One interesting experiment that might reveal something about the difference between Pmags and Glock mags involves the slide during reassembly after cleaning— or in my case just practice removing and reinstalling the slide. I had a Glock magazine in the frame when I put the slide back on and it was much easier than with no magazine. The telling detail might be this: if I insert a Pmag into the frame before reinstalling the slide, the slide won’t go on at all; it hits something that positively prevents slide installation.
Maybe someone can do some analysis and see what’s up. My guess is that Pmag are wider or higher, maybe both, and hit the slide. As to why it’s easier to put the slide on with a Glock mag than with no mag, I think having a mag in keeps the slide just slightly elevated so it gets past the guides and whatever is in the way at times. My normal tendency is to apply very slight downward pressure as I’m installing a slide to be sure it stays lined up with the guides and doesn’t go over the top of something. With the Dagger, I found that it’s better to lift the slide a thousandth or two when sliding it back on. Putting on a Dagger slide definitely requires more concentration for me than does putting a slide on a Glock 17, my S&W Shield, or Canick pistols.
Normally I remove the magazine before removing the slide because it seems to make slide removal easier. I was field stripping my Daggers and reassembling them for muscle memory practice and ended up with a magazine in the well—an unloaded magazine. I noticed that the slide went back on more easily than usual, then saw it was a Glock magazine. So I tried a Pmag to see how that worked and it didn’t. So just by chance, I learned that Dagger slide install is different with a Glock magazine, a Pmag, or no magazine.
Just FYI, yes I check the pistols to be sure they are unloaded before I clean them, and yes I keep ammo locked up away from the work area so it doesn’t get together with a pistol by accident.
The other day I got a new slide. It’s noticeably harder to slide on the frame than my other two slides. It always stops and gets hung up on something.
Three frames in total. Three slides in total. I swaped every possible combination several times over and over and that one slide was always difficult to install. I always had to pull it up ever so slightly after it was on the rails and lean it to the right to get it to slide on. This was all with no mags in any of the frames.
Yes that was the point I was working with here. I accidentally discovered that my Dagger slide reinstalls more easily if I put a Glock magazine in first. Normally I would remove the mag but forgot this one time and noticed it caused something to change, so I investigated further.
What I don’t know is if putting a mag in before installing slide could cause any damage to something or accelerated wear long term. That was partly why I posted the experiment report: to get feedback and hopefully even actual knowledge (as opposed to made up internet knowledge) from other Dagger owners.
I was hoping to hear if someone else experienced easier slide installation with a Glock magazine inserted first. If it turns out to aid in reassembly without causing any harm, and if we are able to confirm that it doesn’t, then it would no longer seem logical to say it has no benefit and you should never do it.
Safety does certainly seem to recommend against having magazine and pistol together while at the workbench so if that is the concern then I do see that point.
Of primary interest is the possibility that, for Dagger pistols specifically, and maybe only compact ones, putting a Glock mag in before slide reinstall might prevent damage or wear if the slide doesn’t get as much contact with whatever it seems to catch on. I don’t know this to be the case but that’s what I thought would be interesting to find out.
FYI I am aware of the break in period and it does seem like the slide reinstallation might get easier as the round count increases. Also adequate and proper lubrication must be maintained.
A little late to the party here. My original plain Dagger doesn’t have that issue, but my new optic cut cerakote one does. It’s the trigger bar. If you reassemble upside down and look in the magwell, you see the trigger bar press against the track/cam/whatever in the slide that the connector rides on. This is made even more noticeable by the Dagger gen 4 type trigger bar that has the dimple protruding from it, pressing harder against that surface when assembling. After it’s on it’s in the normal spot and is fine. I don’t think it will cause any noticeable wear, at least not for a long long time. At worst, you replace the trigger bar.
More force will get it on, or moving it to the right can help. In my case on my second Dagger, I have to hold the trigger down as the slide comes off. The friction pulls the trigger forward preventing disassembly, due to the same trigger bar issue. It should self clear, but is a little annoyance.