Put the mag follower in, slide the spring in from the bottom. Push the spring up until you can get the 'retainer' slid on, then put the base plate on. You can use a punch through the witness holes to help relieve spring tension if needed.

You might need a punch to push the retainer up while putting the baseplate on. You can see the corresponding holes in your picture.

 

I haven’t delved into this type of project, yet. Thanks, for posting. I’m sure I’ll be back to take notes.

 

Make sure you have the spring “right end up.” Make sure the spring fits into the follower correctly.

 

View attachment 483103

That's a Check-mate manufactured magazine sold by Ruger. It may even have the Ruger logo on it. These Check-mates are my go-to magazines and I must have close to 50 of them. You could say I'm intimately familiar with them.

Just to expand on Fred's reply a bit, the follower will only go into the magazine from the top. I've found that inserting the magazine spring first rather than the follower will make reassembly easier.

Do not shove the spring all the way in. You want the top of the spring just below the top witness hole. Then wiggle the follower into the magazine from the top. You'll have to insert it from the front of the mag and tilt it up a bit for the front leg to clear the front of the mag body.

Once it's in just push the mag spring the rest of the way into the magazine, turn the mag upside down, lay the metal base on top of the spring, and slide the plastic basepad onto the mag from the front while pushing down on the metal plate.

It's a lot easier to do than to describe.

Here's a link to a simple how-to tutorial that shows using a pair of needle nose pliars to remove/install the same kind of follower for a welded baseplate magazine.

 

Thank you very much everyone. I'm really having getting the baseplate on with the metal piece that rides on top.

 

The little protrusion in the middle of the metal plate goes into the hole in the plastic base bad. Place the metal plate on top of the spring then slide the plastic base pad onto the magazine while pushing down on the metal plate so that the base pad doesn't push the plate rearward.

I'll take a few pics tomorrow and post them to illustrate the way I do this.

 

Push the base plate into the mag with the nub out. Should be easy once you get it.

 

Maybe this will help.

 

Here's a pictorial on reassembling a Check-Mate 8 round, extended tube, hybrid feed lip, removal base pad magazine (CM45-8-S-H-EXT). These magazines are sold by Ed Brown with their logo on the side of the mag. Many other pistol manufacturers (e.g. Kimber, Colt, etc) also sub-contract out magazine production to Check-Mate.

Here's a fully assembled mag.

Here's the same mag fully disassembled. Note the looped end at the top of the spring. The small stud underneath the follower must go inside this loop. The orientation of all the parts in relation to the mag tube is correct in this picture.

Step One in reassembly is to insert the mag spring from the bottom of the mag and push it just high enough in the tube to support the follower as it is inserted to prevent it from falling to the bottom of the tube or tilting in the tube. You'll probably have to adjust how high the spring sits in the tube to suit your technique.

Now we begin inserting the follower. Come in from the front of the tube.

At some point you'll have to rotate the front of the follower up and the back of the follower down to allow the front follower leg to clear the front of the tube. As you do this, the follower will probably come into contact the spring which is what you want. Continue pushing the follower down and back until you're able to rotate the front of the follower down so that the front leg is inside the tube. Note that the follower is in minimal contact with the actual feed lips. You DO NOT want to force the follower between the feed lips.

Here the front follower leg is in the process of being rotated down into the mag. It will contact the front of the tube so there will be a little felt resistance. Just continue pushing down on the follower until the front leg is all the way down and parallel to the front of the tube.

Now is the time to double check the position of the follower stud relative to the loop on the front of the mag spring. If it's not where it's supposed to be you can reach in with jewelers screwdriver to pull the spring forward so the stud is engaged by the loop. At this point push the spring that has been hanging out of the bottom of the tube all the way up into the tube and secure the end of the spring under the rails that hold the base pad on the magazine.

Here's a picture showing the spring being held under the rails.

Now it's time to slide the base plate under the rails. Here the end of the spring has escaped from under one rail. No problem. Just slide the plate forward while pushing the loose end of the spring down with your finger.

Still working on sliding the plate forward. The little hump between the two holes in the plate will fit into a corresponding hole in the base pad to prevent the base pad from coming off the magazine.

Here the base plate is all the way in. It is slightly shorter than the mag tube to allow it to be depressed into the tube as the base pad is installed.

The base pad engages the magazine rails as you push it onto the mag from the front. You will have to push the base plate down with the base pad in order to line it up with the rails.

You will have to maintain forward pressure on the plate as you slide the base pad on to prevent the plate from being pushed off the back of the mag.

Once the base pad contacts the hump on the base plate, use a tool to push the plate down to allow the pad to pass over it.

Push the pad back until the plate hump snaps into the hole in the pad. At that point reassembly is complete. In the pic below you can see the plate hump inside the hole in the base pad.

 

@Steve in Allentown
Very nice and informative instruction with slide photo illustrations.
Thank you.

 

That's a great demo, gun manufacturers could/should learn from your demo

 

Hi,
Steve, very nice write up!
I was looking at the Check Mates flush fit for my new Commander, but wasn't sure about them.
If you say they are GTG, I'm in!!!

 

I was looking at the Check Mates flush fit for my new Commander, but wasn't sure about them. If you say they are GTG, I'm in!!!

I have a number of their 8 round, flush fit, hybrid feed lip, welded base, CMI Devel style follower and they are good-to-go . . . with one big caveat.

I will not load more than 7 rounds in them. I don't have to tell you this but for the benefit of others who may read this I'll explain why.

To get 8 rounds to fit inside magazines originally designed to hold 7 (all flush fit mags), certain design parameters had to be redesigned. These design compromises resulted in precious little room left for additional spring compression. The result has been decreased spring life which in and of itself is not a deal breaker. The deal breaker is that locking one of these mags carrying 8 rounds into a pistol with the slide forward is not easy, requires excessive force to do so, and often can't be done at all depending on the specific make and model of pistol.

My requirement for magazine insertion on a closed slide is this: a fully loaded mag must be able to be locked in place using no more than the pressure of a single finger pushing it into place. The last thing I want is to be in a situation where I have to spent one extra nano-second trying to get my spare mag locked securely into the pistol.

 

Steveinallentowns' tutorial is perfect, but I can't understand its so difficult to reassemble? I mean, and feel free to correct if I'm wrong, but these things only go together , correctly, one way. Not trying to be a smart-azz, just not comprehending.

 

. . . I can't understand [why] its so difficult to reassemble? . . . Not trying to be a smart-azz, just not comprehending.

You're using my wife's nickname for me except she spells it with two ss.

Each mag manufacturer has their own design. The Tripp mags are the absolute simplest to take apart and put back together.

The Check-Mates require more fooling around with but do it a couple of times and you'll develop a feel for them.

You think these are a pain. You should try a Glock mag. Now there's a good time :rage:

Were you able to get yours back together?

 

Got it Thanks Steve, I owe you one!

 

If glock is the pinnacle of mag dis and reassembly, then I'll never have issues. In fact never have had issues with my favorite auto loaders mags, BH-P and 1911. I just study each manufacturers unique manufacture and have at it. OP glad you got it sorted.

 

Those CheckMate .45 acp eight rounders have been my favorites ever since they came out with their patented bull-nose follower!

I have several of the flush fit ones under several different brands. I run the ones that come with a variety of different length base pads flush fit, too.

 

Those CheckMate .45 acp eight rounders have been my favorites ever since they came out with their patented bull-nose follower!

Me too. A couple of years ago I ran a three day test to find out which mags ran the best. I had examples of Tripp, Wilson, McCormick, Mec-Gar, Metalform, Checkmate, and a few others. I had factory ammo from a variety of manufacturers mostly JHP but some FMJ. I also had my favorite handloads made with HG68 style lead bullets. I also had a dozen 1911s of various barrel lengths. I managed to put somewhere around 5,000 rounds through all the combinations of pistols, magazines, and ammo. The final result was the Checkmate extended tube hybrid feed lip 8 round mags fed when others choked.

I hate to admit it but I got rid of nearly all the other magazines but kept the Checkmates and added more of them. I must have close to 50 of them at this point.

 

Glocks can be a pain on the first time you disassemble. Usually after that they are pretty simple. If you have a lot of Glock mags, like I do, this tool is worth owning. IMO, the Metalform mags I have without the removable basses are the bigger PITA.

 

Metalform mags without the removable basses are the bigger PITA.

Like Glocks, all you need is the right tool to disassemble a welded floorplate 1911 magazine. I don't have a picture of this tool handy but you can find it in any hardware store fastener aisle. It's called a nail. If you don't have the time or money to get one of these tools, you can always just use the built-in mag disassembly tool that comes with every 1911 - the hammer strut.

I'm just bustin' your chops. The big trick to disassembling welded base mags is to load three rounds or empty cases into the mag to push the spring down. Then slide a "tool" through a witness hole to hold the spring down while you remove the three rounds. If the follower won't fall out just tip the mag upside down and tap, tap, tap it down on something other than a piece of hardened steel until the follower breaks free from the spring.

Here's a link to a simple photo-tutorial on disassembling a welded base mag.

 

Like Glocks, all you need is the right tool to disassemble a welded floorplate 1911 magazine. I don't have a picture of this tool handy but you can find it in any hardware store fastener aisle. It's called a nail. If you don't have the time or money to get one of these tools, you can always just use the built-in mag disassembly tool that comes with every 1911 - the hammer strut.

I'm just bustin' your chops. The big trick to disassembling welded base mags is to load three rounds or empty cases into the mag to push the spring down. Then slide a "tool" through a witness hole to hold the spring down while you remove the three rounds. If the follower won't fall out just tip the mag upside down and tap, tap, tap it down on something other than a piece of hardened steel until the follower breaks free from the spring.

Here's a link to a simple photo-tutorial on disassembling a welded base mag.

I have a 7 round just like that, (except marked Ruger) I used toothbrush handle to compress the follower..o:

 

Like Glocks, all you need is the right tool to disassemble a welded floorplate 1911 magazine. I don't have a picture of this tool handy but you can find it in any hardware store fastener aisle. It's called a nail. If you don't have the time or money to get one of these tools, you can always just use the built-in mag disassembly tool that comes with every 1911 - the hammer strut.

I'm just bustin' your chops. The big trick to disassembling welded base mags is to load three rounds or empty cases into the mag to push the spring down. Then slide a "tool" through a witness hole to hold the spring down while you remove the three rounds. If the follower won't fall out just tip the mag upside down and tap, tap, tap it down on something other than a piece of hardened steel until the follower breaks free from the spring.

Here's a link to a simple photo-tutorial on disassembling a welded base mag.

I know what a nail is. What size? 4d, 16d, imma confused. Maybe I'll disassemble the entire pistol to use the hammer strut. What's a hammer strut? :meh:

I actually use a punch and a wood dowel. I'm not saying it's hard. It's just a PITA when you have 30+ mags. When you install the spring from the bottom you don't have the feed lips in the way. Zig zagging the spring is slow. No big deal since they don't come apart often.

 

It's just a PITA when you have 30+ mags.

I'm right there with you. Welded base mags are a pain in the butt. The advent of removable base mags made my cleaning regimen much simpler.