[G17 Supplementary Information] Magazine catch left/right interchangeability

First, we will explain how to change the magazine catch to a left-handed version.

To begin the replacement process, remove the slide and look inside the frame, near the back of the magazine catch.

As you can see, the metal rod (BGK-30 spring) visible in the area circled in yellow is applying tension to the magazine catch in a direction to the right (towards the release button).

The tip of this metal rod hooks into the groove circled in red in the first image above, and applies tension toward the front of the magazine catch (toward the release button) as shown in the second image.
If you want to make it a left-handed version, simply flip the magazine catch itself over and rotate the tension in the opposite direction.

So, first remove the magazine catch.
As shown in the image, insert the tip of a flathead screwdriver into the space on the right side of the metal rod and pry it gently to remove the tip of the metal rod from the groove under the magazine catch.

If you can see the tip of the metal rod as shown in the image, you have succeeded.
Please note that this procedure will damage the edge of the triangular hole circled in yellow, but this will not affect operation.

After that, grab the tip of the metal rod with the tip of the radio pliers and pull it out from inside the frame. This will require a fair amount of force, so make sure you hold the frame and the radio pliers firmly and pull it out with force.

By removing the metal rod mentioned above, you can remove the magazine catch from the frame. As you can see from the image, it is really just a spring that can only be described as a "metal rod."

If you look inside the frame, you can see a small hole in the area indicated by the yellow arrow in the image above. The spring you removed earlier was inserted into this hole.

Now let's proceed with the modification to left-handed specifications.
First, insert the removed magazine catch into the designated position from the left side of the frame. At this point, the magazine catch is just inserted, and will fall out if you tilt the frame, so it is a good idea to temporarily secure it in place with masking tape or something similar.

In this state, insert the tip of the spring into the hole in the frame that you saw earlier. If you insert it too deeply, it will not be long enough to fit into the groove in the magazine catch, so be careful to make sure that the tip of the spring fits snugly into the groove circled in yellow in the image.

Then, push the tip of the spring to the right with the tip of a pair of pliers or a flathead screwdriver to hook it into the groove in the magazine catch. The spring is under tension toward the magazine catch, so if it is at the correct depth, it will snap into the groove.

When doing this, do not insert the magazine right away, but push in the magazine catch several times to make sure the spring does not come off . If the spring comes off after inserting the magazine, you will not be able to remove the magazine, so please check carefully.

This completes the conversion of the magazine catch to a left-handed version. If you compare it to the image below , you can see that the spring tension is now in the opposite direction.

By replacing the magazine catch, the BG-17 CO2GBB has become a truly left-handed version. This is the perfect addition for lefties.
This is a relatively easy task as long as you have the right tools, so please use this article as a reference and give it a try!