Topping off your mag...good idea or bad?

Creature:

JohnKsa said it all re setback. I think that was one of the few "problems" I learned about soley through reading gunzines, and I was darned sure surprised that it actually happened to me once!:D

And, I'll tell on myself: being an engineer by academic training, of course I saved that round, took it to the range, and shot it. I didn't observe any change in felt recoil (from higher pressure due to reduced case volume), the gun didn't blow up, and the next round fed. Still, I would NEVER carry such a round, and having not been killed by curiosity the first time, will NEVER chamber and fire a deformed round again....:cool:
 
Last edited:
Of course, why would you short yourself one round, delay your response time while you jacked in a round, when seconds count, Often you only have one hand available for gun handling, why handicap yourself.
 
My P226 at home is always "almost" full. I mean: one round short. Next to my P226 are my other two magazines, one round short each one of them. 14 + 1 + 16 + 9. It´s almost a box of ammo, and that´s enough for me

Most of the use I give to the gun is entertainment, putting holes at the local range, but if I have to carry, I don´t see my chances of surviving being dramatically reduced by having 30 shots instead of 32.

And that´s why I carry a revolver ;).
 
My Dad's 1911A1

Was in his night stand with a GI 7 rd mag topped off and one down the tube for 20+ years. When he died I fired all 8 rounds and they fed flawlessly as did the 7 rounds in his spare mag. I top mine off and have never had any problems.
 
Yup, a good quality, standard capacity, single stack mag shouldn't need to be underloaded. Not always the case with a doublestack magazine, particularly if the manufacturer was bent on getting the absolute maximum capacity possible out of the size available.
 
I've had several auto pistols that did'nt like that last round in the magazine.

Just make sure you chamber a round in the gun,if it's safe to carry that way and delete one round from the mag.

You should'nt have to use a prybar to get your magazine in a pistol.
 
Underloading by two rounds is pretty conservative--underloading by half AND rotating your mags every couple of weeks is overkill.
Click to expand...

You are entitled to your opinion. If you have six rounds and 1 in the chamber how many more do you need. The only place where I carried a full magazine and needed to was in Iraqi. I don't believe our local neighborhoods are a combats zone that have armed gunman with AK's and RPG's waiting to shoot at us!
 
I've also noticed that it is difficult to lock the mag in place if I top off or insert a fully loaded mag into the gun with the slide closed. I feel it is more of an issue with my Les Baer TR Special. Haven't noticed it in my other guns. Maybe they build their guns too tight. ;) I don;t top off my other guns anyways. If I go to the range, guns are not allowed to be loaded. Rather than having the extra round floating around, I only carry a full mag and then rack the slide.
 
In Ohio we have an emasculated version of CCW. We can't carry to any place which serves alcohol, nor can we take it to any place that has a No-Firearm notice which is quite a few places in South West Ohio.

That means I need to pull and stow my piece. When I leave my gun in the car I release the mag and put it my pocket. Assuming it won't disturb anything. It's nice to be able to put the round back in the mag. There is also the problem of having to eject the mag and load the extra round.

That being said, I still usually top off the mags and pocket the loose round. One busy day I found 3 rounds in my pocket from where I not capped the rounds after loading.
 
By the way...

I just wanted to post this for those who may not know that you should not load the gun by dropping a bullet into the breach as this may damager your extractor. The proper way to top off is to insert a loaded mag, eject the mag, and then insert another round into the mag. If everyone knew that already... sorry to be redundant. :o
 
If it was designed for 6, then it shouldn't weaken with constant compression.
Click to expand...

Well, I lean toward your point of view, but "shouldn't weaken it" it isn't the definitive answer I'm looking for, and the link you furnished still amounts to one persons opinion in contrast to those of others.

Probably just a mental thing where 5" of spring sounds better than reducing it to 2.5" with the 6th round. Might be working on the edge of it's limits.

I can tell you that an aquaintence of mine had a weak spring in his 1100 Rem. and it wouldn't push out the last couple shells. I got a phone call asking me to diagnose the problem.

Many years ago, I'd guess 25 or so, he made himself a plug of his own unique design! A piece of broom handle that compressed the spring, even when unloaded, for all these years. He never removed it.

Doesn't really prove that a five inch piece of broom handle weakend the spring after decades, but does make one consider the possibility.
 
I keep 30 in most M16 mags, if the last on was tight going in I'll take it out.

as for my personal pistols, I don't top off. I usually don't even keep a round in the chamber unless I'm somewhere I think of as unsafe.

I can't see how 16 rds is going to do anything more than 14, but there are plenty of times when I need to make a pistol safe and don't want a loose round floating around.
 
Never. Mostly because I attend a lot of gun shows and don't want an extra cartridge rolling around my pocket with the mag after the gun is show-safed.
 
In my carry gun I always have the full mag capacity plus one in the chamber. Why place the odds in favor of the BG's? I shoot this way too so I know my guns/mags are reliable in this method.
 
02-17-2008, 01:11 AM #18
epic4444
Member


Join Date: 06-23-2007
Posts: 64 glockkkkk

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

i have a glock 19 that gets stuck only when i top off....i chamber one...take out tha mag and pop another in...put it back and fire only to have tha slide not return but get jammed...i take tha clip out...clear and then reload....but when i dont top off it works fine...anyone have this problem?? and please tell me how to fix it... and btw not my ccw but i wish it was
Click to expand...

I have the same problem with my S&W 3913TSW. I do not top off simply because when I do, the slide jams on the first shot, but does not if only 7 are in the magazine. I am attributing this currently to the 'newness' of the pistol. Hopefully it will ameliorate with time and useage.
 
Glock 19?

The new Glock 9mm followers, are the best they have ever made, and when fitted into a G17 magazine, allow for an 18 round load! I don't do that, but just to show how much more advanced this combination is I mentioned it, yes the 18 round mag will click home on a closed bolt/slide.

Carry G19, 15 round Mag; in place, one in the chamber, never had a problem, it was designed that way.

Your spare on the other side magazine, use a G17, gives you two extra rounds.
 
when I'm carrying, I load 'em to capacity. When they're sitting around at home (sometimes for months at a time) I leave the mag one round light. For the spring's sake, even if the Internet says compressing it all the way down for long periods of time doesn't weaken it... I don't believe everything I read on the internet.
 
It makes sense to me to top off, I carry a 1911 I know I have seven rounds before I need to reload. After I shoot those seven rounds I still have one in the chamber therefore allowing me to reload without having to release the slide. This may not seem like something that takes a lot of time but milliseconds can make the difference in a real life situation. Or would it make more sense to shoot that eighth round then reload and release the slide. What do you guys think?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top