[Buckeye63]

I’d rather carry a 43X with the 10 round OEM mags than any ****ty Taurus where defending my or my family’s life is a priority.

43X with the stock mag is a extremely dependable firearm
But …my poor old Taurus’s are extremely dependable.. and actually I have zero issues in carrying any of of the 4 Taurus semi pistols and leaving my Glocks in the safe .. other companies have simply caught up and surpassed the Glocks . thats the way it is ,,, and Im selling my Glocks ?
No … is it the only pistol brand I own ..? Heck no ..
My 29 was replaced with a XDME compact … my 26 & 19 are in the safe .. my G3X parked both ..

You shouldn’t justify your pistol by dumping on others .. carry what you will .. Glock is the most customized polymer pistol in production .. for a reason .. playing catch up out of the box…
It is a fact …

 

[Gman3101]

I didn’t dump on you, I said Taurus is junk.

Glocks are commonly modified because they are arguably the most common and popular pistol worldwide, not because they need mods to be more reliable and durable than Taurus

 

[vindibona1]

Here is the deal…. When Glock makes its frames there is a certain amount of material that gets molded under heat and then cools. For some reason they do not all cool in a consistent shape. Some mag wells are longer, some wider. Some slides sit higher off the frame, some lower. I don’t see how all these variables can be accommodated with predictable reliability.

I noted in another thread how the S15s don’t have as much play in my 43x as the OEM mags.Before changing to S15s I had a few ftfs with the OEM mags with far fewer rounds fired. And it should be known that the OEM mags CAN be used with the metal mag catch. You just have to limithow many rounds you put thru in this configuration, only shooting them for reliability testing and doing what you can to prevent wear and inspecting them befor use, just like a pilot inspects his aircraft each time before flying.

 

[cciman]

Glocks are commonly modified because they are so simple, that people can do it and get away with it.

Trying to do that with other platforms is a crapshoot.

Shield thought that they could make a better mag, and buyers are convinced that they need it.

 

[vindibona1]

Ok... So I had to see if I could see any differences or anamolies between the OEM, S15 G1 and G2 mags. And I did. And I think I understand why some combinations might fail while others succeed. As we know, the rail that strips the next round off the mag lies right below the breechface. If the round is behind the breechface, or not far enough forward the round may not be stripped off properly. I did a slow visual test to see how the mags seated upon insertion and can say there were some differences between all three mags. Ultimately, as you can see in the photos all three rounds sit ahead of the breechface waiting to be stripped into the chamber. But that's not the whole story.

As I slowly pushed the mags into seated position the OEM mag was already positioned forward. The S15's while ultimately getting seater properly, came up during insertion a hair behind and made minor contact with the breechface which nudged them into position on each attempt. The photos illustrate that when inserted are pretty much in the same position. The S15 Gen 2 mag seems to push down a it more on the rim area of the cartridge which makes the bullet nose lift a bit higher. A good thing? We may not even be talking 1mm difference and I'm thinking that a fraction of a mm could be the difference between reliability and FTF's. I think the key is the ability of the rail under the breechface to make full contact with the round to push it into the chamber. If it pushes down too much I think it would cause jams. If the slide (another issue) sits too high off the frame the rail could miss the round partially or entirely, again creating problems. I think Shield Arms should make one more tweak and by Gen 3 have full reliability regardless of the unit. I think they're super close, but know that about 20% of the 43x/48's don't do well with the S15's. JMO

 

[D20]

It doesn't help Shield that the 43X/48 slides don't travel as much rearward as the larger models do. Check your 19/17 etc and you'll see a huge difference in how far back the breechface goes in relation to the back of the top cartridge.
Any limpwristing these smaller models doesn't help.

 

[vindibona1]

It doesn't help Shield that the 43X/48 slides don't travel as much rearward as the larger models do. Check your 19/17 etc and you'll see a huge difference in how far back the breechface goes in relation to the back of the top cartridge.
Any limpwristing these smaller models doesn't help.

I only own one Glock, the 43x. Actually I was seduced to buying it BECAUSE of the announcement and availability of the S15's. What did I know at the time? I was a 1911 shooter and all the mags I owned were good. Love the Pachmayrs btw. I guess I was lucky that I've had no issues with the S15's. My very close friend bought a 43x because of me and has S15's with no issues. But interestingly, his slide sits up about 1-1.5 mm higher off the frame than min does. I can clearly see more daylight between his frame and slide than mine. But his S15's are reliable as well. I have to think that the variations are within the frame's manufacturing process. To underscore that more, there are reports that some folks have ejected the S15 mags accidentally with almost no mag catch pressure. I don't have that issue nor does my friend. But it says to me that there is enough extra width in the molding process, probably in cooling. But if there the molding process uses the same amount of material for each frames (or does it?) then what you gain in width in all liklihood you lose in length or in shape in general. Just spitballing here. But if other mfrs can produce poly frames and metal mags with no issues... what's the issue with Glock that a 3rd party can't achieve 100% reliability from unit to unit?

I know there are a bunch of guys who are hard core OEM only and that's cool.. Plenty of OEM only failures too. My position is that no matter what's in your pistol if you don't test it rigorously, OEM or modded in any way you're asking for trouble. And again, if you want to shoot S15s (even for fun) and OEM mags as well, you CAN use the steel mag catch on OEM mags. You just have to go gentle and look for wear. The OEM mags have such a deep shelf that I think it would take some doing to wear them to the point of failure with the steel catches. Not so with the plastic catches and S15's. I went through a plastic mag catch in 200 rounds and learned my lesson there.

 

[cciman]

Shield thought that they could make a better mag, and buyers are convinced that they need it.

$$$ Create an artificial need. $$$

 

[LBart]

I only own one Glock, the 43x. Actually I was seduced to buying it BECAUSE of the announcement and availability of the S15's. What did I know at the time? I was a 1911 shooter and all the mags I owned were good. Love the Pachmayrs btw. I guess I was lucky that I've had no issues with the S15's. My very close friend bought a 43x because of me and has S15's with no issues. But interestingly, his slide sits up about 1-1.5 mm higher off the frame than min does. I can clearly see more daylight between his frame and slide than mine. But his S15's are reliable as well. I have to think that the variations are within the frame's manufacturing process. To underscore that more, there are reports that some folks have ejected the S15 mags accidentally with almost no mag catch pressure. I don't have that issue nor does my friend. But it says to me that there is enough extra width in the molding process, probably in cooling. But if there the molding process uses the same amount of material for each frames (or does it?) then what you gain in width in all liklihood you lose in length or in shape in general. Just spitballing here. But if other mfrs can produce poly frames and metal mags with no issues... what's the issue with Glock that a 3rd party can't achieve 100% reliability from unit to unit?

I know there are a bunch of guys who are hard core OEM only and that's cool.. Plenty of OEM only failures too. My position is that no matter what's in your pistol if you don't test it rigorously, OEM or modded in any way you're asking for trouble. And again, if you want to shoot S15s (even for fun) and OEM mags as well, you CAN use the steel mag catch on OEM mags. You just have to go gentle and look for wear. The OEM mags have such a deep shelf that I think it would take some doing to wear them to the point of failure with the steel catches. Not so with the plastic catches and S15's. I went through a plastic mag catch in 200 rounds and learned my lesson there.

You mentioned a difference between your 43x and your friends 43x. I was curious if you could swap the slides temporarily and see if the gap difference follows from one to the other? This would show if frame tolerances are varying. Maybe you have already done this out of curiosity.

 

[GlockyQ]

… .
I know there are a bunch of guys who are hard core OEM only and that's cool.. Plenty of OEM only failures too. My position is that no matter what's in your pistol if you don't test it rigorously, OEM or modded in any way you're asking for trouble. … .

Very true and a sound advice.

 

[Gearsbyblack]

I think most of these issues are derived from people flexing their frame during the magazine catch installation. All my Shield Arms mags feed and function exactly as designed when used with Shield Arms Mag Catch.

 

[DirtyShirt]

Hello, There's a number of people experiencing a failure to feed of the Shield S15 mags, and many have reported why. The "Why" is that, when inserted, the S15 mags do not seat the top cartridge forward far enough for the slide to pickup the top round. Some claimed just using a Shield Arms magwell solved the issue. As a side note, it should be noted that Shield's steel releases should be used if using S15 mags. Although my S15 mags fed fine, I examined my setup and noticed my cartridges were seating too far rearward, but were being pushed far enough forward when the round would contact the underside of the ejector, snapping the cartridge just enough forward. I wasn't totally satisfied, so I conducted a simple test. I took double sided tape, and only removed one side, placing it up the backside of the mag 3/4's of the way, and now the mags seat as they ought to. Obviously, double sided tape isn't a permanent solution, but you get the idea. Something in lieu could be used such as, a glob of JB Weld sanded flat.

Yes. Yes. 100 times yes. I also did this and it fixed my S15 magazine problems. I just found your post and am glad to see I'm not the only one to figure this out. Someone mentioned using only OEM parts, you're not contributing anything to the conversation. It's like saying a water is wet. We know this but we like experimenting witj our guns.

 

[vindibona1]

Yes. Yes. 100 times yes. I also did this and it fixed my S15 magazine problems. I just found your post and am glad to see I'm not the only one to figure this out. Someone mentioned using only OEM parts, you're not contributing anything to the conversation. It's like saying a water is wet. We know this but we like experimenting witj our guns.

This "fix" is quite understandable at least in terms of illustrating why the failure occur. Somewhere in this or another thread a forum member mentioned at how much the S15's "rocked" back and forth in his mag well. In my 43x, I get LESS rocking with the S15's vs the OEM mags. It becomes obvious that the position of the bullet nose in relation to the feed ramp of the barrel is critical to reliability and there might be some variable (in any magazine) as to the consistency and repeatability of how the bullets are positioned prior to being chambered.

There are generally two complaints that tend to be cited in regard to the dissatisfaction of the S15s- Failure to chamber, using comments about using tape to create a fix to change angle or take up space, or unwanted ejection of the mags when little pressure is exerted and/or short release distance of the mag catch. Both of these when looked at together signal, at least, the source of the problem: The dimensions, length and girth of the 43x/48 frames are not precise and consistent. And so it appears that a minority of 43x/48 frames are either a bit too wide or a bit too long in the handle, enough inconsistency of precision to allow S15's to be reliable and suitable for every 43x/48 unit in circulation.

I cannot fault anyone who just wants to stay with OEM because all the components are pretty much guaranteed to work together (but not always). And any 3rd party part or attachment should always be tested extensively before being deemed fit for carry. For those wanting a 15 round flush fit mag there is a committment not only to the investment of the mag itself, but the investment of time and ammo to self-certify reliatbility. But I would also say the same about testing for OEM only pistols as well. "Glock Perfection" as we've read in many posts- isn't always perfect.

 

[Gman3101]

$$$ Create an artificial need. $$$

Didn't know 50% more capacity was an "artificial need."

Aren't we always finding ways to carry more rounds, whether a bigger gun or a mag extension/longer mag?

 

[737shark]

Never had an issue with mine but only 100 rds fired - back to the range

 

[jhc37013]

I've tried 3 different Shield mag buttons (one was the Premium button) and three different Shield Arms Gen 2 magazines with all having the same resulting failure to feed the first round when using the slide release button.

Same story as noted by others above the round sits to far back and under the stripper on the slide.

I tried three different times from 3 different stores just encase it was a bad batch from Shield either the release button or magazine itself. If it doesn't work 100% of the time I don't want it.

Update - Yesterday I said the heck with it let's see if these magazines will cycle so 200rds through it no failures during firing and strange thing is now I do not have the issue with the cartridge rim under the slide stripper, every inserted magazine seats fine.

Maybe the wear in the magazine catch hole and the wear on the mag catch has helped it's the only thing it could be, this 43x has over 1200rds through it so nothing changed with that.

Below is a few pics you can see the first pic is before the range trip I was going to send that pic to Shield Arms and ask what's wrong here, the next two pics are post range trip you can see now the cartridge sits forward enough and that is how it looks now everytime I insert the magazine.

 

[AlabamaSnowman170]

Yup.....

If you need more ammo, learn to shoot better, reload more efficiently or get a bigger gun.

I would be willing to bet every gun I own that you’ve never been in a gun fight.

 

[D20]

I've tried 3 different Shield mag buttons (one was the Premium button) and three different Shield Arms Gen 2 magazines with all having the same resulting failure to feed the first round when using the slide release button.

Same story as noted by others above the round sits to far back and under the stripper on the slide.

I tried three different times from 3 different stores just encase it was a bad batch from Shield either the release button or magazine itself. If it doesn't work 100% of the time I don't want it.

Update - Yesterday I said the heck with it let's see if these magazines will cycle so 200rds through it no failures during firing and strange thing is now I do not have the issue with the cartridge rim under the slide stripper, every inserted magazine seats fine.

Maybe the wear in the magazine catch hole and the wear on the mag catch has helped it's the only thing it could be, this 43x has over 1200rds through it so nothing changed with that.

Below is a few pics you can see the first pic is before the range trip I was going to send that pic to Shield Arms and ask what's wrong here, the next two pics are post range trip you can see now the cartridge sits forward enough and that is how it looks now everytime I insert the magazine.

There's some obvious differences between the two dummy rounds, in the way they contact the ejector. It seems the contact helps determine how the mag will sit. Also, I'm wondering what the difference is between pics 1 & 3 because they use the same round but one sits correctly while the other does not.
What do live rounds do as compared to the dummy pictures?

 

[Nanuk]

I would be willing to bet every gun I own that you’ve never been in a gun fight.

Should I send you my FFL? You don't even know who I am.

 

[diegolainfiesta]

This begs the question - why own and use these things at all. I remain a hardliner in the OEM/factory mag only reasoning.

You are totally right. 1 year ago I bought 4 S15 mags for my G43X. They fed fine, a month ago I milled my G43X and now all S15 mags have failure to feed. While on the range I tried the OEM ones, not 1 single failure. That settles it for me, I just switched the mag release button to the OEM one as well (had the S15 mags release too) and will only use OEM mags. S15 suck.