OT - Glock Magazine Plus-2's

[Rimfire McNutjob]

A lot of people either own currently or have owned one of these pistols. They certainly were very popular when they first became available over here. Most people who have been to a gun show and have looked at Glocks and Glock accessories have seen for sale the little replacement magazine plates called Plus-2's. In case you've never run into one, they simply elongate the magazine by replacing the existing flat floor plate by sliding over the small rails on the bottom of the magazine. I believe at first they were aftermarket items but eventually Glock started making them as well ...



Some people use them for the extending the grip surface, some to add the two extra rounds of capacity, and others like the thought of giving the magazine spring a little relief and thus promote a longer spring life or perhaps marginally improve the reliability. I bought a couple for my Glock 23 back in the early 90's but have never put them on.

This past week, a friend of mine confronted an intruder in his living room in the middle of the night. He held the intruder at gunpoint while his wife called the police. At some point he got too close to the intruder and the guy rushed him. They struggled and the base of the gun knocked into a piece of furniture where the Plus-2 was knocked from the magazine rails. All of the .40 S&W dumped to the floor along with the magazine spring. Still in the struggle, the gun discharged.

At this point, my friend is now in possession of a Glock paperweight ... slide locked back, nothing in the magazine. He was able to strike the intruder in the head with the heavy steel slide of the Glock. The police arrived and were waved in by his wife to find the intruder again subdued and bleeding from his head.

I will probably never mount the Plus-2's I have to my magazines. I'm not sure they're worth it. This is perhaps an unusual event. But it was a failure of a part of questionable necessity at a really bad time for my friend.

[Hobie]

That is interesting. Glad your friend is ok.

[nemhed]

Definitely food for thought on a number of levels. Main point to me is: keep your distance from the bad guy!

[Pisgah]

Not doubting the substance of the story, but a couple of observations on the details --

-- Glock mag bases, including the +2s, are just about the toughest mag bases to remove I've ever encountered. If it got knocked off, it wasn't installed correctly to begin with.

-- Second, how the heck, with the guts gone from the mag, did the gun lock open? Not saying an empty gun isn't a dire situation under such circumstances, slide-locked or not, but take the guts out of a mag, reinsert the empty, and see if it'll lock open. No way, without pushing the hold-open lever up.

[Nate Kiowa Jones]

A lot of people either own currently or have owned one of these pistols. They certainly were very popular when they first became available over here. Most people who have been to a gun show and have looked at Glocks and Glock accessories have seen for sale the little replacement magazine plates called Plus-2's. In case you've never run into one, they simply elongate the magazine by replacing the existing flat floor plate by sliding over the small rails on the bottom of the magazine. I believe at first they were aftermarket items but eventually Glock started making them as well ...



Some people use them for the extending the grip surface, some to add the two extra rounds of capacity, and others like the thought of giving the magazine spring a little relief and thus promote a longer spring life or perhaps marginally improve the reliability. I bought a couple for my Glock 23 back in the early 90's but have never put them on.

This past week, a friend of mine confronted an intruder in his living room in the middle of the night. He held the intruder at gunpoint while his wife called the police. At some point he got too close to the intruder and the guy rushed him. They struggled and the base of the gun knocked into a piece of furniture where the Plus-2 was knocked from the magazine rails. All of the .40 S&W dumped to the floor along with the magazine spring. Still in the struggle, the gun discharged.

At this point, my friend is now in possession of a Glock paperweight ... slide locked back, nothing in the magazine. He was able to strike the intruder in the head with the heavy steel slide of the Glock. The police arrived and were waved in by his wife to find the intruder again subdued and bleeding from his head.

I will probably never mount the Plus-2's I have to my magazines. I'm not sure they're worth it. This is perhaps an unusual event. But it was a failure of a part of questionable necessity at a really bad time for my friend.

I carry an old trade-in glock m22 duty gun everyday. I'm not a big fan of the glocks for any other thing but everyday carry. Mainly because I don't have to clean it often (never) and I don't really care if it gets beat up. I've been carrying this old 1st gen glock for the last 12-14 years so it has caught he77. Early on I had the plus two's on the mags until I had one come apart like that. I haven't used them since. If 16 won't do it then 2 more aint gonna help!

[AJMD429]

-- Glock mag bases, including the +2s, are just about the toughest mag bases to remove I've ever encountered. If it got knocked off, it wasn't installed correctly to begin with.

On the other hand, over the years I've had lots of mechanical things, gun and non-gun, that I've been trying to 'remove' a part of with zero success. When finally my patience is gone, and Jekyll-goes-to-Hyde, and I finally fling the item on the floor or against the nearest post , 'magically' it disassembles . This could be such a case.

[Rimfire McNutjob]

Not doubting the substance of the story, but a couple of observations on the details --

-- Glock mag bases, including the +2s, are just about the toughest mag bases to remove I've ever encountered. If it got knocked off, it wasn't installed correctly to begin with.

I think there's just an opportunity for it to pop off the rails if struck hard, versus the very flat normal floor plate that you really couldn't get any leverage on unless you got a screwdriver up under the edge. I personally have never seen one dump or pop off.

-- Second, how the heck, with the guts gone from the mag, did the gun lock open? Not saying an empty gun isn't a dire situation under such circumstances, slide-locked or not, but take the guts out of a mag, reinsert the empty, and see if it'll lock open. No way, without pushing the hold-open lever up.

You're right of course. I had assumed the slide locked back, but the follower would have been on the floor probably stuck to the top of the spring. He was able to strike the guy right after the discharge. I'm sure it startled both of them to some extent.

The guy is out on bail having been initially charged with three misdemeanors. The guy had for some reason wrapped his feet in duct tape. I don't know if he was homeless or something and was using that in lieu of shoes or if that's something a burglar does these days to quiet themselves. But duct tape?

[wecsoger]

If he was smart he would have had a real job...

Lessons Learned:
-Got a +2 on my G26 back up gun. It's carried in a shoulder holster and rarely gets bumped. For the G17, no +2's regardless. It gets bumped, beat, scraped, knocked and pushed against everything, from car doors to stair rails to hallway door frames. Indeed, I use regular mags there and download them one. If you can't solve the issue with 17 rounds, you got a *real* problem best left for the road sergeant.
-Never, ever, never let the bad guy get too close. Good for your buddy. Encounter could easily have gone the other way. First thing this idiot should have run into should have been your friends outstretched arm (the non-Glock holding arm) and the other hand should have been in close to his body. One of our range qualifications is firing at a full size silhouette three foot away.
-From another poster, "clean Glocks"? Well, if you have to. Most people waaaaaay over oil them. Use too much, it attracts a lot of junk, including maybe misfires by clogging up the firing pin channel. Fixed a guys gun once that way. Very little oil you can shoot couple hundred rounds or more in crappy conditions with nary a boggle.
- item last, on the duct tape. I'll bet that guy worked in construction. I've seen companies put layers of duct tape on scissors lifts and scaffold wheels so the rubber won't mark up floors. I'll bet he was just being considerate by not trying to scuff the floors in your friend's house when he robbed him. (grin)

[Rimfire McNutjob]

I went looking in some old boxes for my Plus-2's. I finally found one and I think it's from back in the early 90's. Here are some blurry pictures of it. I have a hard time up close, even in natural light and manual focus mode. It's a good thing I don't take photo's for a living. Anyway, it's labeled a "2Plus2" on the bottom. I'm not sure who was making them back then ... Scherer perhaps? Do they still make Glock stuff?

Obviously it's not a Glock version. I think I got this back in '92 or so. I'm not sure if Glock was making them back then. Also, the lips that ride over the magazine rails are pretty thin on this version. I would bet that Glock corrected that when they came out with a "factory" version. I need to ask him what version he had on his mags.

-Never, ever, never let the bad guy get too close.

This is what he's most embarrassed about. He was really upset that he let the guy get too close.

On the upside, I found some old "pre-'94 Crime Bill" Glock 20 Mags in the box too. Apparently, I wanted a Glock in 10mm back then and got the mags before they went restricted under the Clinton ban. Yeah, that's right ... I don't remember exactly. It's been about 18 years though.

[soon 2 retire]

Breaking and entering and attacking the homeowner and the guy's charged with misdemeanors. I think it's time for a prosecutor to go.

Bob in NE Indiana

[CEMENTHEAD]

Not a good time to find an equipment malfunction. I am glad your friend and his family are ok, that could've been bad.

Personally with Glocks do you need an extension? My Glock 21 SF holds 13 in the mag. Even my Colt 1991A1 holds 8 in the Wilson mags. Both weapons magazines get rotated every 2 weeks and are dead nuts reliable.




Just my .02¢....................Thanks, Tom

[Ysabel Kid]

That is interesting. Glad your friend is ok.

+1

I have them for my Glock 27. This is the sub-combat, and without it my pinky has no purchase at all, having to curl under the gun.

[Ysabel Kid]

...keep your distance from the bad guy!

That's the whole point of a firearm, is it not?

[kimwcook]

Glad to hear your bud's alright. Could of turned out a whole lot different.

[Rusty]

Maybe he should leave the prisoner taking to the guys with the badge.

[wecsoger]

Tell your buddy to not be too hard on himself. Bottom line, he won the encounter, bad guy didn't and I'll guarantee that he won't make that tactical mistake again.

That is the point of training, and unfortunately he had to get some of his OJT. (on the job) Even experienced professionals screw up, but hopefully less so. They've either been through a similar situation before, or walked through it, talked through it, done mental imagery or other things to support the mindset.

One of the best things I've done is the FATS training (firearms training simulator) with the video screen and different shoot/no shoot scenarios. It's a great teaching item to expose your folks to stressful situations and hopefully prevent a wrongful shooting later on.

As far as your friend... Unless he's had experiences like this before, I *highly* recommend he talk to a trained professional about this. Not some gun shop commando or delta-force-in-training-ninja, but one of local department chaplains or stress management advocates. Every big police department or fire department has folks or knows of folks that do this. Even if he says it's no big deal, it's only an hour or two out of his life. And really, it is a big deal.

As far as the +2's, the ones you picture I think are the same ones I've got on my Glock 26. I absolutely have to have one on that little pocket rocket, since I'm of the knuckle dragger construction and have to have something to wrap the rest of my hand around. But still, if it's not going to see much activity, I've no problem with the extender, but anything that may get bumped or jostled, no.

Let us know how this knucklehead progresses through the court system.

[336A]

Wow, glad to hear that your friend and his family are ok. I can't believe that that miscreant was only charged with misdemeanors.

[Rexster]

John Farnam's website mentioned Glock floorplates coming loose, but I can't remember if the incidents involved extended floorplates, or if they were factory or aftermarket. Even the standard floorplates can be all too easily mis-assembled. Do be careful.

Ysabel Kid, an alternative to those +2 floorplates is a standard magazine from the next size up Glock model. I favored a G23 magazine when I briefly used a G27.

Holding someone at gunpoint is a DANGEROUS thing to do!

Regardless, I am glad the defender in this case is OK!

[shawn_c992001]

Glock 20 mags huh??? 15+1 rounds of 10mm devistation!