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Modifying Ten Round Clips

swampgut
I was wondering if is possible (legal) to modify a ten round magazine to 17 rounds.

The magazine in question is the one that comes with this pistol:

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=193069286

I don't know if it is pre-ban or what but it clearly will hold more than ten rounds.
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Comments

9 comments

Date Votes
  • mark christian
    As long as you don't live in a magazine ban state it is legal to modify the magazine; whether or not it is physically possible depends on exactly how the magazine was constructed. While the magazine body looks like it can easily accommodate an additional 7 rounds, We can't see the sides of the magazine body to see if they have been heavily creased to prevent the follower from going below a set ten round distance inside the body or if there is some sort of internal block at the floor plate. Since the seller is located in CA I am guessing that the magazine for that pistol is factory manufactured at the ten round limit and getting it to accommodate additional rounds may not be possible.
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  • Nwcid
    There is no FEDERAL law against magazines that hold more then 10rds.

    There are STATES that have laws about magazine size and you would have to know YOUR state laws to find out if it is legal, http://www.atf.gov/publications/firearms/state-laws/29th-edition/index.html
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  • rufe-snow
    It's legal as long as your in a State or municipality that allows high caps.

    Altering the mag will be a can of worms though. Most of the mags that I have seen that were specifically made as 10 rounders, had the magazine tube altered to prevent them from being converted to high caps. If your going to buy the Bersa, it would probably be easier to contact the importer to find out where you can obtain some high caps.
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  • Hawk Carse
    During the 1994-2004 AWB when new magazines were limited to 10 round capacity, each brand had to be approved by the BATF as "not readily convertable" to hold more. One common design for a metal magazine was a pair of indentations to keep the follower from going all the way to the bottom. The magazine outside those indentations was cut through, so if you drilled out the indentations, the magazine would fall apart. I had some CZs like that. Another approach was a short tube with a tall plastic base with nowhere to go with more rounds. I had a Sig-Sauer like that.
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  • swampgut
    That's what I figured but I didn't have it in front of me.

    I live in Texas so high capacity mags are legal.

    Thanks for the input.
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  • beantownshootah
    To re-iterate, its currently legal via FEDERAL law to alter a magazine the way you describe.

    In certain STATES (eg CA, MA, HI, NY) this sort of conversion is still illegal.

    To answer the question specifically, it looks like the entire bottom half of this Bersa magazine is dimpled. I don't think converting it would be all that easy.

    With *some* mags that were gimped with SMALL dimples in the sides, you could (so I'm told. . .) squeeze out the dimples with a press and restore the magazine to NORMAL capacity. While you might try that here, I think the likelihood of ruining the magazine entirely is pretty high and it probably won't work.

    On the other hand, its not like 9mm Bersa thunder high cap mags are so hard to find. If you live in TX, it shouldn't be too hard to get your hands on one:

    http://www.tacticalgunarmory.com/Bersa_17_Round_9MM_Thunder_9_Magazine_w_Matte_Fini_p/15064.htm
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  • wpage
    Even if it is legal. For the time and effort to make the mod. You can buy extended factory oem and others so reasonable why bother?
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  • 511pe
    All government agencies in my state are subject to the state's statutes & constitution before making local laws or codes. In my state there is no firearm registration or licensing other than class3 weapons that under certain guidelines a state citizen may own. If you have a concealed weapon license I understand you may carry any firearm other-than class3 for self defense on or about your person. Even if it's belt fed. However you must be able to conceal it without printing. A magazine can't be a clip but a clip may be a magazine. If it detaches it's a clip. If you plan use anything in self defense, modified weapons don't seem to go favorably in civil court trials. You know the 50 cal. Beowulf uses modified 5.56 mags. I guess if your state doesn't allow modified mags you may never get one. If you over compress a mag spring, it likes to fatigue quicker. In self defense all rounds are accounted for even the ones not in the gun. Why only 2 in the clip, 3 reported fired, & gun holds 10 in the clip? Where's the other rounds? At another crime seen?
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  • rsnyder55
    Sell the magazine to someone in a state that limits the capacity of the magazines and use the money to purchase a high capacity magazine.
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