Mag Experiment

Several years back I decided that I wanted a 40 caliber pistol. I had an el cheapo 380 that I hated so I traded it with a little cash for a Llama 40 S&W from one of the local gun shops. I really loved the pistol, steel frame, fit my hand real good and was amazingly accurate. The one problem that it had that I could not fix, and which led to me eventually trading it in on a Taurus 40, was that it would fire 2 or 3 rounds and then stove pipe the next round or three. I did everything that I could think of and tried every tip that I could find online but never fixed the problem. I kept thinking that there was a problem with the way the mag was feeding the rounds in so I took on a search for a Llama 40 S&W magazine. I still haven't found one. They were available for 45's, 9's and about everything else but not the 40's. And from what I could gather, the factory was all but non existant. Broke my little heart but I finally traded her in.
In the midst of trying to cure the problem, I decided to try making my own mag by using the original as somewhat of a pattern. I suceeded in getting the mag made and it worked as good as the factory mag - - feed 1 to 3 and stove pipe the next few. Anyway, I thought I'd share the pics of my little endeavor.

All the parts cut out;

Forming the shell. I used the drill press to push the form into the sheet metal.


Making the follower from a jig made from aluminum;

Making the spring from piano wire;

The end product;


Never finished these but since I was experimenting I thought I'd try a longer version:)

That looks great. My dad had a Llama 9mm that had the same problem. You would shoot a couple and it would fail to eject. Put 2 different ejector pins in it, but it never fixed the problem. Now the gun just sits in the gun cabinet.

Thanks Fletch. It's a shame too, they would be really nice pistols if not for that pesky little problem.

very nice job id paint it black to keep down on rust but thats an amazing job you interested in making some for a 1911 lol

Yeah, make some 1911 30rnd mags, that way I won't have to reload as often.

Thanks dart. Yeah, I just threw a little cold blue on it to take off the shine but since it didn't cure the problem with the pistol I didn't oil it or anything.
LOL, a 30 rd 1911 mag would be useful

yea that would be awsome!

didn't someone at one time make a drum mag for the 1911? I

Yep. Looks like they are no longer available - but they did make 'em

http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/MAG263-1.html

That would take a while to load. Do you think that's IDPA approved?

That is awesome..... good job did you weld the back on?? or just fold and crimp?? and
Did you temper the spring after making it so it would not loose tension???

kcatto wrote:That is awesome..... good job did you weld the back on?? or just fold and crimp?? and
Did you temper the spring after making it so it would not loose tension???

Thanks kc. The back was spot welded by a friend of mine. My Lincoln was a bit much for it lol! I didn't do anything to the spring other than wind it around the form. It was a pain in the arse to get it wound, and a pain to get off the form. It took a lot of "finesse" to get it back in line after finally getting it off. If it would have fixed the problem with the Llama feed I would have persued a more long term fix on the spring.

very nice again.... and a job well done.... I really like the jig you made for the follower...