How to safely (and cheaply) remove a stubborn KSC mag base.......

[CDN_Stalker]

Just figured this one out and it worked like a charm!

Got a KSC USP to fix it's three leaking mags. All leaked from the base, meaning the square gasket had dried out. I knocked the two pins out, and saw that dark green hardening type gasket sealer around the edges (it had been "fixed before with this stuff"........ I only use the non-hardening stuff, blue silicon type gasket sealer from the automotive dept at Canadfian Tire....... and never had a mag fail on me after using that stuff to fix it). Because the hardening type of gasket sealer acted like a glue, I spent a good half hour trying to get the damned base out. Prying (nothing to gain purchase on), knocking with a cloth covered hammer, etc. Nada, no budge.

Only thing I could think of to pull it out was something that can fit in the fill valve hole and then expand inside....................... hey, dry wall expansion plugs!!! I knew I had a small stash of them in the kitchen, and only found the #4-6 sized yellow ones with wood screws (I bought the pack at Canadian Tire a month or so ago for hanging usage).

I pressed the plug into the hole where the fill valve was (actually the perfect size, didn't take much to seat it all the way) then screwed in the screw all the way. Used my Leatherman WAVE multitool to pry it out, using the edge of the mag base as a fulcrum, holy shit the damned thing came out easy! Wrecked the expansion plug but hey, I have more plugs than mags to fix, so who cares?

Just finished gooing the heck out of the gasket (after clearing off the hard dark green sealer that was previously used) and the inside of the mag with it sits, reassemebled and left to dry until tomorrow night (needs about 24hours to fully cure before you can put gas in).

Anyways, I thought I'd share my little trick on how to get the damned base out of the mag when it's stuck without damaging it (and included a little instruction on how to fix the rest of it).

So, heading back to my dungeon, let ke know of any other tricks you've found to do this. So far this is the least destructive means I've come up with, and the damned thing worked fucking great (more so since the mag is made out of shitty potmetal.)

[Donster]

thanks for the tip! ill be sure to keep that in mind when i get my own KSC in june.

[Renegade)]

Can anyone say, god? Smart thinking buddy! What will you come up with next

[CDN_Stalker]

Originally Posted by Renegade)

Can anyone say, god? Smart thinking buddy! What will you come up with next

Well, my next one is this: All three mags I filled and sourced where the leaking is, then used a China Pencil (just a white thick wax crap-for-crap thing) to mark where the leaks were coming from. Why I just typed that, dunno, who cares.

The first one I decided to fix was one that had previously had an attempt to fix the leak. Said that already. Just finished the other two mags which haven't been opened at all.

Here's the cool part. After I marked where the leaks were coming from, I let the gas loose from the mag, as soon as it stopped spraying I released the valve. So, I use the 3/4 hole in my wooden work bench and a screwdriver tip hex head bit to knock the pins out (smooth jawed pliers to pull it out the rest of the way), as soon as I get the second pin pulled, there was just enough gas left in the mag to POP the base out of both mags. Now that was cool!

Putting back together can be tricky, here's how to do it. I used the wooden vise on my bench to squeeze the base back into the mag and hold it angled.......... back of the top behind the gasket that mates with the blowback assemly of the slide, and the full base of the mag (as I learned a long time ago with G19 mags). I put each pin in my drill and used a diamond coated file to round off one side of the pin (helps line up the pin onthe other side of the mag when it's driven into the hole), used the hammer to gently seat it most of the way, then a large slotted screwdriver bit to seat each pin flush. Literally, it took me not even 15mins to fully goober up each mag seal and reassemble.

Good enough for a "Next Installment"?

REMEMBER: Let cure for 24hours before putting gas in to test. I made that mistake, left a G19 about 6 hours before I gassed it up and tried it, and it took forever for weeks after to get all the hardening sludge out of my blowback assembly, mag's gas release area, inner barrel, inside the frame, etc, it was EVERYWHERE!!!!!