Tapping Magazines after Loading

I started doing I suppose with a Kel-Tec P-11 to stop the rattling. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't.

Then it did seem to help with misfeeds in a Hi-Point, 9mm. I noticed that the rounds would feed reliably if they pointed "up" rather than laying "flat" in the magazine. A smack on the back of my hand would pop something into place and that top round would angle up, and would feel properly.

I know I had heard of Viet-Nam era GI's tapping mags on their helmets. Maybe that where I got it. But now I do it with most magazines for some reason or another.

The one I don't understand, and my wife used to do this when she smoked, is smacking a pack of cigarettes with the same motion. I mean some people really pound them.

What's with THAT? :confused:
 
I always tap the back of the magazine against a hard surface. If you look closely, you can actually see (in many magazines) the cartridges all move to the back of the mag and perfectly line up against the mag. What you are actually wanting to do is make sure the first two rounds in the mag are not pushed up too far forward. In the newer magazine designs, it is not much of a problem, but in the Orig. 1911 mags, you could jam the weapon pretty easily due to the first and rarely the second cartridge being too far forward in the mag.
 
I smack the back (not bottom) of the magazine on the palm of my left hand. I don't know where I picked this up, but I know why I do it. I don't like the bullets rubbing on the front of the magazine while they feed. Superstition? Good practice? I don't know - I just do it.
 
The one I don't understand, and my wife used to do this when she smoked, is smacking a pack of cigarettes with the same motion. I mean some people really pound them.

What's with THAT?
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They're tamping (packing) the tobacco.
 
I'll smack an AK magazine, spine side against my palm as I have bound them up pretty good during the loading process. Also, been known to slap around a pistol magazine that rattles. I've also, began paying more attention to round orientation as I load.
 
Did it with the M16 magazines. Kept my pointer finger over the top rounds and tapped the bottom on helmet or anything solid. Believe it was meant as insurance to seat the rounds.
 
Doesn't do anything one way or the other with a pistol mag.
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Not categorically true.
It depends on the magazine design and cartridge in use.
Glock mags do not require this action as the mags do not leave a lot of space for the cartridge to shift around.
Many all metal mags, or so it seems in my experiments, have looser tolerance and allow the cartridge to be loaded only partially back.
The PMR/CMR cartridge has a rim, so rim-lock is an issue. Firmly tapping the mag back may correct any rim-locked cartridges.
Spring tension also seems to be an issue. My Kahr mags which have a metal body have no issues with seating. Glock magazines also have a very stiff spring even with only one round loaded.

Where did I come up with what I just posted?
I notice my Hipoint magazines don't function reliably if I don't tap them in this manner and my Glock magazines, which I shoot the most, have never had an issue. So I took the other magazines I had available and spent some time loading, unloading, feeding, etc and tried to figure out the issue. I don't have enough different types of magazines around t be sure, but I am pretty confident it is only needed with some magazines and some cartridges. Probably doesn't hurt with any.
Interestingly enough, if I load the Hipoint mags like this, then jostle them around they are still issue free when loaded. I haven't come up with much of an explanation for that. The only thing I have come up with doesn't make much sense, but I wonder if the rim(even if rebated) sticks in the extractor groove when loading if the cartridges are not forced into parallel. Once it is tapped back and all cartridges are parallel it can't get out of alignment again. I don't see what would stop them from being parallel to begin with.
 
I got into the habit in basic training in 1990 of tapping a loaded magazine against my helmet before inserting into the rifle, and have been doing it ever since.

then one day I was on a range and we weren't wearing helmets. Do you think I remembered that fact before loading the rifle? :o
 
Fun fact; failure to tap back the rounds in five-seven magazines would reliably result in the long, pointy bullet points snagging the early-style magazine release spring, dragging it out of position as the mag was seated, to drop out the magwell along with the mag release button after the magazine is expended. Yes, they replaced this chintzy part (the *only* cheap-looking part on the entire gun) with an expensive-looking laser cut leaf spring specifically designed to not snag on bullet points in the magwell.

TCB
 
debate

I've heard this debated before, and had it come up in some training as well. Observation seems to prove that if you wack a mag on the spine (primer side) of the mag, visible rounds, and you have to believe other rounds in the stack, will move rearward and be more similarly arranged , but...........

I've seen footage fluoroscope or X-rays of box mag pistols being fired in slow motion, and the rounds are bouncing about within the box during recoil, and once they come to rest after the first shot, alignment in the stack is pretty much so-so. Not dramatically misaligned, but not perfect either.

So....my belief is that tapping a mag aligns ammo and that may be a benefit to inserting and seating some mags.....but once firing begins, it is of no benefit.

It sure looks cool though........
 
I was taught to do that in Parris Island in 1969. Still do it for all mags. I even tap bottoms of handgun mags. I've had springs slightly kink causing feeding problems. I haven't had that prob since tapping mag backs AND bottoms. It makes for some interesting looks at quarterly qual time :p
 
Don't tap too hard on the bottom of a Makarov PM magazine especially when the slide is locked to the rear.

The rounds can jump the feed lips and bind the slide.

Ask me how I know! :eek:
 
Maybe to knock any debris loose in a combat reload?
Watching war movies and different documentaries that's what i had figured the purpose was of tapping on them.


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I always tap my magazines, rifle or handgun. I do it partly because that is what I was taught in the Marines, and also because it does help seat rounds. I have seen it with my own eyes.
 
I haven't done it since yesterday. But I always tap my mags while loading them, rifle or pistol. Not sure where I learned it from but have been doing it for a long time.
 
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