quality 3rd party spare mag quality - which ones to buy?

[judaspriest]

Hi,

Given that the original factory mags are typically a bit pricey and aren't really a must-have for the regular practice, I am thinking of buying the cheaper 3rd party substitutes. However, I hear all sorts of issues arise from using at least some of them. I am not sure if those issues go away if you stop using the bad mag or they cause some permanent damage to the firearm - doubt they can though.

What kind of cheaper 3rd party mags do people buy that are of acceptable quality for practice? In general as well as specifically for a Sig 226 in 40SW? What are the good places to do so?

Thanks

JP

 

[AZGlock13]

The only non-factory mags I would normally buy are Mec-Gar. They make P226 and P228/P229 mags, but only in 9mm unfortunately. The best prices and great service I have found on Sig factory new mags is at www.Topgunsupply.com ($29.95 a piece).

 

[Old Dog]

In my experience with almost every semi-auto out there, "cheap" magazines are simply unacceptable. Since magazines are the cause of many, if not most, malfunctions with autoloaders, they are the one component where it's simply not wise to scrimp. Bite the bullet (figuratively) and spend the extra bucks for good mags.

I'd recommend staying away from USA Magazines, Pro-Mags and Checkmate.

For a SIG, only Mec-Gar will do ...

 

[AZGlock13]

Old Dog and I are thinking the same thing.

 

[PO2Hammer]

For a Sig, you want to buy Mec Gar magazines from Italy.

The magazine is one of the most critical factors in auto pistol reliability. Buy quality.

 

[Hoppy590]

for my hi point carbine, ya cheap mags are ok. for my Para Ornance only the (50$) factory mags will do.

 

[Anna's Dad]

Aren't Sig "factory" mags made by Mec-Gar? I thought I had read that somewhere.

I doubt seriouslly you'll harm your gun with a cheap mag. Just an increased chance you'll have feeding problems and the life of the mag will likely be shorter than that of a factory or Mec-Gar.

 

[judaspriest]

Great, that's pretty much what I suspected (but hoped to be wrong). Thanks for the responses. The Sig factory mags can be found for $30, so I guess I can't go wrong with those and don't have to worry about 3rd party ones at all.

JP.

 

[treeprof]

Mec-Gar is the OEM for a whole bunch of manufacturers:

http://www.mec-gar.com/main.html

 

[Big Mike]

I used to shoot 15 rd USA mags in my Beretta 92 after the 94 ban and despite the problems some may have had with these mags, the USA mags I had was 100% flawless in thousands of rounds. Mike

 

[daBear]

You may want to check out www.cdnninvestments.com as they have a bunch of mags they are featuring now.
Cheers
dB

 

[wally]

In my experience Mec-Gars are the only non-factory mags that work reliably.

Even the worst make a mag that works from time to time, but in general I've been disappointed by ProMags and the even lessor makers like USA.

--wally.

 

[raginrednek]

try cdnn

 

[hemiram]

Mags are one of those, "Well, that one works fine, but that one doesn't, but the look exactly the same!" I have never had a problem with a Mec-Gar magazine, but have had numerous problems with other aftermarket mags.

I bought three aftermarket (20+ years ago, I don't remember who made them anymore) for my Beretta 84 and Browning BDA .380. Since these are basically the same gun, I didn't think there would be any problems. I tried them out at a friend's house in the Browning, and all three seemed to be fine, I put a couple of hundred through them, without any problems. A couple weeks later, I went shooting at a local range, and took the Beretta, the stock mags for it and the Browning, along with the three new ones. Both factory mags were fine, one of the aftermarket ones didn't want to stay in unless slammed in very hard, then it didn't want to come out! It did function ok, but the third one caused all kinds of problems, FTFs galore. I marked it with an X, so I would know what mag it was, I marked the one that had to be slammed in with an S, and decided to play with them later.

The one that had to be slammed just needed the slot to be slightly enlarged, and that solved the problem. The really messed up one needed more tweaking. I took very fine sandpaper and polished the lips on the inside, and that resolved part of the feed issue, and then I took the follower and polished it with a buffer, it wasn't as smooth (but looked ok) as the other two, and that took care of most of the rest of it, but it became obvious that some of the problem was a slightly weak spring. I bought one someplace, and it totally solved the issue.

The used Taurus PT-92 I had a while back had one original, and two Pro-Mag magazines with it when I bought it. The original was fine, the others weren't so great. They both needed tweaking like the ones above, and one of them had burrs on the lips that were most of the problem. Eventually, both of them were made to be totally relieable, but I would have rather paid another 10 bucks each and not had to play with them.

 

[thebaldguy]

Take a factory magazine and compare it to a third party magazine. You may see that there may be some differences between the two. If possible, don't buy magazines that vary from original tolerances.

 

[WOODROW]

I have had limited luck with USA brand. The pro mags make great fishing weights, until they rust. If you can find the cal. you are looking for then Mec Gar is a GREAT aftermarket mag!! You might try, www.outdoormarksman.com NO CATALOG or
www.midwayusa.com (factory SIG 226 .40 S&W 10 OR 12 RND $34.99 ITEM #324-559 MASTER CATALOG #30 PRICING) 1800-243-3220

 

[NC-Mike]

Even buying a Mec-Gar is no guarantee. I have a Beretta 96D that came with 2 mags. Put around 400 rounds through it and liked the pistol. It never hiccuped, ever.

So I bought two new mags for it. One a factory Beretta and one Mec-Gar. The factory mag works great, the Mec-Gar consistently chokes on the first round of a full mag. That is the only time that 96D had every malfunctioned.

But, the Mec-Gar was 15 dollars cheaper