Requesting some assistance for a project...

[sfraden]

I have an issue with my shooting range, I'm not allowed to pre-fill my magazines before going to the range. I fully get why I can't, and agree with them, but its still really inconvenient to have to stop and load my magazines over and over just to enjoy my shooting time. So I made myself a single handed reloading tool on my 3D printer, and it works great! Cheap to produce, and makes loading fast and easy. I have been asked at the range by other members to make them some of these, as everyone seems to like what I have done.

Well, I decided to make a lot of them, and quite honestly, sell them. I am not pitching myself here, nor selling them on these forums. What I need for this project is measurements :) I only own 2 handguns, a EAA Sar B6P and a S&W sd9ve. Obviously my speed loader works great on those , but I really would like to make different versions for different guns. So I turn to you, owners of handguns and ask if you would take a moment and measure your magazine for me and send me the results.

I would greatly appreciate it, so I am going to make an incentive. If you can send me dimensions of 3 or more magazines, I will make and send you a custom hand reloader for one of your choice. Obviously my deal cannot be open-ended, and I am anticipating some decent response, so I will offer this through June 30th, 2016

What I need is:
Name of the handgun, model.
Single or double stack magazine.
Caliber of the ammo. (380, 9mm, etc)
how wide is the magazine when facing you
how wide is the side of the magazine (Note if there is a metal roll-seam, indicate that and add it in to the measurement)
How wide is the opening on the top between the 'lips'

If you are submitting 3 or more different magazines and wish to claim my offer, I will need a shipping address as well.

Here is my email: [email protected]. I prefer you contact me there if you would like to participate....

Steve

[Aguila Blanca]

For 1911 magazines, you can go here: http://www.m1911.org/technic.htm

The first link on the left allows you to download a full set of Ordnance Department blueprints for the 1911. It's a zip file, that unzips to a PDF. The blueprint for the magazine is sheet #21 in the set.

[TunnelRat]

I wish you luck. I would point out though that the market does already have a number of such devices, and many pistols even come with a simple version of such a device.

If I get a chance when I get home I'll send you some measurements.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[CWKahrFan]

I'm not allowed to pre-fill my magazines before going to the range. I fully get why I can't, and agree with them

Ummm... This is a new one on me. In my neck of the woods, never heard of it. So... What is the "reason" (you didn't mention) that they give?

[Dan-O]

I'm curious as to the why as well. I'd find a new range after I told em to go eat dirt.

[Dave P]

"I'm curious as to the why as well. "

Kinda sounds like a scam to me. If you have product to sell, just say so.

[michael t]

Does that range make you buy their ammo ?

[P71pilot]

Loading mags at the range is no big deal to me and I do it every time, although I don't know if it is required or not. I load 5rds at a time anyways to conserve ammo and stick with 5shot groups when paper target shooting. I cannot help you with magazine dimensions as I only have 1 Pistol and that is my 1911 single stack. It's mags are easy to load even to full capacity.

Have you heard of the uplula magazine loader? Sounds like it could be very similar to your device. I would be interested in seeing your loading device

[vyse.04]

The ranges around here want to inspect all ammo brought in, so I can see how there would be issues with having magazines preloaded. I generally bring a few friends though, which means I get to reload less magazines. In Virginia they didn't seem to care, as long as the ammo was safe for range use.

[Grizz12]

lets see a video of your mag loaders in action

[TailGator]

I have heard of ranges with that rule. I suppose they think it is some extra layer of safety so that someone can't just pop a loaded mag in at the loading bench and then sweep people turning around with a loaded pistol.

I can send along the measurements of the mags I have, but, OP you need to know that you are competing with the UpLula, which can be had for around $30, and loads pretty much every double-stack mag around with absolute ease. For someone with, say, three different types of pistol, you are going to have to sell them for less than $10 a piece to be price competitive, and even then you will have to overcome the idea of people carrying several brand-specific reloading devices of yours versus one UpLula. And several brands of pistols include simple mag loaders in their packaging, too, so you aren't going to get those sales.

I hate to rain on your parade, but this doesn't look like a money maker to me.

[sfraden]

OK, I'll answer everyone :)

Several ranges by where I live, All of them are different in their rules. One does not allow handloaded ammo, so I can't go there at all. Another does not allow certain types of military ammo, and all of them do not allow steel core ammo. When you go into the range you have to have all the ammo you bring in 'checked in' where upon they flash a magnet sensor over all of it to make sure its all copper/lead and no steel.

I asked one time why this mattered and was told it had to do with the interior backstop and the damage that steel does vs lead. Of course the other reason for no loaded mags is safety; no loaded weapons allowed inside until your actually on the range.

Now as for what I make, it is certainly NOT an UPLA system. I have one of those and actually do not like it very much, but it DOES work. Just too much involved with using it. What I have done is created a simple slip over loader, based on others designs, that presses down the round allowing the next round to be slipped in with zero force, saves me a lot of time and really easy on my fingers. I have gone through many iterations of the device and finally have gotten it to the point where its nearly foolproof. I added in a thumb-hole so you can lower and raise the entire thing in one hand without having to rest the base on a table, thus my other hand simply feeds in the rounds and I have a 16 rnd mag filled in about 25 seconds.

Its most certainly not going to win any awards or anything, but it does work and most important: It costs me about $1 to make one. I merely plan to sell them for $4.99. Since I see people on Ebay and Amazon selling inferior items like what I made for upward of $12, and their selling over a thousand of them to date, I think I can certainly be very competitive with them.

This is all the reason I need measurements from different magazines; I certainly cant go out and buy one of each gun :P Most double stack mags have similar dimensions, but there are a few that are so different it requires a different build.

Well, that's my plan, and I'm sticking to it :)

[SpareMag]

You have thought of this of course, but having a custom loader for each weapon system is not practical. The UPlula, while not perfect, works well enough for a lot of different mags.

NO desire to rain on your parade, but the simple fact FOR ME is if I have one loader for six weapons, that works reasonably well, that beats six loaders for six weapons that work perfectly.

Perfect is the enemy of the good enough and all that.

Waiting to see how this works out !!!

[sfraden]

"You have thought of this of course, but having a custom loader for each weapon system is not practical. The UPlula, while not perfect, works well enough for a lot of different mags.

NO desire to rain on your parade, but the simple fact FOR ME is if I have one loader for six weapons, that works reasonably well, that beats six loaders for six weapons that work perfectly.

Perfect is the enemy of the good enough and all that.

Waiting to see how this works out !!! "

Frankly, people like you are simply not my target market. Your absolutely right with your viewpoint. People that have more than 2 guns usually are avid enthusiasts and tend to have/want better quality accessories. I figure that people I find on forums like these fit that category and might be willing to send me measurements, but not actually buy what I want to sell; which is why I'm not marketing here :)

[TailGator]

If you can market them for $5 you might get somewhere. I will get you the measurements on the pistols I own before the long weekend is over. (Can't jump right on it because I am in a wedding today for a young friend.)

[SpareMag]

Sfraden,

I wish you the best!

Gun people are an odd mix of the hopelessly traditional and the rabid modernists.

And just so you are aware, this whole magazine thing is just a fad. If you need more than six shots, you are in the wrong end of the discussion.

[johnwilliamson062]

It costs me about $1 to make one. I merely plan to sell them for $4.99.
I mean to rain on your parade.
Is that your material cost alone? Are you omitting other costs like electricity for your printer and depreciation of the machine and components?
Your time?(if it is just for fun time may not be necessary)
Is that $4.99 shipped?

I'll PM with the guns I have available to measure and you let me know wht you don;t have yet.

[Kimber84]

What kind of material are you printing that has enough strength to hold up. I prototype a lot of plastic parts out of various materials, and maybe it's just that our printers aren't the latest and greatest, but I don't really know of any 3D printed material that's strong enough to withstand any type of use.

I'm not criticizing at all, I'm honestly curious what you're using.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[sfraden]

Is that your material cost alone? Are you omitting other costs like electricity for your printer and depreciation of the machine and components?

Yes and no. Literal material cost is like $.45, The rest of the cost is electric.

Your time?(if it is just for fun time may not be necessary)

My time is everything else :)

Is that $4.99 shipped?

My first sales is up on Ebay now, I am experimenting with $1 flat rate shipping fee and see how that goes.

[sfraden]

What kind of material are you printing that has enough strength to hold up. I prototype a lot of plastic parts out of various materials, and maybe it's just that our printers aren't the latest and greatest, but I don't really know of any 3D printed material that's strong enough to withstand any type of use.


I use both PLA and ABS. The PLA is easier to work with and makes a resulting harder item. The ABS is much harder to work with, but also makes a very strong item, if your machine can do it perfectly.

Most of the problem of strength of the part is a matter of design. With the proper bit of engineering thrown into the design, it can hold up very well in the long run. I use .2 layer height, 90% reticular infill, 3 layer solid walls (top and bottom), 100% extrusion rate at 40% speed. I went through a LOT of failed designs in my prototyping before coming up with this one :)

[sfraden]

lets see a video of your mag loaders in action

https://youtu.be/yaudJsjsins

Finally got off my arse and made one; its a bit rough, but shows how easy it is to use :)

[Dave P]

Seems to work well. I do recall having one like that, somewhere around hear.

Add some audio commentary to your utube.

[sfraden]

Soon I'll produce a better video; I'm waiting to get more mag measurements in so I can produce different versions.

I may be good at making these units, but I suck horribly at making video's :D

[pilpens]

I just saw the video.
I think you might have something there.
It is small and looks easy to use.
Good Luck.

[Sharkbite]

Thats just like the loader that comes with Glock pistols, but with the addition of the thumb loop. Looks cool!!

[Kimber84]

I use both PLA and ABS. The PLA is easier to work with and makes a resulting harder item. The ABS is much harder to work with, but also makes a very strong item, if your machine can do it perfectly.



Most of the problem of strength of the part is a matter of design. With the proper bit of engineering thrown into the design, it can hold up very well in the long run. I use .2 layer height, 90% reticular infill, 3 layer solid walls (top and bottom), 100% extrusion rate at 40% speed. I went through a LOT of failed designs in my prototyping before coming up with this one :)



You bring up an interesting point with regards to design, from my perspective all of our parts are injection molded so they aren't necessarily designed for 3-D printing. So when we Prototype something it's typically not that strong because we'll generally run out of polypropylene or polyethylenes where you end up getting your strength.

Awesome to see what you've done and I admire your tenacity.

[johnwilliamson062]

The video has me convinced.
I'm thinking about buying one for my Glock just to have the thumbhole.

[sfraden]

The video has me convinced.
I'm thinking about buying one for my Glock just to have the thumbhole.

I don't have Glock mags measurements :( tell ya what, I'm still doing my original offer tho, if you send me measurements of all your gun's mags I'll make you one for your glock for free.....

[sfraden]

So far two people have taken me up on my offer, but I still need more measurements! I'll keep the offer alive if it means I can get a few of you guys to take a few minutes to send me some measurements :)

[ericuda]

I took sfraden up on his offer and he shipped me one like shown in the video for my cz 9mm. I received it last week sometime and tried it out today. I have not used loaders much at all ao nothing really to compare. The loader worked well and the thumbhole gave me decent control.

[scoobysnacker]

My comment goes not to the range-loading gizmo, but to the range rules.

The range nearest my house is a fantastic place, when it comes to rules. They have a sign up stating "no loaded firearms on entry". That is it.

You can bring in all the preloaded magazines you can carry.

You can bring in your own ammo, whatever that may be- reloads, steel cased, steel core, etc... in whatever caliber you shoot. And if that's .50 caliber coming out of a Barrett... that's fine too.

Edit to add: now that's a darn useful gadget!

I don't have exact measurements, but for a little reference- I own (in 9mm doublestack) a
CZ 75,
Beretta 92,
S&W 915 (that's a 3rd Gen),
Star 30MI,
Zastava CZ99,
and a Hi Power

The CZ has decidedly different measurements from the others. Of the rest, the OEM Beretta mag will fit inside the magwell of them all. The Mec Gar Beretta mag seems to stick in several of them. The S&W mag will get stiff going into the Beretta.

Re the Zastava, I have already converted one Beretta Mecgar mag to work in it, and according to the internet, Sig P226 mags will fit too (and also, Beretta mags will fit in the P226).

I have also read that the S&W mags can be converted to work in both the Star and the Daewoo DP 51/Lionheart LH9.

What does all this mean?
If you allow for a little wiggle room (probably no more than 0.5mm) on a relatively cheap MecGar M9 mag, you cover

Beretta, S&W 3rd Gen, Star 28/30/31, Sig P226, Browning Hi Power, Zastava CZ99/999/EZ9, Daewoo DP 51/Lionheart.

[Clark]

I was an engineer for 30 years, much of that time eating lunch in factory cafeterias.
I have 30 years experience listening to other engineers with an idea for a product.
I have seen some guys design, build, and sell many products.

My son took a year off and designed video games and sold them online.
His sales were so so.
Now he is 29 years old and makes $220k/year at Google.

Guys who believe in themselves and keep trying tend to do well, not always in the way they planned.

[sfraden]

scoobysnacker-> Thanks for your information, it was quite valuable in making additions to my database of what sizes fit what type.

I have been working on the different types, and shortly should have more to offer a wider range of gun owners. Also working on an entirely new type, one that works like a Maglula, but not quite the same :)

Robert: Almost have your hi-point one done and will send that out to you shortly, thanks for the time you took to send in your mag sizes !