Hi Rich, I'm pretty sure the cost to design, bend, and temper a handful of magazine springs will exceed the value of the firearm.

But, maybe someone will pop in here with the name of a gunsmith that has the tools and time to do it for you at a reasonable cost.

I do deal with Newcomb here in Denver but I don't think they'll touch anything under 1000 pieces.

Custom Springs and Wire Forms - Newcomb Spring Corp.

Newcomb Spring Corp is North America's leading precision spring, custom component, and wire form manufacturer, with a commitment to producing quality and compliant parts to your specification.

newcombspring.com

Edit: Hmmm, these folks say they do magazine springs Gun Spring

Frank

 

I've contacted a couple of spring manufactures. Unfortunately they are not interested in a hobbyist project unless 20,000+ units are produced.

I plan to take measure of the spring dimensions and look for similar pre-made springs. I'm waiting for delivery of a Micrometer and Digital Caliper to get accurate measurements of the spring.

Edit: Yes, Acxess (Gun Spring) is the company I have in mind to look into when I have the measurements.
Thanks

 

Yeah, the problem with one offs is the design time coming up with a recipe and then the set up time for the machine.

I buy a couple hundred thousand a year for a product we manufacture and there's a lot more to engineering a spring than just wire size and dimensions.

Good luck!

Frank

 

This magazine idea has been periodically running through my head the last few days. Each time it seems to advance a little.

As I've pretty much struck out locating stocked springs or manufacturers of interest, I don't want to abandon this idea without making an effort beyond research.

I was taught mechanical drawing/drafting growing up and it never left me. I drafted the plans for a ground level room addition I wanted. After examination, the city building commission granted me the building permit. I still have the original drawings somewhere.

I'm knowledgeable at metal working and imaginative in fabricating.
I believe I can make the springs that I want.

After taking all measurements of the spring I want to duplicate, I drafted a 3-D lay out of a prototype/copy.
I found a source for Spring Steel Music Wire of the correct size at a reasonable price.
Next I ordered Mild Steel Bar Stock of the size needed that I can modify and use as a Mandrel for forming the wire into a spring.

The quest continues.

 

Just curious, but if you place the 7-round follower in the 6-round mag body along with the 6-round spring will it accept 7 rounds?

 

The 7 round follower is metal and the base is 0.050" thick.
The 6 round followers are plastic and the base measures the same, 0.050".
And yes, before I measured them I did try the metal follower with the other springs. It still only loaded 6 rounds.

 

Update:

I contacted a couple more spring makers but neither of them showed interest.

I'm looking at some small numbers on the spring and the magazine:

Magazine -
Interior = 0.94" Front to Back x 0.28" Side to Side
Depth, Minus the Follower Thickness = 2.52"

Spring Type -
Rectangular Compression
Spring Wire diameter = 0.024"
Rectangular Coil O.D. = 0.74" x 0.23"
Rectangular Coil I.D. = 0.68" x 0.16"
Free length = 3.82"
Compressed Length (Loaded), inside the magazine = 0.78"
Total Coils = 12/13 @ 0.32" spacing

Generally compression and tension springs are formed under torsion/tension on a cylindrical Mandrel using a Lathe and tensioned feeding devise of some sort. That works for round springs.
Depending on the specific bending technique, equipment becomes quite complicated when forming a rectangular compression spring. Not privy to such machinery I'm left to improvise my own devises.

For a Mandrel I'm currently hand filing and squaring an 8" length of "316L Stainless Flat Bar" to a 0.68" x 0.156" cross section.
I'm using this Stainless because of the stiffness. It can't afford to bend under the tension while forming the wire onto it.

I've made a coupe of springs using a different rectangular Mandrel that was deliberately too big, obviously the coils were too large for want I want. But it was a learning experience. For one thing, when released from the Mandrel the coils want to open up and the whole spring wants to twist/spiral along its length. I have an idea what may be causing those two quirks.

So that's where I am so far.

 

Well folks, I concede, quit, Tap Out.

I found one company, R.C. Coil Spring Mfg. Co., that was willing to make a limited run of springs to my specifications, quoting $30 per spring. That's a lot more than I want to spend.

I gave it my best to make the 6 round mags accept a 7th round.
I disassembled a couple of Phoenix HP-22A mags and found the springs matched the 7 rounder spring but when loaded they wouldn't fit in the gun.

I spent $45 on material and put in maybe 8-10 hours over the last couple of weeks. I'm just not able to manually form a rectangular spring that will work.

I'm grateful to have the one anomalous 7 round magazine that I'll keep in the carry pistol with a 6 round backup.

 

X
Have you called WOLF spring yet????

 

Wolf gun springs. Brownell's. Numrich. May be easier to find another magazine rather than just the springs.

 

None of those sites have anything close to what I need.

The springs from my Phoenix HP-22A 22LR, 10 round magazine match the dimensions of the 7 round spring exactly. I can order them for $6.50 each. I can load one of them in any of the mags with 7 rounds. The problem is they won't compress any more, enough for the mag to fully seat in the mag well.

 

Are you sure it's the springs? I just took the springs out of two of my 6 rounders and dropped the followers down to the bottom of the mags. I still could only get 6 rounds in each.

 

Have you tried looking for a jig you can 3d print? I know there are AR and Glock mag spring jigs you can print.

 

Are you sure it's the springs? I just took the springs out of two of my 6 rounders and dropped the followers down to the bottom of the mags. I still could only get 6 rounds in each.

Have you tried looking for a jig you can 3d print? I know there are AR and Glock mag spring jigs you can print.

With the OEM mags, no matter what I've done with the springs, I may be able to fit the 7th round. But there is no additional "give." When inserting the mag, it will not seat all of the way as the cartridges will not compress any further.
I've even tried cutting down the "legs" on the OEM follower but it made no difference.
Thinking I could make copies of the follower, I tried putting the aftermarket follower into all of the OEM mags but it will not go into any of the 12 OEM magazines that I own.

I've come to the conclusion that the aftermarket mag body and follower are unique and what makes the difference.

For comparison here is the aftermarket mag/follower (L) and an OEM mag/follower (R)
The aftermarket follower is made of steel and the OEM followers are made of plastic.

Here is the loaded aftermarket 7 round mag (L) and two loaded 6 round OEM magazines.

The aftermarket mag has no markings, so if I were to run across another like it, it would be shear luck.

 

Ill take a look at some of the mags I own and see if I can get a 7th in I did have quite a few mags at 1 time, I think I kept maybe a dozen or so for the 5 of these I own I wonder why the follower of the 7 rounder wont fit in the 6 rounders Youd think it would

 

I think the rear leg of the aftermarket follower is a tad longer. I didn't want to mess with it or the mag and possibly ruin them.
As it is I load the 7 rounder in the gun with one in the chamber and an extra 6 round mag for backup.
I don't plan on getting into a gun fight but if needed I'd rather have 14 than 7 rounds.

 

Its always nice to have more ammo capacity in whatever it is that you have