Aftermarket mags

I have had very good experience with Magpul magazines for my Glocks - https://gunmagwarehouse.com/all-magazines/magpul-magazines--9mm-luger?stock=1

Some aftermarket mags are very good. And some are ... ProMags. The saying is "Friends don't let friends buy ProMags."

I may have one or two Bersa Thunder .380 mags floating around in my parts bin. (I traded off my Thunder several years ago -- nothing against it, just didn't need it and wanted something more.) Send me a PM and maybe you can convince me to look for them.

Promags are junk. Triple K often are. Mec-Gar makes very good mags, often OEM.

Ditto for Mec-Gar. Everything else is VERY hit and miss. The same people will buy the same brands and one person will swear by them, the next person will swear at them. For play, like at the range? Can't hurt, most places will let you get your money back if you get a bad one. For carry or home use? I stick with OEM, which for many pistols is Mec-Gar.

Here is my experiences

ProMag
The Marlin Model 70 25 round mags and the Gock G44 18 round mags are the only ProMag's that I have that actually work. The ProMagG44 mags work as well as the OEM magazines.

Triple K
Bought one for a Star Firestar M40. It does work but the mag release notch is off which causes the slide to not lock back on empty every time.

ETS Mags
I bought 3 ETS mags or my G43 and 43 clones, None of them would work correctly in aN OEM frame, SS80, or PF9SS. I won't be buying them again especially after dealing with ETS customer service.

For aftermarket Glock mags, I have good luck with the KCI and MagPul G19 magazines. Though I stick with OEM for EDC

Mec-Gar mags are good to go and they make a lot of OEM magazines for a lot of different gun makers. I have never had any problems with their 1911 magazines in 45ACP or 9mm.

I have a ProMag for Bersa Thunder that is now reliable... take the follower and spring out, clean and buff the inside of the mag tube and the follower--there may be burrs, too. After getting everything very smooth, lube with some type of dry lube (bicycle chain lube or the like) and let dry, then reassemble. No guarantee, but this took care of all issues with my BT380 ProMag. It was hit or miss as received brand new.

I stay with factory mags for SD handguns, mag prices for the guns I carry are fairly reasonable.

I tried to cheap out on mags for my Mini-14, and got burnt, although I should have known better from reading other people’s tales of woe. Mini-14 factory mags are expensive for no apparent reason, but they do work.

Metalform makes quality mags.

It seems that Mec-Gar and Metalform are very popular for OEM magazines.

drband said:

I have a ProMag for Bersa Thunder that is now reliable... take the follower and spring out, clean and buff the inside of the mag tube and the follower--there may be burrs, too. After getting everything very smooth, lube with some type of dry lube (bicycle chain lube or the like) and let dry, then reassemble. No guarantee, but this took care of all issues with my BT380 ProMag. It was hit or miss as received brand new.

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I have some Pro Mags for the Star Firestar that cycle well but don't lock the slide back after the last round. The springs are fairly robust and they measure out about 1.5" longer than the factory springs in the Star magazines. I've swapped the internals to test and the plastic follower seems to be the culprit why the slide doesn't lock back. OTOH the newer one does function 100%. Head scratching and I cannot discern a visible difference to determine why.

The Ram Line I have for the 10-22 dates back to the mid 90's and is pretty lousy. I doesn't feed well at all. Even loading it is a PITA. The Ruger mags work well for me.

Mecgars work well, wish they made some for the HK.

Magpul mags have been great in my Glock 19 and 26

Mec Gar is a respected mag for use in Sig, Beretta, and probably several other pistols too.

Other than OEM:

Glocks, I’ll use PMAGS and ETS. For Glock 43X/48, Shield Arms mags are outstanding. If folks have issues with ETS, I’ve had good luck with them. But YMMV. I won’t carry ETS but will carry with Magpul.

MEC GAR for guns that use them.

Wilson Combat are my favorite 1911 mags.

I have couple ACT M&P9 17 rd mags use for range, made in Italy bought from Greg Cotes LLC .

I feel like this is how ProMag stays in business, unfortunately.

The only ProMags I have had decent personal experience with are the Sig P225/P6 variants that worked if you don’t mind the fact that these don’t drop free. These ProMags are OK while you’re trying to score more decent Sig OEM P225/P6 mags which are like finding hen’s teeth these days.

I’ve always had good luck with Magpul GL9 Glock mags. When I lived in Cali and needed 10 round Glock 17 & 19 mags to be legal, the Magpuls were cheap and always totally reliable. I moved east but I still use these GL9 10 rounders for range use. Every Magpul GL9 Glock mag I’ve ever bought is still 100% functional after significant range use.

RA40 said:

I have some Pro Mags for the Star Firestar that cycle well but don't lock the slide back after the last round. The springs are fairly robust and they measure out about 1.5" longer than the factory springs in the Star magazines. I've swapped the internals to test and the plastic follower seems to be the culprit why the slide doesn't lock back. OTOH the newer one does function 100%. Head scratching and I cannot discern a visible difference to determine why.

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I have a couple Firestar magazines, factory OEM. Haven't had the gun they're for for a couple years. "just sayin'."

Real Firestar mags have metal followers.

trigga said:

Recently acquired a Glock 19 gen 3. All of my handguns I've bought factory mags for and have had very good luck. Seeing all of the various aftermarket options out there for a fraction of the cost, have you guy had any luck with any brand in particular?

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No problem to date with Magpul magazines for Glock. KCI ("Kolea Miritaly") mags, all needed springs replaced. And, had one baseplate break.

I bought a Bersa Thunder 380 a week or so ago and bought a 7 round Promag to go with it. Needless to say first time I loaded the mag, third round the mag was getting hung up. I thought about returning it but factory mags for this gun was hard to find and $$$. Maybe I'll keep this mag for training: tap, rack and throw it at the target if it don't work. I don't intend to carry this gun and bought it more for new shooters.

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"promag -- only if you have to". (Though I will say, back when I had a Mini--14, Promags were the only aftermarket mag I had that both reliably fed and reliably held the action open after the last shot.)

Yes, Bersa mags can be expensive. I think Mecgar makes magazines for the Bersa .380s.[/quote][/QUOTE]

I have also had good luck with Magpul in my G17. Metalform mags have run reliably in my 1911s (9mm and 45 ACP) as well as my Sig P238. My Springfield M1A likes Check-Mate mags:

https://checkmatemagazines.com/

For Glock I've used probably 100 mags over the years. Tens of thousands of rounds. Only Glock and magpul have been 100% until they were just worn out. I have 5 mags that are khan i think which have been 100% as well but haven't seen them in a store in nearly 20 years. They look identical to Glock.

I have Glock, ets, kci and sgm higher capacity mags for carbine. (30-35 depending whichever caliber they are). The ets and kci fail pretty regularly. The kci look very well made and would be hard to tell from the oem mags but I never had luck with them. The sgm are better but I haven't used them enough to say they work. I probably have 5-10 of all three brands. In a couple cartridges. (9mm 10mm and 40) The Glock 30 or 33 round mags work 100%

I've used mecgar for sig and beretta for years with no issues. If they made a Glock mag they would want 30-40 bucks for it like they do for the others. That would be double the price of Glock mags. Checkmate made some factory mads for sig and Beretta as well.

Promag has gotten me for several hundred dollars over the years.......ive yet to get a single good magazine from them.

I bought some Klonimus mags for my 1911’s. They have been flawless.

ProMags are not good in my experience. I thought I was unlucky at first but it has been every one I've ever bought. I guess I'm a slow learner.