Reising 12 Round Magazine Spring - Options

[heavy artillery]

Has anyone come up with a suitable solution for replacing (or reconditioning?) a Reising 12-round magazine spring? I'm looking for options such as a suitable spring from another platform (even if it needs a few coils removed).

 

I have a nice collection of 12 round magazines but all of them have worn springs. I'm hoping someone has come up with a good approach to replace their worn springs.

 

I appreciate your feedback. Thanks.

[StrangeRanger]

you might try high cap single-stack 1911 mags like Pro-Mag or Mec-Gar. No guarantees but it's a place to start. Don't know if they sell springs separately or not. Here's a source for the mags, you're on your own tracking down the springs.

 

https://gunmagwarehouse.com/promag-1911-45-acp-15-round-government-commander-magazine-blued-steel-col-a5.html

https://gunmagwarehouse.com/mec-gar-1911-45-acp-11-round-magazine.html

 

Forget all that. Wolff makes XP mag springs for high cap 1911s. Scroll down at:

 

https://www.gunsprings.com/COLT/1911%20GOV'T PISTOL/cID1/mID1/dID1#805

Edited December 31, 2020 by StrangeRanger

[heavy artillery]

@StrangeRanger We're thinking alike, I reached out to Wolff this morning. I've tried the 1911 mag springs, but they didn't work (I don't think they are compressing straight up/down but are shifting/bulging in the center.

[emmagee1917]

Have you tried setting the spring in with the front to the rear and the rear to the front like a M1 carbine magazine ?

Chris

[heavy artillery]

Have you tried setting the spring in with the front to the rear and the rear to the front like a M1 carbine magazine ?

Chris

 

I haven't but willing to give it a try...

[StrangeRanger]

I don't have a 12 round mag to play with but are they a true single-stack or do they use a slight stagger like Glock does with their 9mm single stacks? If it's a true single stack, a 1911 style spring should work, if it's staggered then I can see how it could kink/jam. I don't know of any .45 mags that use a staggered single column only true double stacks like the Para-Ord or G21.

Edited December 31, 2020 by StrangeRanger

[StrangeRanger]

Well I had a major brain fart. The 12 round mags have to have a slight stagger. They are the same length as the 20s and the 20s are a conventional double stack for rounds 3-20; the mag tapers to a single feed and rounds 1 and 2 are a staggered single feed. To pack 10 rounds into the space where the 20s hold 18 they have to have some stagger.

 

The controlling dimension is going to be inside-to-inside of the ribs. I did a quick layout sketch and it looks like it should be about 1.30." Can you measure and confirm? The bad news is that if my layout is even close to correct the 12 round mags are going to be a bit too narrow for a spring from a conventional double stack 9mm to fit.

Edited January 1, 2021 by StrangeRanger

[heavy artillery]

@StrangeRanger Went out and checked with the calipers:

 

The inner width dimension at the ribs is about .57". The total (non-crimped area) is about .89". The average crimp runs around .145" (there is some minor variability in crimp depth). The 12-round spring is about .515" in width.

 

The 1911 spring is about .42" with the mag width being .55" - You can actually insert the 1911 magazine body in the space between the ribs.

Edited January 1, 2021 by heavy artillery

[StrangeRanger]

Aargh! I had the dimension scale set wrong on the layout; it was off by a factor of 2. My initial layout should have shown a width of .65", not 1.30." That's still way wider than the .57 you measured. I redid the layout and there's not much stagger, just enough to cause problems. Just for grins I checked the spring in both a high cap G19 and an Uzi mag, both are over a tenth too wide, as expected. There are a lot of staggered single stack mags in .40 S&W but that is because they are built on the same tube width as a 9mm double stack. Are there any other single stack in any caliber that use a partial stagger rather than taking full advantage of the mag length? I don't know of any.

 

You may be out of luck

 

Edit:

Suomi M31/Swedish K springs are about .54 wide so thayt may fit but they may also drag on the sides because they are just a bit wider than the Reisings.

Edited January 1, 2021 by StrangeRanger

[heavy artillery]

I tried a Suomi M31 mag and a Shockwave semi-Suomi mag (they fit the Lage Max-31 but not my Suomi). You are correct, they drag too much on the sides.

 

I checked some other mags and discovered that one of my MP40 mag springs was very similar in width and would fully install in the 12 housing. It will need a few coils removed and some testing but I'm optimistic.

[StrangeRanger]

Are MP40 springs readily available?

I can't see trashing one MP40 mag to get two or maybe three Reising mags working.

 

EDIT:

Never mind, I see that Wolff makes them

Edited January 2, 2021 by StrangeRanger

[heavy artillery]

Partial success with the Wolff MP40 magazine spring. I conducted a test with removing 7 coils from the MP40 spring. This resulted in a functional magazine limited to 8 rounds (too much spring pressure to install a 9th). I function tested this spring a half-dozen times with no issues. I'll keep looking for a different spring better optimized for this magazine.

 

The test with 6 coils resulted in too much resistance while 8 coils did not provide enough resistance for the first round. Most of this checking could be done without removing any coils by using the bottom plate at the desired point of the spring then installing the baseplate while leaving just enough room for the remaining coils to hang out the bottom of the mag.

[StrangeRanger]

Try stretching the spring till it takes a set at a new slightly greater overall length, then see if -8 coils works

[emmagee1917]

If the 1911 mag will fit in the Reising mag body , would using one as a spacer inside allow one to align the rounds inside without binding and push them up to the feed lips of the Reising mag ?

Chris

[jim c 351]

Heavy Artillery,

Did you ever find a satisfactory replacement for the Reising 12 rd mag spring.?????????????????

Jim C

[heavy artillery]

Heavy Artillery,

Did you ever find a satisfactory replacement for the Reising 12 rd mag spring.?????????????????

Jim C

 

(Better late than never.) I found a reduced-capacity workaround using a MP40 spring but am still looking for a more satisfactory replacement. I had reached out to Wolff and a few other companies without any commitment/response.