I make it a practice of not suggesting to other people how they spend their money. At the risk of being accused of violating that, I would suggest that if you were interested in reselling those, you'd likely have little trouble selling them on this forum.

If those are the seven round, early version magazines, they also fit the CS9.

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Can open, worms everywhere.

Next time I go back, I will see if they're still available. If I remember correctly, there were around 9 or 10 mags available.

BTW, that applies in general to any 3rd Gen magazine. As you can see from this thread, they seem to be mostly out of production and availability varies widely. The bodies are pretty durable and at least for now springs, followers, butt plates, and butt plate catches are available. They can be rebuilt quite easily.

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Can open, worms everywhere.

When I buy a handgun I consider buying all the magazines (I think) I'll ever need to be part of the purchase

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Retired Career Security Guard

It's just a bit trickier when buying a used gun. Sometimes the gun is traded in with two or three mags, but sold with only one Both of the LGS that I generally buy from keep everything together and don't split off the mags separately. I've usually ended up with two magazines when I've bought from them.

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Can open, worms everywhere.

Yeah, what GaryS said. We are dealing with long discontinued 3rd Gens... used guns for which you take what you get when you manage to find one that you want. That could be anywhere from a single magazine to as many as 4 or 5... but usually you are damn happy just to get one or two spares. Finding more magazines after that can run the gamut from super-easy to damn near impossible.

And as GaryS points out: Some shops still strip off extra magazines to sell off separately just to keep the tagged price of the gun down. It's a weird and dying practice IMHO, but that's also how folks like GaryS and yours truly sometimes manage to score discontinued and hard to find magazines... in a shop's used magazine bargain bin.

For brand new guns it's a whole different story. Buy all you want or can afford. No issues there.

I don't own any "collector" guns so I don't generally have that problem. I own one 4006 (obviously a very common gun) and when I bought it I made a point of stocking up on as many magazines as I could get.

Colorado's magazine capacity restrictions caught me by surprise. I have 2 guns that were affected and magazines are hard to find. I decided never again.

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Retired Career Security Guard

I have a 908s which uses the same 8-round mags as the 3913.

Over the last year, I've found two more 8 round mags and the 7-round mag you mentioned. The 7rounder fits and works perfectly.

I'm curious though...which 3gen was the 7rounder originally for? The CS9? Or was it original to all the early compacts, the 3913/908 models?

I'm not a mag accumulator. I have four useable mags for the 908s. But only two mags each for the other semis I own. But the 908 is the very last one I'd sell.

Thanks all for the education.

Good question. There are actually two different 7 round magazines.

One is for the non rail 3913TSW/CS9. The other is for the early 3913 Lady Smith. That one has a metal bottom plate.



This is what the body of the early 3913 Lady Smith magazine looks like.



This magazine is the same overall length as the 8 round 3913/908 magazines, but it only holds 7 rounds.

The pre rail 3913TSW/CS9 magazine has a shorter body and will only hold 7 rounds. It also has a plastic bottom plate.

I don't have a picture of one of those handy, but can take some if you want to see what that looks like.

If yours is a 3913 Lady Smith magazine, they are fairly rare and someone with a LS may well want to buy it from you.

The pre rail 3913TSW/CS9 magaizines are more common, but no where near as common as the regular 3913/908 magazines.

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Can open, worms everywhere.

Gary...thanks for sharing. I don't have a pic of my 7 round mag - can probably do that tonite - but it looks identical to the one you posted except that it has the curved pinky grip....just like my 8 round mags.

If I can post a pic tonite maybe you can narrow it down for me. Many thanks.

Dan

A picture will certainly help. Measuring the overall length against one of your 8 round magazines will also tell us a lot.

I seem to remember that plastic bottom plates would fit on the Lady Smith magazine and vice versa. I might even have a picture somewhere, if Photobucket decides to cooperate.

Here is an earlier thread on the topic, with excruciating detail and more pictures.

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Can open, worms everywhere.

Am I missing something..

I've been watching 10mm mags close at over $100 on eBay this weekend.

There is one on GB right now BIN.. $79.95 Some just don't think.

Relative bargains do sometimes appear. I've been watching the trends on some of the hard-to-get magazines and the trend is downward right now. It may not last longer than a few days or weeks... but if you are so inclined or in desperate need, grab them while you can!

I've noticed the same thing. I don't know if this is actually good news in the long run, but I'm not going to over think it.

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Can open, worms everywhere.

At various times and under various circumstances I have crazy overpaid and I have crazy underpaid for my S&W pistol magazines.

Trust me on this... underpaying is sooooo much better!

Gary...bear with me as I try to post pics.

Here are my two mags. They are exactly the same length, both fit perfectly in the 908s, but the witness marks indicate their capacity...7 and 8 rounds respectively.



Both have the curved baseplate. Could well be that the base on the 7 rounder was added later.



image.jpeg

I'm going to go out on a bit of a limb and opine that the 7 round magazine was originally for an early Lady Smith. Someone along the way replaced the original metal base plate with a curved base plate.

Which is kind of too bad as those base plates seem to be made of unobtainium and probably reduces the value. That's if you were interested in selling it.

The good news is, as I mentioned in the other thread, if you put an 8 round spring in, you'll have an 8 round magazine, even if it's marked for 7 rounds.

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Can open, worms everywhere.

Gary ... You're probably right about the curved base plate. My thoughts as well. I'm happy keeping it the way it is. Gives me four Mage for this fine pistol....three 8 rounders and one 7 rounder. Plenty for the range...and for carry.

My magazine stock variances

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Oldmann,...impressive set. So my 7 rounder with the curved base could be for a Chief's Special.

Just FYI:
I just was notified that Midway has received a shipment of new 4013tsw mags.

It will fit, but it's not the same magazine as pictured in Oldmann's picture. If you look at the one in his picture, it's shorter than the 3913 magazine next to it. The longer magazines will lock into the CS9/no rail 3914TSW, but will stick out the bottom.

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Can open, worms everywhere.

I put a bug in the ear of both Meg-Gar & ProMag...
hopefully it'll start something up that will benefit us all

For squish & giggles also included emails to Wilson Combat & Chip McCormick

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Marlin & Calico Specialist

Already long gone, of course. They disappeared awfully fast this time. Man, you've got to be quick!

Be careful what you wish for. If those 3913/908 ProMags are as bad as they say, I'm not sure if an expansion of the line into other 3rd Gens would be something to celebrate.

As for Mec-Gar, I'll be shocked if they are interested at this point in time. Especially if they really were (or are still) one of the mothership's OEM magazine suppliers.

But you never know.

I went back to Midway to get more 645 mags, discontinued.
Finally found some at Greg Cote thankfully.

Two 469 12 Rd Mags I bought from Keep Shooting arrived today, believe they are manufactured by United Defense. The two S&W15 Rd Mags on the right are for a 5906 , ordered from Midway last February.

My latest 3rd Gen magazine panic (of many lately!) is over CS9 magazines. Midway is out and so is Greg Cote. This could be one of the toughest ones of all to get hold of at a decent price.

Other than the two large auction sites that we aren't supposed to talk about, is anyone seeing any for sale on-line?

The CS9 seems to be one of the most difficult. Only one I even seen & acquired was mismarked 'for 3913' at a Michigan show.

Yeah, I think you're right. I don't recall seeing any for sale around my area, new or used. Looks like I may have to swallow hard and pay the big bucks on one of the auction sites.

You know I'm a 3rd Gen enabler........but has it really come to this?
Please don't be "that guy".

Yes,it really come to this. From 1988? to ? when they were being produced and available,if we didn't buy them back then and now we realize that they're getting scarce and 'we want',then you have to pay up if you 'want'. If you find some at those 'back when' prices,consider yourself lucky. They ARE going to go higher,fact of life. Not enough magazines to meet the current demand.
Look what's happening to the pre-lock revolvers,slowly going up in purchaseable price.

Which guy is that? The one that pays auction site prices for his discontinued 3rd Gen magazines?

There is still one quirky, older, limited-oddball-hours shop near me that I'm hoping & praying is going to get me out of 3rd Gen magazine Hell... or at least help in that regard. But if that fails, I may have to go to the auction sites.

Please don't respect me less for doing so.

Ouch.

Funny thing is that in the past I was so happy just to find a decent condition 3rd Gen in MA that I didn't care whether it had its original box or spare magazines. Then, as time went on, I began to care more about boxes and papers and accessories... and yes, spare magazines.

But lately, spare magazines have almost become a deciding factor in whether I buy or blow it off.

Just one magazine? Forget about it!

One spare magazine? Let's talk!

Multiple spare magazines? Done deal!

for all the 'complainers' about the high price of 3rd gen mags.
the rarest of the rare !
10mm 11rd and 15rd magazines. On a 10mm forum I'm on,a member paid $430 for a 15rd. He needed it for his 10mm collection. I applaud him for spending the money and getting something very rare. FBI issue with the 1076 and most were returned to S&W. A few were kept and made it to the open market.

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No worries, I was just yanking your chain.
As long as you don't send me the bill you can pay whatever you like for mags.

Well, the good news is that I bought 5 more 3rd Gen magazines late today for short money.

The bad news is that none of them are what I really need.

But who knows? I may need them someday!

Out of my league for sure. But if you've got the deep pockets and it makes you happy, why not?

The next buyer will probably pay even more for it.

$434.89... plus $15 shipping. Definitely a lot for a 15 round magazine (NJ magazine limit, which is something else that drew me to it), but it sitting next to my 1006 is worth it.

Thanks for the kind words.

10mm magazines are probably the worst. I have about 12 of the standard ones... maybe paying about $45 each. With what they are at now, I'm glad I don't need more. Won't be selling any, though.

If you haven't paid ransom level prices for CS9 magazines, PM me.

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Can open, worms everywhere.

That's going to depend on what your definition of a "ransom level price" is!

I've got a bunch of those 15 round 10mm 3rd Gen. S&W mags. I had no idea they are worth that much!













<jk>

Above what I would pay, of course!

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Can open, worms everywhere.

I just remember what you taught me long ago: "Never pay more than $25.00 for a magazine."

Yes, unfortunately, I have.

That's my general rule. There have been exceptions, but OTOH, I've lucked into some deals. Two 3913 magazines for $20.00 each at Marlboro. He had three, and I should have bought them all. He didn't know what they fit, so he just had them on his table.

Even putting new springs in, I was below the $25.00 line.

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Can open, worms everywhere.

Triple K also has plenty of 3rd Gen mags...
mostly the big sellers, few specials.

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Marlin & Calico Specialist

You gotta love the guys who don't know what they've got. But I've run into two types: Ones that will sell dirt cheap because they have no idea... and ones that will ask an arm and a leg just to make sure that they aren't being taken by someone smarter than themselves!

Unfortunately for me, I ran into one of the latter at one shop today. He thought his rusty old 1st Gen magazines were made of GOLD!

No, they ain't!

Are they any good? And where do you get them?

++++++++

ETA: Okay, it looks like you buy them direct from Triple K!

He was the former. He had no other 3rd Gen anything. I think he just dug them out of a box or something and tossed them on the table.

I went back later, but the third one was gone. Someone else knew a bargain when they saw it.

There are plenty of the latter, too. Guys with beat up guns with outrageous prices. I pass because those same guys are always "firm" on their prices. No skin off my nose as I don't have to pack that junque back up on Sunday afternoon.

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Can open, worms everywhere.

Well, I managed to score a couple CS40 magazines yesterday without having to pay an arm and a leg! Any day I can score some discontinued 3rd Gen magazines without having to take out a personal loan (or worse!) is a good day.

The interesting this is that I thought these magazines were in high demand for 10mm conversions just like the 4013/4053 magazines... but now, as I look over the prices on the various auction sites, I see that is not the case.

Regardless, I am pleased. It can only add value when I go to sell my "used & abused" CS40 or, if not, I will sell them separately after I sell my CS40. I just won't make a small fortune on them like folks are doing with the 10mm or the 4013/4053 magazines.

I also noticed while looking through the classifieds here that 3rd Gen magazines seem to be selling awfully darn fast ever since I started this thread. Could it be that I started my own little "mini-run" on these things?