For some time now I've been purchasing S&W OEM 4506 magazines when they came up at a good sale price. One of the typical best places I'd find them would be on Midway USA's site.

When I went on tonight to purchase some additional mags, I promptly noticed they were "Discontinued", not the usual "Out of Stock" message.

A quick check of my other usual mag sites either posted the same "Discontinued" message, or "Out of Stock".

Did S&W finally stop making them?

Evidently they have stopped. No worries though. Numrichs and some others sell all the components to refurbish an existing mag, including the mag bodies. Wolff still produces mag springs.

And Im told by a reliable source that Apex, the company that makes all the parts to rebuild an m&p pistol, giving it everything that the factory didnt bother to, is going to start making 3rd gen replacement parts. Perhaps if they get enough interest they will produce new followers for the mags.

Ebay and Gunbroker still have many brand new mags available - albeit at scalpers prices - and the factory made a bizzilion of them - so Im not worried at all about running out of mags.

Im sure an enterprising company who wants to sell a lot of product rather than try to push you to purchase their current products by discontinuing parts/support for the ones you already own will step in and make replacement mags at some point. Maybe ever MecGar.

How bout that "lifetime warranty" and product support? Regards 18DAI

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7 +1 Rounds of hope & change

Sadly, I think your right. Selfishly, I always thought that 3rd Gen. factory mags would be perpetually made. Its just another sign of the times I guess.

I've had no issues with Mec-Gar mags, I just preferred the factory ones myself, especially when it came to the finish.

I hope your right about the return of Gen. 3 parts. That'll definitely make a lot of people very happy

I can't find any .45 mags on MecGar's website. Am I missing something?

He only said that MECGAR _might_ start making them.

MecGar would get good business from this move. While there at it, MecGar should make 1006 mags. $99 for a used mag is highway robbery!

Send them an Email suggesting it. I did. Several times. Regards 18DAI

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7 +1 Rounds of hope & change

I just received 2 new in package magazines from an ebay vendor. A little expensive but new.
2 Smith & Wesson factory NEW 4506 & 645 - 8rd .45acp magazines clips mags S321* | eBay.
Check it out if you can't find them elsewhere, I couldn't.

Whats the word on the 4563TSW mags are they available? Ive never checked but this thread has me wondering now.

I think they take the same magazine.

Bah, thats not good. Thanks for the heads up HCH.

the 8rd 45(4506) magazines are the most common that I encounter at gun shows here in Ohio,the 6 & 7 rounders are the rarer ones.
They're too common to be worth buying. If I bought all I had seen at this past weekends' Warren show,I probably would have come home with 12-18 of them. I did pick up 8 S&W mags,3 45 7 rounders,2 40S&W 10 rounders,1 59XX 10rd,& 1 69XX 10rd.

The 10rounders(because of the visually obvious 'limitation indentation bar) are the ones I concentrate on. I've been 'USPSing' out a lot of them lately.

For those interested, Climags has (or had a few days ago) some used 11 round 40xx series magazines. I think they were listed as for the 410 (yes, I know), but since they are described as used, they are probably pre ban.

Anyway, they are having some sort of clearance sale on various brands of magazines, not just 3rd Gen.

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Can open, worms everywhere.

I believe Mec-Gar has been the EOM supplier to S&W of "factory" magazines and probably has been prohibited in the past from selling 3rd gen mags under the Mec-Gar name due to a non-competitive clause in their S&W contract.

With S&W now officially declaring them as discontinued, maybe that will unshackle Mec-Gar from not being able to market them... a very lucrative market for them is just waiting to be plucked, and they would not need to "tool up" for it either.

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Conrad
SWCA #1830 SWHF #222

the 'king of 3rd gen mags' as TSSH calls me,my current inventory after Warrens' show.

Attached Images

3rd%20Gen%20Magazine%20stock%205%20S%20S_zpsh75esuso.jpg (242.9 KB, 28 views)

We're supposed to have a good sized snow storm tomorrow. If I get bored, I'll dig out all of my 3rd Gen magazines (at least the ones I can find) and do a group photo.

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Can open, worms everywhere.

It's snowing, i got bored, I took a picture of all of my (at least I think so) 3rd Gen magazines.



Top row is 59xx magazines. Except the two on the left which are 69xx magazines.

The next row is 69xx magazines.

The third row is compact 45 magazines. More than I thought I had for one 457.

The fourth row, on the left are 3904/06 magazines. Those are available at a reasonable price if anyone is interested. To the right are the 7 round CS9/3913TSW magazines.

Bottom two rows are 3913/14/53/54 eight round magazines. Those feed a 3913, railed 3913TSW, 3914NL, and 3953. I have to resist the urge to buy more when I see them listed at good prices So far, I've failed at that.

I think I have enough, but the way things are going, I'd probably latch on to a couple more compact .45 ACP magazines if they were reasonably priced.

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Can open, worms everywhere.

Only 66 magazines???

I'd call that 3rd Gen magazine deficient!

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p.s., Is collecting 3rd Gen magazines a legitimate hobby in and of itself?

I don't think I have quite that many but maybe I'd surprise myself if I did the same thing. Sadly, I can assure you that I will not be putting all mine on the floor and snapping a picture... haha.

The centerpiece if I did... however... would not be 3rd Gen--
it would be eleven Model 52 magazines.

If the rule is 3 magazines per gun, I need to buy a couple more 457s, 5906s, and 6906s.

I have more for the guns I actually carry than for the range guns. Which I think makes sense.

I didn't count the springs, baseplates, followers, and so on for the magazines.

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Can open, worms everywhere.

Don't worry! You have me beat in at least 3 or 4 categories... possibly more if I actually counted them.

The most 'elusive' for me are the 356TSW and 4040PD magazines.

Do we know if the 356TSW magazine, tall or short, is at all dimensionally different than the simple double-stack 9mm magazine?

Obviously they come equipped with the ultra-cool PC markings but in modern manufacturing... it would be poor business cost management to make a new magazine if the standard 9mm mag already worked well.

Does the existence of the multi-caliber Super 9 hold the answer?

Sevens,

As near as I can tell, the full size 3566TSW mag is dimensionally identical to a S&W 5900 magazine. The follower and internals are likely the same (can't verify the spring, though).

The only differences are the PC stamp, caliber marking, and the tall baseplate.

Functionally, they are also interchangeable. A 5900 mag will load and feed in the 3566TSW, and the 3566TSW mag will load and feed in a standard 59 series. Either round works in either mag, as the OAL is the same.

PC shorty mags are also the same as 6906; just with PC/caliber marks.

referring back to my post #23,the 'elusive' I was indicating was not for the purpose of having a 356TSW pistol and needing mags but for having them as 'collection' reference because of their marking.

It would appear, based on a quick perusal of Ebay and Gunbroker this AM, that there will not be a shortage of 4506 mags anytime soon. But the pricing ranged from fair to extremely optimistic.

While there, I also viewed the s&w 10mm mags. Glad I dont own or shoot 10mm 3rd gen guns. Outrageous pricing on the mags there. Regards 18DAI

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7 +1 Rounds of hope & change

I recently bought another magazine for my CS 45 from Midway, they were on sale. I have two magazines which fit my 4506. They have orange followers, and a rubber pad on the bottom. As I have plenty of 4506 magazines, I would sell them. The pad appears to be held on by a screw. I never saw any 4506 magazines like these, they hold 8 rounds.

Terrific pictures, oldman10mm, thanks for posting those!

They have been available both new and used at local gun shows.

Thank you for this heads up. I ordered and today received eleven original brand new 4506 magazines. Owning a 4506 and soon a 4586, too, for IPSC and IDPA I need more than a couple of magazines.

I am doing the same for my 5906 and 5903.

But boy oh boy those magazines are expensive. I could buy a couple more new guns for the money I spend on these magazines. But in a decade or two I will be so happy to have them.