Magazine Lifespan? Opinions & Experiences please.

[RA40]

Thinking of followers and wear, the HK mags develop a groove after X rounds through them. Has not caused a feed issue but this is on my watch routine for wear. Similar for the Sig but the HK followers get this pretty quick within 200 rounds or so. HK Parts sells the follower for $10.

 

[Alllen Bundy]

A worthwhile data point would be comparing the longevity of a MagGuts +2 modified mag with a standard factory mag.

I've been doing some accelerated life testing on the stock Sig spring VS the MagGuts spring. I'm doing a write up on the testing.

It's the thin flat spring that MagGuts uses that allows it to hold extra rounds with LESS spring force when loaded to capacity, but just as much spring force as the Sig spring with only one round left, which allows the follower to push up on the slide lock just as reliably as with a stock Sig magazine spring.

i've also just begun testing on the ISMI +5 magazine spring vs the SIg magazine spring.

 

[dodo bird]

I've heard plenty of poor comments about ProMag. I have 3 ProMag for the Firestar M43 that function well. May not always lock the slide back on last round though.

Otherwise have had good luck with any factory mag for the guns I have. I consider MecGar to be factory since they produce them for many manufacturers. I have MecGar for the Sig since they are a couple $ less then the branded Sig magazines. Identical parts between the "Sig" and MG" inside.

My oldest still in use are the 10 round S&W 19050 .22LR mags that fit the 41, 422,622 and 2206 type .22 pistols. I don't know the round counts on them but the first 4 date back into the late 80's.

The Ruger 10-22 rotary mags are the shortest lifespan I have come across. I seem to replace them every 3K rounds. They get gummed up and the plastic inside a bit chewed from the dirty ammo that makes them gritty, they eventually don't feed reliably after a spell. They get taken apart to be cleaned but I now consider them disposable rather than taking them apart to clean which doesn't really yield much difference anyhow.

I would definitely agree the 10/22 don’t last long.

 

[sequins]

I have bought KCI mags and continue to do so, but they are cheap mags. The drums are hit or miss but since they're the ones that are out there that aren't called "ProMag" they're the ones I get for my glocks. They work most of the time.

Magpul mags for AR-15 or AR-10 are the truth.

For other firearms their respective factory OEM mags, or Checkmate/Mec-Gar/OEM-white-label manufacturer mags are the next best (Many, many magazines are made by Mec-Gar and labeled for manufacturers, buying the "Mec-gar" labeled Mag gets the same thing for a few bucks less)

 

[Speedo66]

Still using the same original magazines, including springs, that came with my Glock 26 I bought in the mid 90's.

No problems whatsoever with mags, or gun itself, for that matter. Still goes bang every time.

 

[Old Dog]

I was on active duty, trained and deployed, during the Checkmate M9 magazine debacle. On principle, I have never given that company another chance.

Picked up ten ACT-Mags for my SIG P-220s; thus far (about a year and a half and several hundred rounds), they are good to go.

MecGar is the gold standard for pistol mags. For SIG, Beretta, CZ and even 1911s, I've found this company's products to be superior. And they're way less expensive, as @sequins noted above, then the factory mags (especially if you're talking SIG or Beretta).

For 1911s, I use mostly Wilson Combat 47Ds and Ed Brown's excellent mags, though I was given some MecGars when they first started making 1911 mags, they've been fine. Springfield Armory's OEM mags (believe they used to be made by Metalform) have always been reliable -- Kimber's, not so much (remember the old joke about the first thing one did after buy a Kimber was to throw the mag(s) that came with it in the trash).

Someone mentioned RamLine. I had several of the RamLine 18-round mags back in the day (for the Beretta) when they were the only game in town making mags that held more than 15 -- strangely, they always worked for me. Dunno what I ever did with them, must be in a box in a closet somewhere... or I sold 'em during the old federal AWB for a big profit (they were like gold back then, even with the "JamLine" reputation).

Never had problems with factory Glock, FN, Beretta, CZ or SIG magazines. HK factory magazines, well, they mostly work, trained and instructed on HKs for years, guess I'm still resentful about how ridiculously overpriced they always have been. SIG mags are stupid expensive, too, for that matter.

 

[JTQ]

I was on active duty, trained and deployed, during the Checkmate M9 magazine debacle. On principle, I have never given that company another chance

For 1911s, I use mostly Wilson Combat 47Ds and Ed Brown's excellent mags,...

Just an FYI - Ed Brown 1911 mags are made by CheckMate

Wilson's 47D is a nice mag, but is near the bottom of the Wilson line-up. The 47D ( https://shopwilsoncombat.com/MAGAZI...ZE-8-ROUND-STANDARD-BASE-PAD/productinfo/47D/ ) uses the same tube length as the full size 7 round 47 ( https://shopwilsoncombat.com/MAGAZI...IZE-7-ROUND-STANDARD-BASE-PAD/productinfo/47/ ). To squeeze an extra round into a 7 round tube length, Wilson uses a lesser spring and follower in their 47D compared to the 7 round 47. Expect the spring in the 7 round 47 to outlast the 8 round 47D spring.

If you want an 8 rounder from Wilson, the ETM ( https://shopwilsoncombat.com/45-ACP-Elite-Tactical-Magazines/products/378/ ) line-up will give you a longer tube, with a better spring than the 47D. You can also expect longer mag spring life from the ETM mag springs than the 47D.

 

[CapnMac]

I'm trying to remember if I've ever had a personally-owned magazine fail (have ditched some in military service; and mostly MG links at that).
I've had a couple of dodgy mags, mostly they were junk right out of the box, and largely because I bough cheap rather than good.

 

[Coyote3855]

When I was shooting IPSC, I routinely replaced 1911 magazine springs at 2500 rounds. But that was just my OCD kicking in. I did not want to wait for a failure to feed.

 

[Old Dog]

Just an FYI - Ed Brown 1911 mags are made by CheckMate

Wow. Color me shocked, I'd never checked to see where they were sourced. I'm amazed, because the Checkmate M9 mags were garbage, worse than ProMags, which are the absolute worst products on the market.

And yeah, don't why I said 47Ds, I've been using the ETMs since they came out.

 

[JTQ]

Wow. Color me shocked, I'd never checked to see where they were sourced. I'm amazed, because the Checkmate M9 mags were garbage, worse than ProMags, which are the absolute worst products on the market.
View attachment 1072765

The "internet story" is the US Government told CheckMate they wanted a parkerized-type phosphate coating on their contract M9 mags. CheckMate told them that was a bad idea, and they'd rather put a smoother finish on the mags. The Government persisted. CheckMate delivered. Middle East, fine powdered sand got imbedded in the rough finish and jammed up the mags. Subsequent Government orders for M9 mags deleted the phosphate finish.

Current CheckMate M9/92 mags don't have the rough finish, but I have read their springs don't typically last as long as those from Beretta or Mec-Gar.

CheckMate has whole bunch of 1911 mag offerings. Some are really good, and are near the top of my list, but there are some models in their line-up that I won't buy again.

 

[Tallball]

I have never personally worn out a magazine spring, and that includes a couple of pistols I've owned since the 80's and shot a lot.

I have bought a couple of used pistols that needed the magazine springs to be replaced.

So apparently it's possible to do, but I have yet to use a pistol enough to do it myself.

 

[Jimfern]

I got some very used 7 round Sig P220 magazines that had cracks on the top rear corners of the magazines. I have no idea how many rounds they had in them but they still functioned w/o problems. I think if you stick to factory and quality after market magazines most will last nearly as long as the pistol for most people.

 

[Jim Watson]

I don't keep round counts, so my experiences are qualitative, not quantitative.
Wilson 47Ds would fail me by not lifting the slide stop when empty, feeding was still good. New springs about every other year were a fix except for one that would no longer drop free. I was not able to find where it was binding. It became a Barney mag.
Original Devels cracked in the U notch in the rear of the tube.

Early Metalform 10x9mm were good for a while but then went nuts. Fresh springs did not help. I got them doing pretty well by installing .38 Super followers and springs.

The ETS transparent magazines are OK in my Glock but not a friend's. We will try Magpul next, to get a 140mm/21 shot magazine for USPSA Limited.

Cheap Promags were ok in my Sig-Sauer but not a friend's.
Promag .22 conversion magazines were ok in a club member's Kimber but not my Nelson.

Of course a lot of magazines do just fine, I won't try to list all the brands that are satisfactory.

 

[stanley_white]

Semi-related...

I left a factory Glock 19 magazine fully loaded for five years.

It still ran, but would not lock back the slide once empty.

-Stan

 

[Jim Watson]

When Chuck Taylor was amassing tremendous round counts on a Glock 17, he found that magazines lasted longer if only loaded to 15. They don't have the reserve that a 7 shot Colt or 13 shot Browning does.

I shucked out a magazine at the USPSA match last week, then felt a lump under my foot. I tried not to put my full weight down on it and it LOOKS undamaged. We shall see.

 

[JTQ]

When Chuck Taylor was amassing tremendous round counts on a Glock 17, he found that magazines lasted longer if only loaded to 15. They don't have the reserve that a 7 shot Colt or 13 shot Browning does.

Which to me, makes perfect sense. However, we have a couple of threads regarding some of those new little guns with big mag capacities, where the members are having mag/function/feeding problems, and even with the manufacturer telling the members to down load those mags a round or two, they think that is the dumbest thing ever.