Prince Yamato
Member
I know you've all probably seen them advertised online by now. They've been reviewed on other sites. I bought one (G17) last week and tested it out for myself.
Fit and finish wise, they really aren't as good as a new Glock factory mag. They have rougher texture to them over-all and have (this is a technical term) hangy little bits of plastic on them here and there. Note though, that a used Glock mag will also be slightly deformed (namely around the mag catch area) and tends to show similar "hangy bits of plastic". The one thing I like about these mags is that they are a deeper black than Glock factory mags- incidental to function, I know- but something I like. Over-all though, they look very similar to a factory mag and if one were to stamp them with a Glock logo, it would be difficult to tell that the KCI mag didn't come from the Glock factory.
Function: When shooting, the KCI mags functioned fine. I didn't have any misfeeds. I shot decent ammo (WWB) and then I shot cheap ammo ($8/box monarch). Both shot fine.
I read on another board that you cannot use the Glock mag loader with these mags. I found that when I loaded the mag for the first time, this was true. In fact, the follower got stuck at the bottom of the mag. I was quite disheartened at this occurrence. I smacked the mag on the table and up bounced the follower. I then finished loading the mag by hand. As I am rereading AR15.com I found a post that accurately describes the problem that I encountered:
At the range, I reloaded the mag by hand; no problems loading were found. The third time I reloaded the mag, I said, "Oh the hell with it!" and used the mag loader and surprisingly, it worked on the entire mag. I don't understand the dilemma. My hypothesis is that the factory Glock mags have less spring tension. When I push the follower with my finger, the KCI mags seem to have a much stiffer spring. I know that the spring is reported to be thinner than the Glock spring but it feels stiffer. Maybe it is more toughly or rigidly formed? At any rate, the mag had no problems feeding or firing.
I purchased this mag for $16 online, which I thought was too high-priced to justify buying a third-party mag when an OEM mag is not much more, but I then found the KCI mags for $11 at CopesDistributing. So, I bought 10 of them and figured that at worst, they would be confined to range use. I already have a healthy supply of Glock OEM mags anyway.
These mags may not be mirror images of the Glock mags, but they seem to be functional near-equals. I have not had a chance to put enough rounds through one (let alone the other ten) to determine whether or not these are worthy as CCW mags. My hope is that they will be on par with the factory mags in terms of reliability and durability if only to drive the prices down on Glock OEM mags. My theory is that if there ever was an AWB and it was similar to the old one, the negative reviews of these mags would disappear and people would sing their praises as being "just as good as factory mags for half the price."
There's already a flury of pics of these posted on the internet so I'm not going to post any. Ammoman.com has pics of the mags. I'd love to hear others' opinions of the KCI mags.
Fit and finish wise, they really aren't as good as a new Glock factory mag. They have rougher texture to them over-all and have (this is a technical term) hangy little bits of plastic on them here and there. Note though, that a used Glock mag will also be slightly deformed (namely around the mag catch area) and tends to show similar "hangy bits of plastic". The one thing I like about these mags is that they are a deeper black than Glock factory mags- incidental to function, I know- but something I like. Over-all though, they look very similar to a factory mag and if one were to stamp them with a Glock logo, it would be difficult to tell that the KCI mag didn't come from the Glock factory.
Function: When shooting, the KCI mags functioned fine. I didn't have any misfeeds. I shot decent ammo (WWB) and then I shot cheap ammo ($8/box monarch). Both shot fine.
I read on another board that you cannot use the Glock mag loader with these mags. I found that when I loaded the mag for the first time, this was true. In fact, the follower got stuck at the bottom of the mag. I was quite disheartened at this occurrence. I smacked the mag on the table and up bounced the follower. I then finished loading the mag by hand. As I am rereading AR15.com I found a post that accurately describes the problem that I encountered:
At the range, I reloaded the mag by hand; no problems loading were found. The third time I reloaded the mag, I said, "Oh the hell with it!" and used the mag loader and surprisingly, it worked on the entire mag. I don't understand the dilemma. My hypothesis is that the factory Glock mags have less spring tension. When I push the follower with my finger, the KCI mags seem to have a much stiffer spring. I know that the spring is reported to be thinner than the Glock spring but it feels stiffer. Maybe it is more toughly or rigidly formed? At any rate, the mag had no problems feeding or firing.
I purchased this mag for $16 online, which I thought was too high-priced to justify buying a third-party mag when an OEM mag is not much more, but I then found the KCI mags for $11 at CopesDistributing. So, I bought 10 of them and figured that at worst, they would be confined to range use. I already have a healthy supply of Glock OEM mags anyway.
These mags may not be mirror images of the Glock mags, but they seem to be functional near-equals. I have not had a chance to put enough rounds through one (let alone the other ten) to determine whether or not these are worthy as CCW mags. My hope is that they will be on par with the factory mags in terms of reliability and durability if only to drive the prices down on Glock OEM mags. My theory is that if there ever was an AWB and it was similar to the old one, the negative reviews of these mags would disappear and people would sing their praises as being "just as good as factory mags for half the price."
There's already a flury of pics of these posted on the internet so I'm not going to post any. Ammoman.com has pics of the mags. I'd love to hear others' opinions of the KCI mags.
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