DE 201 19 940 U1 (Jonait) discloses a magazine cushion which has been designed and optimized for angular carbine or machine gun magazines. Such a magazine projects freely from around the middle of the weapon. The drawbacks that are associated therewith and are to be overcome consist in that the metallic magazine presses against the user with the weight of the weapon and can cause injuries and damage to clothing, particularly when it has previously been bent or damaged by mechanical stress. A magazine cushion made of a rubberlike soft material, which can be pulled over the base plate and the lower end of the magazine, remedies this. Rattling noises are damped, pressure and rubbing on the body of the user are reduced. Such a cushion is not usable for gun stick magazines which are pushed into a grip.
It is known practice to attach cushions to magazine bases or to switch a magazine base for an extended and/or cushioned magazine base.
DE 10 2005 028 603 B4 (Walther) describes an exchangeable magazine base, which is releasably fixable to a boxlike or cuboidal magazine housing. The magazine form shown is also referred to as a stick magazine. By way of the magazine base—referred to therein as “magazine-base device”—a magazine housing is closed in the region of the end of the grip of a firearm, such as in particular a handgun. The magazine base in DE 10 2005 028 603 B4 serves to enlarge the spring-free space within the magazine housing and thus to enlarge the loading space for bullets. It also allows the magazine base to be fixed securely to the magazine housing and is intended to be quickly and reliably exchangeable.
In general, a magazine base comprises a plurality of parts, including fastening means for fastening to the magazine housing, which can comprise for example latching means and/or screws and optionally springs, a magazine base plate, which represents a spring platform or contains a bearing for the magazine spring, and a magazine base cover arranged therebeneath (on the outside), which can also be configured as a hollow form and consists of the magazine material, for example steel, aluminum or plastic, or for example of a particular softer material for shock absorption, in particular a plastic (also “magazine bumper”).
During the releasable fastening of the magazine base, particular attention has to be paid to the secure mounting and fixing of the magazine spring, which is inserted under high preloading and exerts a large pressure on the bullets.
Therefore, exchanging the magazine base requires skill and practice and is not without risk on account of the high magazine spring tension.
Magazines and magazine bases, in particular those which differ from those originally delivered with the weapon, i.e. from the original equipment, are sold commercially as accessories appropriate for the weapon type and manufacturer.
A magazine base that differs from the original base can be provided for example to extend and enlarge the magazine, to extend the finger contact surface at the lower end of the grip, or to integrate a base cushion, in particular as a drop bumper and impact protection for the optionally extended magazine. The changing of the entire magazine base is in this case always associated with the above-described conversion problems.