push the mag that way when inserting. For those that are thinking about it, a small file is all you need and barely need to take anything off.
Excellent video! Informative, to the point and well produced. Tell your camera man/lady bravo on the fine work!!!
I had the same problems and fixed them the same way. I really didn't see any inherent design flaws, it's just that the fit and finish is bad enough to cause issues. After I deburred, relieved, and polished everything they work fine. I should not have to do that after paying $40 for a mag though.
I have numerous Shield Arms mags, first and second generations. I've never had an issue. I just ordered some Palmetto State magazines. I'll find out about those too.
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.
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?
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.
Excellent work dude. That overflashing of the plastic at the front is probably because they are working too fast to get them out
Good video, very informative and something to bring to light. However, none of these issues have presented themselves in use with the PSA frame
Thank you for this honest demonstration.
I've never considered that apsect of magazine design! Engineering a bit of tolerance for non-exact dimensions is a fine engineering art where a lot of things can go wrong.
Great video. I have a PSA Micro Dagger and tried to replicate the issue with the slide stop and couldn't. I know the PSA Micro comes with a Gen 3 style slide stop but can use the same Gen 5 style slide stop with the spring. Or maybe the dementions on the micro vs the 43x are just a little different. I know that PSA first came out with mags with a different treatment but now are just pumping out these "slick" coated versions now. These mags were meant for their Micro Dagger line, maybe it would be worth it to get a micro frame in house and do some comparisons to the 43x frame?
There is no such thing as a GEN 3 43 or 43x… So naturally, there’s no such thing as a GEN 3 micro dagger right ?!
@@mrgrump2534 the Micro Dagger uses a "gen 3" style parts for the slide lock and the trigger bar where as the 43x is gen 5. I bought some stock 43x triggers w/bar to play around with my trigger shoes on my Micro and was disappointed to find that they were incompatible with the micro. I know there isn't a Gen 3 43x, just explaining there are nuances to both pistols, this is probably due to patent issues which is why PSA went the "Gen 3 style" route. I believe the connector is different and the firing pin is also different on the Micro from the 43x.
We learn something valuable from every video you post. We appreciate you.