Best/Most Reliable Magazines for Ruger Mk II?

[MSR_Gal]

Usually factory mags are considered the best for reliability for any firearm.

I have read repeatably of smokestack FTE's in Ruger std's and Mk's, often caused by the mag feed lips sitting too high.

Inconsistancy in the critical dimension between the feed lips and the surface that interfaces with the magazine catch appears to be the problem.

I've read a post a while back, can't remember where, mentioning having to file or dremel some Ruger mags to avoid this problem, but also mentioning never having the problem with Mec Gar mags for the Ruger Mk II.

Is the Mec Gar the best/most reliable magazine for the Ruger Mk II? Is the factory mag? Other brand? Are some Ruger Mk II factory mags more reliable than others? Do these higher reliability factory mags have any distinguishing markings or characteristics?

What has been other's experience with mags for the Mk II?

 

[Trebor]

I've had a Ruger Mk II Government Target Model for about 12 years or so. It came with two mags and I bought two more factory mags right away. I bought a second Mk II standard model with two mags about a year ago.

Out of those six factory mags, I had occasional feeding problems with one mag. I marked it and would note when it hung up. I eventually just took it apart, cleaned it, and put it back together. I haven't noticed any problems since then.

I bought a single Mec Gar mag when I bought the Mk II standard model last year. The only difference I've noticed is that the loading button on the Mec Gar mag is smaller and more difficult to hold down. This makes the mag noticeably more difficult to load.

Ruger will swap out bad mags for good mags on a one-to-one basis if you call them ahead of time. I was going to do that with my bad mag, but the problem seems to have gone away.

 

[Baphomet]

I've used both factory and MecGar mags. Both have worked fine in the overall but I do prefer factory (+1 to the button issue mentioned above). IF (and that's a big "if" right there) you do get a hold of a bad magazine, rather than whipping out the dremel tool, I'd suggest you simply have it replaced. No point in making a mountain out of such a mole-hill issue. Not too mention the fact that the chances that you'll actually run into a bad magazine are, in my experience, quite slim.