ltwguns.com

As some of you know I spearheaded the Elite magazine project. I've been developing this magazine for the last 2 years and I get a lot of questions as to why this magazine is superior to others on the market. Well, this weeks testing indicates my magazine is a potentially safer product.

During one of our testing sessions a severe case rupture occured. As some of you may have experienced in your shooting careers, this is not a pleasant event and the potential for injury is great. Fortunately, the shooter, my assistant, was unhurt and the event gave us real time data as to how this magazine reacts during a case failure.

The key element here is our use of an all metal concave follower. Upon examination of the elements of the magazine, of which we recovered all the parts, it became quite evident how predictable the magazine will act during a failure.

With other magazines utilizing a delrin follower, the follower will compress the spring and eventually shatter or break, shearing the delrin base plate from the magazine. The shattered follower becomes a safety hazard as it does not consistently shatter or break the same way every time. The potential for flying debris is greatly increased with this type of follower. Some may argue the breaking of the follower does dissipate energy and acts as a safety measure. That is a thought and I'm sure someone could explain in greater detail than I.

In our situation, we observed how the follower had compressed the spring, but instead of shattering, the followers skirt bent, absorbing energy until that energy could no longer be contained in the tube. The base plate sheared off at the legs cleanly dissipating energy as the parts exited the bottom of the mag tube. While this data is not a selling point, I found it quite interesting how the magazine reacted during the failure. When we sat down to analyze the situation, it became quite evident how this series of event would and will most likely replicate themselves during an ammunition failure.

These are just observations and not something I'd like to experience again, however having had experience with many other types of magazines and observing and investigating other firearms accidents, this one by far was the easiest to reconstruct. All of the parts we found intact and were recovered in short order. I'm certain there are physicists and other individuals who can explain the reasons this magazine reacts this way in a more scientific way than I, and I'm hoping they'll chime in to help me explain this situation. Perhaps I'm being overly optimistic about my own product, but I hope not. I'd like to hear your thoughts on mag failures to help better understand this type of situation.

Respectfully,

Christopher

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Provost's Precision Pistols, LLC (P3)
Cerberus Tactical
http://www.P3LLC.com

Having used commercial and in-house reloaded ammunition for the past 20 years, I've experienced 6 double charged rounds in 1911's. One magazine was a MagPack with a plastic follower and a welded base plate, one was a CMC Power mag with a steel follower and a plastic base plate, and four were with Wilson 47D 8 round magazines with plastic followers and base plates.

I'm nobody's scientist, but in retrospect, some thoughts I had were:

Wood grips split, and splinters hurt when inserted at high velocity. I still love wood grips, so I guess I haven't learned that much

Although burst cases certainly have the potential to act differently on each occurrence, The failure in the MagPack magazine seemed particulary violent. My thought was perhaps the welded follower, providing more resistance to the gas expansion could have transmitted more of that energy to my hands.
At any rate, it was exciting, but the pistol itself was completely undamaged, except for the grip panels.

The CMC power mag was interesting. I felt the added recoil, I got a blast of particles in the face, and the grips split, but not badly. The mag tube was left in the gun, the guts were scattered, and the slide locked back (last round). The sensation between my hands was minimal, however. No "smack" to the firing hand palm as with other occurrences. Less resistance to the expansion caused by the "quick release" base plate?

The Wilsons, which probably represent a more broad sample base were consistent to a fault - mag tubes expanded into the frame recesses under the grip panels, and were somewhat difficult to remove. Probably due to the witness slots rather than holes. Grip panels broke a little more violently, perhaps due to the same reasons.

In none of these instances did any substantial damage to a firearm take place, which is a testament to Mr. Browning's foresight and design genius. I've also had case ruptues in an H&K P9S, two Glocks, and a Browning Hi-Power. The Hi-Power survived with some work, but the others were trashed.

I've concluded that I really don't care for the experience, and on the whole, would prefer Micarta grip panels and gloves if given prior notice.

Sorry, I just like wood grips

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Heirloom Precision, LLC.
480-804-1911

Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.

TR

If you can get that whole "prior notice" thing cleared up, let me know.

Thankfully, all my bad experiences, knock on wood, have been with underpowered/no powder rounds. Clearing bullets lodged in barrels is much easier then pulling splinters from your palm IMHO.

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Jeff

I've gotten away from wood grips in favor of machined aluminum and won't go back. I like the feel, but after witnessing this little incident, I like the added safety!

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Provost's Precision Pistols, LLC (P3)
Cerberus Tactical
http://www.P3LLC.com

When .38 super comp guns got popular along with "super face", Pachmayr rubber grips with metal inserts also became popular.

I use only rubber grip panels on all of my "working guns"
They are plain as a fence post but nothing works better for a good grip in all conditions.

Contrary to popular opinion, they do not drag or catch on fabric either. When they get damaged or worn(rarely), I just replace them with another pair of rubber grips ($10). I prefer Kimber brand. As an added perk, grip screws never come loose either. If you get them nasty or bloody just pop them in the dishwasher.

I blew up an unsupported barreled Baer gun in <gulp> .40 super.
I was using a Wilson mag and after replacing the follower, the mag is 100%. I was using rubber side panels and they were undamaged.

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"The most effective armor is to keep out of range"-Italian proverb

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