How to remove Glock magazine baseplates

cpo · Mar 20, 2019

I'm just throwing this in here for reference in case anyone needs it in the future. It's very interesting to me how many creative "solutions" there are to this question. The answer is really very simple.

Doctor_M · Mar 20, 2019

I always thought this was obvious.

hodgepodge · Mar 20, 2019

Yeah, but sometimes it can be a pain. I tried a "special tool". This is the simplest way.

davsco · Mar 20, 2019

i bought a plastic thingie that compresses the mag, gtul or something like that. THAT makes it pretty easy.

Qbeam · Mar 20, 2019

Um, quite a few different brand magazines work that way (Sig, Beretta, Browning, M&P), the nub is in various places but it should be a simple push the retaining plate down to clear the baseplate push the baseplate forward. Magpul AR-15 magazines are similar.

But, if you don't know, you don't know. Knowledge is half the battle.

Q

davsco · Mar 20, 2019

Qbeam said:
Um, quite a few different brand magazines work that way (Sig, Beretta, Browning, M&P), the nub is in various places but it should be a simple push the retaining plate down to clear the baseplate push the baseplate forward. Magpul AR-15 magazines are similar.

But, if you don't know, you don't know. Knowledge is half the battle.

Q

at least the glock mags i have, in addition to the 'nub' that gets depressed, there are slots/indents on the sides and the sides of the mag have to be compressed so that the basepad can slide forward.

pmags, sti mags, canik mags, etc, all just have the nub, depress it and the base pad slides off, not so with the glocks in my experience.

Qbeam · Mar 20, 2019

Thanks, Davsco, did not know that about factory Glock Mags. Now I know. Would a small allen wrench work length wise?

Q

AlBeight · Mar 20, 2019

My Glock 17 Mags don’t come apart that way. The depressable button is common to every mag in the world. That locks the plate down just like every other mag does. However, Glock has the aforementioned tabs on the sides that are a sumbich to slide the plate over, without compressing the mag sides (& tabs) inward to create a clear path to slide off. The Glock tool does nothing to provide adequate dimensions for the side “slot” to slide free from the tab on each side. In fact, I just tried this method, using the exact Glock tool portrayed. The result was a base plate that moved exactly 0.00mm towards freedom as they were still captured by the side tabs. The end result was also a banana shaped Glock tool. Thanks for that by the way - that tool wasn’t free to me (hopefully the attempt to bend it back straight was successful so that I can still use it on my pistol and mags).

“It’s that easy”? I guess I’m just a moron then. Looking at the architecture of the mag, and the instruction to solely push the button down to free the base plate without doing anything to address the two protruding locking side tabs, well...... again, I must be a moron because I got the exact result I was expecting, having done this on a dozen G17 mags previously and just tried tonight using the same technique in the video.

Notice the video doesn’t make a single mention of the side tabs. The method shown in the video is exactly how I, and everyone else, removes the base plates on every other manufacturer base plates - but IMHO it doesn’t work on Glock 17 mags (Gen 4 in case that matters). I tried for hours a few months ago, until I ended up using channel locks to slightly compress the bottom of each mag to give the plate enough room to slide past the lock tabs. Now that was easy, and born out of necessity. I’m not buying this method in the video, but like I said.....I’ve got to be a moron so don’t take my word for it. Go break your own Glock Tools to see for yourself.

Docster · Mar 20, 2019

I always thought that YouTube was one of the best resources EVER!

cpo · Mar 21, 2019

davsco said:
at least the glock mags i have, in addition to the 'nub' that gets depressed, there are slots/indents on the sides and the sides of the mag have to be compressed so that the basepad can slide forward.

AlBeight said:
My Glock 17 Mags don’t come apart that way. The depressable button is common to every mag in the world. That locks the plate down just like every other mag does. However, Glock has the aforementioned tabs on the sides that are a sumbich to slide the plate over, without compressing the mag sides (& tabs) inward to create a clear path to slide off.

You mean these locking tabs? Yeah... my mag has them too.

It's not necessary to compress the sides of the mag to remove the base plate. This isn't a magic trick. No smoke and mirrors. It's just a technique that has to be learned. Look at where the tip of my punch is. Look at where the handle is (pushed all the way to the baseplate). Look how the technique is to rotate the the punch... not slide it. look at where I'm applying the pressure with my thumb, down low close to the base plate. Use the spring as a fulcrum.

I'm just saying. I did it three times in this video, so watching it and then saying it can't be done is somewhat perplexing. You can try and learn it, or don't. It doesn't matter to me. If you want to meet up with your Glock mags sometime, I'll be happy to show you on your mags.

davsco · Mar 21, 2019

https://www.brownells.com/gun-clean...glock--prod41547.aspx?avs|Manufacturer_1=GTUL

this is what i got. press on the sides with it (the red thing), depress the nub with the punch on the bottom of the brush, bottom plate slides off easy peasy. and the brush gets lots of use cleaning all my mags.

Dave MP · Mar 21, 2019

Great video!
I tried it on several sizes of Glock magazines. Worked on all. Had a bit of trouble with the G26 mags, but it did work.

kingfish · Mar 21, 2019

3.5 minutes for 30 seconds of information.....

cpo · Mar 21, 2019

kingfish said:
3.5 minutes for 30 seconds of information.....

Yet people still denying that it's possible.

Dave MP · Mar 21, 2019

cpo said:
Yet people still denying that it's possible.

This procedure is also outlined in the GLOCK published Preventative Maintenance Procedures, CPO took the time to make these instructions "Barney Style" for those that need the extra visuals.

AlBeight · Mar 22, 2019

cpo said:
Yet people still denying that it's possible.

CPO, let me apologize for my a-hole post. 11:40 pm late night, no sleep for 2 days straight after rocking a viral infection for a week and a half, I think I was trying for humor & sarcasm mixed with some pretty obvious frustration?? I just re-read my post #8 (somewhat clear-headed now) & it seems I was just a big douche instead. You made it look so easy in the video, and I’m feeling like a dipshiite because even today after about 25 tries all I keep doing is bending my Glock tool. I’m moving on from this, grudgingly.

Either way, I do want to thank you for posting the video, and even in response to my smartass ranting you still offered additional help to me. That was awfully cool by you, and I thank you for ignoring my knucklehead reply. Again, my sincere apologies for the tone of post #8.

Eastern_Water_Moccasin · Mar 23, 2019

This especially doesn't work on 10 round glock mags.

Dave MP · Mar 23, 2019

AlBeight said:
CPO, let me apologize for my a-hole post. 11:40 pm late night, no sleep for 2 days straight after rocking a viral infection for a week and a half, I think I was trying for humor & sarcasm mixed with some pretty obvious frustration?? I just re-read my post #8 (somewhat clear-headed now) & it seems I was just a big douche instead. You made it look so easy in the video, and I’m feeling like a dipshiite because even today after about 25 tries all I keep doing is bending my Glock tool. I’m moving on from this, grudgingly.

Either way, I do want to thank you for posting the video, and even in response to my smartass ranting you still offered additional help to me. That was awfully cool by you, and I thank you for ignoring my knucklehead reply. Again, my sincere apologies for the tone of post #8.

Eastern_Water_Moccasin said:
This especially doesn't work on 10 round glock mags.

Seems to work well on my 10rd mags :shrug:

cpo · Mar 23, 2019

AlBeight said:
CPO, let me apologize for my a-hole post. 11:40 pm late night, no sleep for 2 days straight after rocking a viral infection for a week and a half, I think I was trying for humor & sarcasm mixed with some pretty obvious frustration?? I just re-read my post #8 (somewhat clear-headed now) & it seems I was just a big douche instead. You made it look so easy in the video, and I’m feeling like a dipshiite because even today after about 25 tries all I keep doing is bending my Glock tool. I’m moving on from this, grudgingly.

Either way, I do want to thank you for posting the video, and even in response to my smartass ranting you still offered additional help to me. That was awfully cool by you, and I thank you for ignoring my knucklehead reply. Again, my sincere apologies for the tone of post #8.

Your apologies are accepted and appreciated. It takes a stand up person to come back and do what you did.

I know the feeling... and some days I am definitely grouchier than others. I'm really sorry you aren't able to make it work. But the good news is that you can continue to do what works for you, and never have to bend another Glock tool! :-)

I did go ahead and make another quick video, just for this thread (it won't be publicly accessible from my youtube channel or viewable without having access to this specific link. I guess it's my last attempt at trying to help, and maybe spend some more time on tips that I may have taken for granted in the first video. I will admit, the 10 round mags are harder than the 15... so what seems "too easy" on the original video is arguably easier than what you will see in this video, where I do the operation on a fresh 10 rounder. So those of you who are carrying 10 rounders, take a look at some of the tips in this one.

For the guy who complained about my previous 3 minute video being too long... please DO NOT watch this one. It'll just trigger you. :-)

Flametamer · Mar 23, 2019

Very well done, thanks a lot.

How to remove Glock magazine baseplates

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