Taylor Freelance Rock Island "Fattie" Speed Magwell
-- MUCH wider reloading funnel -- More than twice as deep as the factory part -- Increases effective frame length, giving your support hand better control -- Aluminum construction = light weight -- Protects mag release when set on a table. NOTE: EXPECT MINOR FITTING: In developing this part, we noticed wide variations from Rock Island pistols -- the frames vary by up to .050" in length, and the frame isn't always cleanly finished where the magwell attaches. Some minor fitting will be required on some guns -- others will drop in effortlessly.
IMPORTANT: Rock Island guns that ship from the factory with a magwell have their grip frames (and grips) cut short at the factory by ABOUT .175". If your pistol didn't come from the factory with a magwell, this part won't fit! However, it is an easy job for a gunsmith to cut your frame back -- at which point our magwell will go on effortlessly.
The reason for the two frame sizes is the magazine. Standard RIA guns use the folded-steel basepad as an overpenetration stop for the magazine (the Browning Hi-Power does the same thing). If you change the folded-steel basepad out for a machined RIA +2, or one of our +4 extensions, the thicker-built basepad will hit the frame and keep it from locking in. Conversely, if we cut an aluminum basepad thin enough to fit in a space designed for steel, the thin aluminum will soon bend and break.
We have a "long frame" magwell on the drawing boards, but because of the length issue, it requires non-RIA magazines (Remington, MBX, or modified STI).