This past weekend I was practicing magazine changes with my new Glock magazines. These FML mags will replace my old NFML mags. For now, only Magazine 2 has been completely retired, and Mags 1 and 3 will continue to be used.
Since most of the magazine changes I do are during competition, and I almost always compete with Bruce, the G17, with magazines that have "plus 2" extenders, I didn't anticipate how much the lack of the extenders would affect how the magazine changes felt. Granted, I did have a preview of this during my last training session, Memorial Day weekend, using the Duke, my G21SF, but that experience was limited.
What the lack of the extenders means is that it feels to me like I have to push the magazines in farther than I used to. I didn't think an inch or so would make that much difference, and it doesn't really, when I'm using the full size guns, the G17 and G21, as long as I push until they stop and click in place.
But when I did a few practice runs with Liberty, my G19, which does not have extenders on its magazines either, I found that the shorter grip of the gun meant my the heel of my left hand, pushing the mag in, impacted the heel of my strong hand, which really felt awkward. This means there's a chance I won't fully seat a mag so that it latches, and I will end up dropping the full mag on my foot as soon as I return the gun to the shooting position.
I know where this heads. First it means I need a lot more practice time with the new magazines, and with my other guns. I'm going to have to practice until seating the magazine is a sure thing, no matter which gun I'm using. A few 10 minute practice sessions each night will go a long way to that.
Second, it means I probably need to budget for a lot more extenders. Eleven of them, at $9 each. Ouch. And no, the extenders from the NFML mags will not work on FML mags - I tried them when I first bought mags 4, 5, and 6, and got a rain of cartridges in return as the extender popped off.
Of course, the up side is that I will also gain 2 more rounds per magazine. You never know when that will come in handy.
It's always something.
