MagGuts +2 for the S&W Shield 9mm

Single stacks are great, but who doesn’t want a little extra capacity? MagGuts™ lets you squeeze two extra rounds into a standard 7 or 8 round 9mm magazine. Best part? It only adds about 1/4″ to the magazine length? Why not skip that little pinky grip, and get more shots between reloads?

Description

Comprised of a follower, spring, lock plate, and magazine extension (baseplate), it’s a simple kit. What’s different is the steel follower and extra depth of the baseplate. Also, the ZeeSpring™ should compress better than the stock wire spring. At the same time, it also offers enough force to allow for reliable feeding.

Installation

If you can service your magazines, you can install MagGuts. Of course, don’t forget to wear eye protection around the springs. Start with your unloaded factory S&W magazine. Press the button in the baseplate, and slide it off. Watch for that spring. After removing the spring, baseplate, and follower, set them aside. Install the MagGuts follower, spring, and magazine extension from the bottom. Make sure the spring is oriented correctly. Before sliding the extension all the way in, you need to slip the locking plate in. It takes less time to do than it does to type out the instructions. That’s it.

Loading

I’ve installed the MagGuts extension in both the 7 and 8 round magazines. Loading all except the last round feels like a fresh new mag. But the last one was a little extra work. This is to be expected, and it should improve a bit over time. If you encounter any issues, take it all apart, and make sure you did it right.

At the range

There were no surprises at the range. After reading dozens of positive reviews on various forums, I knew the MagGuts would be reliable. With only a couple hundred rounds over two trips, my testing wasn’t exactly comprehensive. But I threw in a random mix of different brands and weights. And everything fed fine. That’s pretty much in line with what other users reported. It would seem the only issues were when the spring was installed incorrectly, which I avoided.

Conclusion

Whether you are using your firearm for casual shooting, competition, or defense, having two extra rounds per mag is a nice feature. Based on what I’ve read, and my own experience, I don’t doubt the reliability of the MagGuts. While I appreciate how little it adds to the 7 round mag, I found it’s still a bit short for my big hands. So I’ll keep it in the 8 round magazine, for a total of 10+1 in a still-compact package. If you don’t have big hands, either magazine will do. They currently offer kits for 7 different manufacturers. Check them out at MagGuts.com.

I’d like to thank MagGuts for providing their magazine conversion kit for this review. Their innovation benefits competition shooters, and those exercising their 2nd amendment right to protect themselves.