9 Round Magazines for XD .40 Subcompact actually hold 10?!?

Hello,

Earlier this evening I was loading some hollow points into magazines for my Springfield XD .40 Subcompact. Before I realized it I had loaded 10 rounds in a 9 round magazine. I double and triple checked this, thinking it couldn't be possible. It was much easier to do in the older, broken in magazines than in a brand new one, but it was possible in both.

I've only been able to come up with a few possible reasons for this:

1) Its dangerous so Springfield doesn't want you to do it.

2) The springs are so stiff that it makes loading a 10th round difficult enough that Springfield figures they might as well market them as 9 rounders.

3) My Pierce Replacement Floor Plate Grip Extensions somehow magically increase the magazine capacity even though they don't. lol.

Do you think its dangerous to carry and/or shoot these magazines when loaded beyond capacity? I'm thinking that loading 10 rounds may wear out the magazine spring faster, but I don't know how much faster. Thoughts?

I don't have any experience with this topic, but I would advise against overloading any magazines. I'm definitely keeping on the safe side, but it seems to me that misfires and jams are likely to occur. Just my opinion though.

Stay safe!

I suggest caution if you're counting on this gun to work. Contrary to popular belief, overloading magazines, or loading newer magazines with small followers to full capacity can and does wear them out when left loaded for a time.

My favorite example is my 8 round P220 magazines. Leave them loaded 2 years, the springs become unreliable and need to be replaced. Whereas my decades old 7 rounders can be left loaded for my lifetime and that of a few more people, and they will never wear out. Even Wolff the spring maker has acknowledged that if you pack the rounds tight, expect them to wear out. There is a point at which the memory of the metal gets damaged, and it seems that some of the newer followers just barely push this limit.

If any magazine for any gun packs rounds tighter than a 7 round 1911 magazine, consider keeping one or two rounds out so that it doesn't. If you'd prefer to keep them loaded to capacity, that's fine, but keep a close eye on the springs and be ready to change them every year, or at most every 2.

Also worthy of note on this topic is that if you aren't carrying a magazine and are just looking to have fun with it, you can trim many followers to gain more capacity. If I remember right, Tapco SKS magazines can be made to hold 25 rounds. Plenty of other magazines can be modified the same way. But as with cars, remember that the engineers/designers knew what they were doing, so be prepared to mess something up if you decide you know better than they did.

Thanks for the input. I agree that overloading them will likely wear out the springs prematurely.

Because this is my CC & one of my bedside guns, the magazines stay loaded with HPs all the time. I'll keep loading them with 9 rds, their intended capacity. The magazine springs have definitely softened up since new, but they seem to have plenty of life left and should be good for several years.

After you loaded the 10 rounds did you try to insert it in the gun. I found that I could put 13 rounds in my Taurus but if I tried to insert it in the gun I could not get it to catch unless I had the slide locked back. In other words if you shot until the gun was empty and the slide locked back to insert a new magazine during the fight you could overload it. However if the slide wasn't locked back and you tried to reload you might better run.

What is happening is you are compressing the spring beyond its design point and will probably result in premature wear and failure.

PT111 said:

After you loaded the 10 rounds did you try to insert it in the gun. I found that I could put 13 rounds in my Taurus but if I tried to insert it in the gun I could not get it to catch unless I had the slide locked back. In other words if you shot until the gun was empty and the slide locked back to insert a new magazine during the fight you could overload it. However if the slide wasn't locked back and you tried to reload you might better run.

What is happening is you are compressing the spring beyond its design point and will probably result in premature wear and failure.

Click to expand...

Yes, I was able to insert the magazine all the way into the magazine well. Everything worked as normal, or at least as far as I could tell without shooting the gun. I'm sticking with carrying 9 in the magazine. If I feel like I need extra I'll just add a magazine to my belt.