Triple K Magazine Blues

[rintinglen]

Very often, when you buy an older--or rare--semi auto, it comes with only ONE magazine. When you find yourself in this predicament, you are in a bit of a quandary. Where do you go to get additional--or heaven forfend--replacement magazines. For some older guns, magazines are still available. For example, I have been able to find modern manufacture magazines for a p-08 Luger, pre-war Colt Woodsmans, and an S&W 39-2. But for others, life is not so sweet. Original magazines are rare, and really expensive when found. Need a spare for your La Francaise 25 ACP? Good luck! Start haunting Gun Broker, Ebay, and pestering e-gunparts and Jack First. But one source for many odd ball magazines is Triple K of San Diego, CA.

They catalog and make many magazines for guns from manufacturers long since gone, as well as discontinued firearms from companies still in business. But the fly in the ointment is that they often don't work. I ran into this problem recently with three of their magazines. I stumbled upon a Mitchell Arms copy of the High Standard Citation. It takes the military style High Standard Magazine and originals on eBay, if you can find one, run well over 150.00. But Triple K makes them, and I was able to get two for less than 100.00 bucks. That was great.

But the bad news was that neither could be depended upon to feed a round into the chamber. I stumbled through the match using my one good magazine. When I got home, I set to work trying to identify what the root cause was. My calipers quickly gave me the answer when I measured the gap between the feed lips on the factory mag. At the rear, it was ~.178" but at the front, it opened up to about.184. The problematic clones from Triple K had the gap of only .173" and the lips were parallel from rear to front. A cartridge was noticeably lower in the after market mag. This was causing the cartridge to release too late and jamming itself into the edge of the chamber mouth.

In 1974 one of our Regimental Armorers gave me a tutorial on repairing magazine lips. He showed me how to use a pair of pliers to gently tweek the feed lips to return them to correct dimensions. So I took my parallel jawed pliers and applied myself to the task of modifying the recalcitrant magazines. When you are talking just a few thousandths, you have to use a very gentle touch. You want to get it right without bending the lips back and forth. Ideally, you want to bend the metal the absolute minimum to make the change you desire. It only took me about 10 minutes to carefully adjust the two mags to match the factory mag's dimensions, then another 15 to 20 to double check my measurements, and hand cycle a few dummies. I won't be able test fire them until Wednesday, but they seem to be working all right now.

Next is the magazine for my Newly Acquired Remington Model 51 .380.

[Walks]

I need at least another for My Savage 1907 in .32ACP. But I've heard such Horror stories about Triple-K that I'm afraid to gamble too much money on what doesn't work.

[Dan Cash]

I need at least another for My Savage 1907 in .32ACP. But I've heard such Horror stories about Triple-K that I'm afraid to gamble too much money on what doesn't work.

I have the same issue, same gun, same magazine need. If you solve your problem before I solve mine, let us know how it works.

[Thin Man]

This is not new to the Triple K family. About 12-13 years ago I found a Winchester Model 43 in 218 Bee coming available from an estate. The rifle had only one magazine with it so I ordered another from Triple K. It took them almost a year to deliver this order to me and the mag had issues. It was very tight locking it into the mag well and it refused to feed anything of ammo into the chamber. I later ordered a mag from them for a WWII era Sauer Model 38H. That delivery was another one year wait but when it arrived the mag fit and fed as it was supposed to do. I guess one out of two isn't all that bad considering the scarcity of these original mags.

[roysha]

Yeah. I figure it's a 50/50 deal when buying a Triple-K magazine. Most can be "adjusted" to work but occasionally one ends up being a target.

In regard to the OPs "High Standard", I have had OEM HS magazines that were no better. That's why, in this particular case, there is a little tool specifically made to adjust HS magazines. It does what the OP did, but makes it MUCH simpler to control the bend.

Back in the day, I never had a problem with a new HS and the magazines that came with it. Generally, I didn't have much of a problem with replacement magazines either, but sometimes the OEM replacement would not function properly. Enter the little adjustment tool. I suspect, HS made sure that the magazines that were shipped with the gun, functioned properly. After that you were on your own.

All that being said, my HS Supermatic S-101 is FAR and away my favorite 22 autoloader handgun.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Fortunate indeed, that you were able to adjust the feed lips. I've had a lot of dealings over the years with Triple K, and I would say that a 50% good out of the package is a fair assessment for custom orders. But, sometimes they are the only game in town when it comes to obsolete magazines. I do understand their problems. They actually have a huge collection of antique/obsolete firearms to consult for patterns when an obsolete magazine is requested, but many of these old guns changed anywhere from a little to a lot during their life span of manufacturing, and what fit one made in 1905 perhaps isn't quite right for one made in 1909. They also advertise in their catalog that they would like to purchase any obsolete pistols that they don't have. All gun guys should have a copy of their "Encyclopedia" of obsolete magazines, worth it for the line drawings alone of the old pistols.



As a collector, mostly of Spanish pistols, I've bought many an Astra 400 or 600 mag, Star Mod. A,B, Super A, Super B and all work well.

My first encounter with them was prompted by an old WW II Marine Vet who had brought home a Longines pistol taken from a Japanese officer in the S. Pacific. He was badly wounded, lying in a field hospital, and regained consciousness just in time to see a doctor taking it out of his pack. He violently objected, and the doctor relented, saying that he could keep the pistol but not the magazines and ammo. So I ordered three magazines from Triple K and none worked at all. It took lots of tinkering to get them to feed 3 in a row, and that was as good as it ever got.

On the other hand, several times I've taken advantage of their year end sales to purchase some more common magazines, like 1911s, PPKs, etc. in quantity, and almost never have had a problem. Sometimes some of the 1911s require having the hold open dog leg of the follower bent upward and perhaps a little outward to engage the hold open lever, but some of that is attributable to individual 1911s of different manufacture and different amounts of wear. Other than that, they work fine, and
you can spend a whole lot more for an original equipment mag or a high end after market mag.

No one bats a home run every time, and it seems that most manufacturers, even the big names like Winchester and Remington have their occasional lemons. I've never sent anything back to Triple K, so can't vouch for return service. They also have a line of leather goods, some of which I've purchased and used extensively over the years, and have been satisfied with.


DG

[rintinglen]

Lest anyone think I'm totally badmouthing Triple K, I'm not. I have magazines of their manufacture for 1910, and 1922 FN Browning pistols that work just fine, as well as Colt 1903 32 magazines and I've had luck with a Galesi 22 mag in the past. But I have also had some problems as well. A savage 340 magazine didn't work at all, didn't fit until I took a grinder to it, then wouldn't feed. But in many cases, they are quite literally the only game in town. Just be prepared to have to work on them to fit them to your gun, should you find your luck is less than optimal.

[Bent Ramrod]

I bought a Triple K magazine for a Savage 23B rifle. It feeds .25-20s fine, and when I put it in my 23C, it feeds the .32-20s as well. Pops in and out same as the originals.

It looks different than the originals, but that made no difference to me. I had to take a file to the bottom plate to round off the sharp corners, but that was the only issue I had.

[Mk42gunner]

I bought two Triple K magazines for a second model Colt Woodsman about thirty years ago, and had a spare mag for a Charter Arms AR-7 that may have been a Triple K.

The AR-7 worked about as well as the original, occasional misfeeds and needed careful insertion in the gun.

The Woodsman mags didn't work well at all, the notch for the magazine catch was cut too high and also too big. It let the mag protrude into the way of the slide. They may have worked with a third model, but I didn't have one handy to check.

I have been leery of them ever since. But they are about the only game in town for hard to find magazines.

Robert

[david s]

I also have a single Triple K mag for a second series Colt Woodsman. Wasn't impressed so only the one. A better solution is to cut the magazine notch into Beretta NEO magazines. The Beretta is a better quality magazine at about the same price and I converted 5 of these.

[Walks]

I checked their website, and they do list mags for the Savage 1907 in .32ACP, a 7rd mag. However My factory mag holds 10rds ???

[gwpercle]

Over the years I have bought extra triple - K magazines for Star model PS 45 acp , a Walther PPK 32 acp , a Walther P-38 9mm luger and a AMT Hardballer 45 acp . I ordered one for a friend ...Astra 400 9mm Largo .
They were not greatly finished but all five were affordable and all five worked .
The Triple K worked better than the factory Walther PPK magazine ...which had a problem.

Now ... for magazines my first choice now is Mec-Gar, I bought one for the AMT Hardballer and they are nickel plated and finely fit finished and extremely nice magazines ...but you pay a decent price for them and they don't carry as many obsolete and discontinued mags as Triple K ...So when you need a hard to find magazine ... it's Triple K or nothing . If your magazine doesn't work ...send em' an email and whine a lot !
Gary

[35remington]

My mantra is “Triple K….better than no magazine, but not by much.”

[Mk42gunner]

I also have a single Triple K mag for a second series Colt Woodsman. Wasn't impressed so only the one. A better solution is to cut the magazine notch into Beretta NEO magazines. The Beretta is a better quality magazine at about the same price and I converted 5 of these.

This was several years before the NEO came out, and even before the Colt Cadet/ .22. NEO mags are supposed to work in those without modification.

Robert

[rintinglen]

There is a nifty little tool that a fellow named Charles Wilson is selling on ebay for adjusting the High Standard magazines. It has built in gauges on the handle end and a precision slot to help you carefully adjust your mag lips. It is a little spendy but worth having if you have a need for such a thing.

[45DUDE]

I bought 4 spares for one of my High Standard's -military- and all functioned correctly.

[dkonrai]

I picked up one for a 1906 luger. Seems to fit and function, but need a range test to see for sure.
No mecgars to be found

Sent from my T790W using Tapatalk

[rintinglen]

I bought 4 spares for one of my High Standard's -military- and all functioned correctly.

You ought to have bought a power ball ticket as well.

[engineer401]

I once purchased two Triple K magazines for an HD Military. They were both too short for the bottom catch and didn't sit in high enough. I had to push them up from the bottom to make them work. It was a pain. I vowed never again.

[jimb16]

I bought mags from them for my High Standards and all worked perfectly. I also got one for my Colt Vest Pocket .25 auto. The mag had a high spot near the feed lips that dragged and made it hard to remove the mag. A little bit of bending and some judicious polishing cured the problem easily. I have had no real problems with their products.