Over Extension

By James Rummel

I received an email with a question.

“I’m thinking of increasing the firepower of my carry gun. What about extended magazines?”

Okay, extended magazines. What is the question, exactly?

Just so we are all on the same page, autoloading handguns are designed to have magazines of a certain length. The idea is to have the bottom of the magazine flush with the bottom of the grip.

There are some exceptions to this very broad and general rule. Smaller guns designed for easy concealed carry often have little pinkie rests on the bottom of the magazine in order to help in controlling the firearm.

What in the world am I talking about? You can see it in the pics below. First there is a magazine with a flat floor plate, which is what the bottom part of a magazine is called. Then there is a magazine with a floor plate that forms a finger rest. The last picture shows one of my old guns fitted with such a magazine.

<img src="http://hellinahandbasket.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/taurus-pt111-9mm-300×186.jpg" alt="taurus pt111 9mm" width="300" height="186" srcset="http://hellinahandbasket.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/taurus-pt111-9mm-300×186.jpg …Read the Rest

Source:: Hell In a Handbasket