Buckmark mags - ProMag

CDNN has the factory mags for a bit less at $29. Sometimes can find a 3 or 5 pack a bit cheaper per mag. I would do that 100 times before I roll the dice on the Pro Mags. Too many bad experiences with their stuff years ago. I don't need that frustration in my life these days. If you have a few ProMags that fail to work the "savings" is gone.

Promags are great for magazine tuning practice or malfunction clearing practice. Other than that, rimfire ammo adds enough issues on its own for me to want to add more fuss with Promags.

The price of ProMags indicates what kind of mags they are. They have the reputation they deserve!

Why bother with them?. You get what you pay for.

Rule3 said:

The price of ProMags indicates what kind of mags they are. They have the reputation they deserve!

Why bother with them?. You get what you pay for.

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That is true 99% of the time. Occasionally ProMag makes stuff that actually works well.I haven't had any issues with their 18 round Glock G44 magazines. But like most, I had nothing but issues with their centerfire pistol mags over the years.

Stick with OEM magazines, don't try to cheap-out.
Here's some for $24 and the shipping is reasonable.

https://gunzonedeals.com/product/browning-112055190-buck-mark-22-long-rifle-10-rd-black-finish

The answer is never promag

Gotta agree with the other posts. I only get Pro Mag when I can’t get anything else. I bought 1 or 2 for my Llama XI-C and with a little tweaking they were fine. If something else is available get it. No need to cheap out on mags.

I bought extras at Scheels who matched CDNN at $22/per about 2 years ago. Everything is high right now but I believe they are worth it, especially vs ProMag. Wirthwein has them for $28.99 and I’ve dealt with them before buying Mark IV parts. https://store.wirthweinguns.com/Factory-Browning-Buck-Mark-10-rnd-Magazine-652011-p/br-bm-mag.htm

Friends don’t let friends buy Promags.

Promags can be excellent once fitted. If you dont feel comfortable with doing mag work/fitting..... get factory mags. For matches... I would just get factory magazines for your Buckmark. Maybe try a couple promags for range use expecting you may have to dial them in to be reliable. Most of the negative reviews for promags come from folks thinking they are going to run out of the box like a factory or Mecgar. Also... promag make configurations others wont. Things like extended stick mags for pistols. Those can be tricky often needing different springs (depending on cycle time) and anti tilt followers. Sometimes extended 9mm mags just wont want to be reliable once you get past 23-26rds due to the 9mm case being tapered. You start getting into extreme nose drop similar to extended 45acp 1911 magazines. Some pistol designs are more forgiving than others in terms of magazine design.

My experience with them as a company is that they will bend over backwards to satisfy the consumer if there is an issue. Good Factory (not all factory magazines are) or Mecgar are always going to be top notch but sometimes you dont have those options. In some cases promag makes better mags than factory OEM in the case of budget guns.

They make great magazines for converting to discontinued pistols where locating spares can be impossible or ridiculously priced. Like almost everything on the net the bad reputation is both true and false....mostly false. They have survived as a company because most of the time their stuff works (or can be tweaked to work) and they offer an absolute massive amount of different models of magazines compared to even Mec-gar.

Lots of little details go into mag function though. Nothing that hard but there is a little of a learning curve. Feed lip length, follower design, how high the magazine sits when locked in, spring strength, follower design, angle of feed etc. etc. If that kind of stuff turns you off stay with factory or mecgar (typically the same).

I buy a lot of accessories here. Shipping is included.
https://www.gooutdoorgear.com/brown...und-22-lr-factory-mag-112055190/023614025290/

Promags are only to be used when no other option is available.

You MIGHT get a working mag. Hell I've had the occasional Promag that is 100% reliable, but that's not the norm. If the factory mags are completely unobtainable, or it was some weird situation where a factory mag was $200 and a Promag was $15 I'd roll the dice and check them out, but for a 50% savings? Nah just buy the factory mags.

My 1st promags i ordered before i knew of their bad rep. I got 2 for my Ruger P345. They work good. My last mag i bought is a 32 round mag from promag for my 92. It works good too. LGS said if i have any issues just bring it back. I been lucky.

Friends don't let friends buy Promag.

For handguns I generally stick to OEM or Mac-Gar for anything other than just range practice mags.

BSW

The only valid use for Promags beyond jam drills is that rare occasion where you want a happy stick but nobody makes them. That said, for my 59xx Smiths. Factory 20s are seldom seem and 17s are common. Promag makes 33s and they work fine in my 5900s as well as in my Gen 2 Sub2k. That said, I bought 5 to get 3 that worked and returned the others

Its not rocket science. You figure out the problems and make them work. Magazines are not that complicated. If you try running one of those 32 rounders in a subcompact with a faster slide cycle then a good start is to use a heavy duty submachine gun spring. Something like a duty size gun... Beretta 92, Ruger P series, 5906 etc. etc. can get away with weaker springs in those extended magazines. They basically use the same magazine spring for every magazine and just cut it to different lengths. Many of their mag tubes are similar just with different mag catch notches cut on different model pistols.

Of course for the Browning buckmark you really dont gain anything because its just a 10 rounder.... might as well just go factory. If they made a 30 rd mag for the buckmark it might be worth the effort though.

starling said:

Its not rocket science. You figure out the problems and make them work. Magazines are not that complicated. If you try running one of those 32 rounders in a subcompact with a faster slide cycle then a good start is to use a heavy duty submachine gun spring. Something like a duty size gun... Beretta 92, Ruger P series, 5906 etc. etc. can get away with weaker springs in those extended magazines. They basically use the same magazine spring for every magazine and just cut it to different lengths. Many of their mag tubes are similar just with different mag catch notches cut on different model pistols.

Of course for the Browning buckmark you really dont gain anything because its just a 10 rounder.... might as well just go factory. If they made a 30 rd mag for the buckmark it might be worth the effort though.

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I'd have to disagree. Magazines are hard and numerous firearm projects have suffered delays because of problems with magazine.

BSW

briansmithwins said:

I'd have to disagree. Magazines are hard and numerous firearm projects have suffered delays because of problems with magazine.

BSW

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I've seen ProMags with feed lips too short causing the top rounds to go loose almost uncontrollably. Too much of a PITA to add metal to fix a cheap mag.

briansmithwins said:

I'd have to disagree. Magazines are hard and numerous firearm projects have suffered delays because of problems with magazine.

BSW

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Thats just because some manufacturers like to be idiots and make magazines more complicated than they need to be. They also sometimes like to use really crappy materials like thin polymer or polycarbon to be cheap and increase profits. A typical single stack or double stack is pretty straight forward. All these bottleneck mags are a different story and are not new. Earliest I encountered was the Llama Omni which had a lousy mag design. Then there was the Hi Cap Makarov which was also pretty flakey. Follower design is pretty tricky with the bottleneck mags and you need very strong springs because there is so much friction. Heat treating is more important as well. Worst new Mag I have seen lately is the Ruger LCP Max and thats a factory mag. The gun itself seems fine but the magazine quality is on par with a Bryco 9mm. Shame on Ruger. Owners of the LCP Max would do well to be diligent about inspecting for cracking feedlips because I will be shocked if they hold up.

Then you have people like Remington who screwed the RP9 by using 38 Super double stack Para magazines and throwing 9mm in it. No rear spacer.... no modified magazine tube....nothing. In the end the rounds rattled around until they got motion sickness and could'nt feed.

chicharrones said:

I've seen ProMags with feed lips too short causing the top rounds to go loose almost uncontrollably. Too much of a PITA to add metal to fix a cheap mag.

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Feed lips too short? Never seen that on a promag. Which magazine was that? It helps to know which ones to stay away from. Pretty much impossible to overcome short feedlips outside of trying the longest ammunition possible in the caliber. Feedlips too long can be a problem as well buts they are easy to trim.

starling said:

Feed lips too short? Never seen that on a promag. Which magazine was that? It helps to know which ones to stay away from. Pretty much impossible to overcome short feedlips outside of trying the longest ammunition possible in the caliber. Feedlips too long can be a problem as well buts they are easy to trim.

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Steel bodied AR15 magazine for 5.56 cartridges. The feed lips don't wrap around the top cartridges properly, which leaves them ready to pop out if you breeze your finger over them. I also had to replace the follower with a Magpul follower to prevent nose diving ammo. That magazine is strictly a range mag and works okay if I treat it gently.

Why I spent so much time with that mag is because I usually try and fix things even if they are pure crap. It's a sickness of mine, I suppose.

chicharrones said:

Steel bodied AR15 magazine for 5.56 cartridges. The feed lips don't wrap around the top cartridges properly, which leaves them ready to pop out if you breeze your finger over them. I also had to replace the follower with a Magpul follower to prevent nose diving ammo. That magazine is strictly a range mag and works okay if I treat it gently.

Why I spent so much time with that mag is because I always try and fix things even if they are pure crap. It's a sickness of mine, I suppose.

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Nah.... you just like to problem solve stuff. I dont use them for AR mags but thats good info to put out. Bending feedlips is pretty tricky... I had to make/modify a tool to do it without making a mess out of things. What you have going on would happen with aftermarket USA (and others) SKS extended magazines back in the old days. Usually I could get things right though. There were a couple brands that just wouldnt work no matter what I tried.

Short feedlips on something like a pistol mag really screw things up because the bullet nose never contacts the feed ramp before the case rim indexes under the extractor creating all kinds of funny feeding issues. You can get around it a little by speeding up the cycle with a strong recoil spring but there is a limit. Too long feedlips causes the round to jam because the magazine just wont release it. So there is a sweet spot where you can play around a little with the length. Thats kind of how Mecgar gets away with a Ruger P series 9mm magazine that feeds in the p85 all the way through to the p95 where as the factory has two different magazine versions that dont interchange well.