Was reading another discussion on another site and it referenced having magazines that fit more than one pistol that you own. Immediately I thought of the classic double-stack 9mm S&W magazine of which I have many. Common magazine and fits numerous models.

Then I said to myself, “Self — no really, just how many different poppers do you have that will properly, by design, accept and use this mag?”

Well That number is apparently eleven. That surprised me a little bit. I’m sure some of the regulars have that beat. Witness WLP624’s mind-numbing Performance Center 945 collection. Those suckers all eat the same magazine. Come to think of it, he’s got an eye-popping 952 collection also.

And here I always worried that I don't have enough magazines for the relatively small number of guns I actually own...

Or where to put them. Or how many to make room for in the fishing tackle box, the night stand, the glove box, and in the multiple places I stash screwdrivers and socket sets to make sure I can always find one when I need it...

I see I have been looking at this all wrong!

Instead of foolishly spending money on that 3rd or 4th overpriced magazine for the latest classic firearm I am obsessed with, I should just pick a good quality brand of magazine, and buy ALL the guns it fits, and I will always have several for each gun I own... another anxiety problem solved so easily!

It's posts like this that make me happy to read this forum and have past misconceptions and mistaken beliefs finally corrected by more knowledgeable people...

I have eight single stack 9mm S&W pistols, technically all of them can use the 3906 9-round mag. I have adapted some for specific use in smaller guns, and have lots of them on hand.
I have six single-stack .45 ACP S&W pistols, and technically all of them can use the 4506 8-round mag. I have adapted some for specific use in smaller guns, and have lots on hand, as above.
I have five 1911 pattern .45 ACP pistols, and all of them can use the same 7-round Metalform 1911 magazine, and the smaller ones can use that mag, or the 6-round version of the same.
I have four 9mm Beretta 92 pattern pistols, and all of them can use the same 17-round Mec Gar magazine. I have adapted blah blah blah.
Rifles is like that too. (more so)
Speedloaders is like that too.

Haha well maybe I wasn’t clear... this certainly wasn’t my intention, it just ended up this way! First was a 5906, formerly issued LE gun (says Bud’s, though it wasn’t marked.) It arrived with a well-worn exterior and the big fat Hogue rubber - which was disgusting, cracked and dry rotted and I literally peeled that old junk grip off in little pieces.

I added pistols from that point. As it turned out, many of them were double stack S&W 9mm’s.

I'm new to the S&W Auto set.
I started out with a nice 469 with a 12 round mag. Then I learned about 5900 series mags and I now have a 14 round and a 17 round, both with some cool slip on adapters....I like this.

I had a really beautiful pistol that I bought a year or so ago. A great single stack 9mm smoothed frame and slide carry pistol. It was made by a big name maker that just happens to change models like I change my drawers. Imagine my shock when I learned that magazines were unavailable and if you could find one, by accident, it was priced near 100 bucks each!

I kept this beautiful pistol for about 6mo. and during that time I had paid a premium price to the tune of having the price of the pistol invested in the three spare magazines that I managed to scratch up.

Then I learn that this is not an unusual practice for this company. If you have one and like it, you better stock up when they are still for sale because when they drop a pistol model, they drop it like a bad habit, and all support too.

The identity of this company adds no value to this thread, so I won't mention it. I'm glad to learn that the S&Ws are a whole lot more versatile.

One day at the range used my 5906 mags in other shooters Kel-Tec Sub2000 that was fun. The only other gun I had to use 5900 series was 469 sold several years ago . The 12 rds had just started to be scarce , I had 4 extra that sold quick

One for the 59xx magazines, two for the 69xx magazines, three for the pre rail 39xx TSW/CS9 guns, four for the 39xx compacts, two for the 7 round 45xx compacts.

If I ever find a Marlin Camp Carbine at other than a sky high price, I'll have one for more for the 59xx. I don't expect that to happen soon, if ever.

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Can open, worms everywhere.

59xx magazines work in Star 28/29/30 models if the magazine disconnect is removed.

Ditto on the 9mm Camp Carbine. Who knew that the price on those things would go through the roof ??

i don't have that many pistols, but have plenty of mags for each; maybe 20 for double-stack 9, 15 or so for .45, similar for double-stack 40, maybe a dozen for the 39 and 39-2. Only one with just a handful is the CS-40, too danged expensive and rare for single application mag.

As hard as I try I can not get any of my Playboy magazines to fit in any gun I own.

I think I also have the most 5906 style mags, followed by P226, because cheap but high quality Meg-Gar mags are available for both. Next would probably be the P99 series - I have a P99c, and MR9 copy, and a PPQ, although the PPQ is a v2 and won’t share mags without a mod. Still, when NJ implemented the awful new 10 round limit, I found a seller looking to unload quite a few 10 round SW99 mags, which are also compatible, so I stocked up.

You can never have enough mags, especially if they are limited to 10 lousy rounds each.

The next pistol I picked up that used these mags was a 659. I enjoyed this one immediately but it was also the purchase that spelled out plainly where all the upgrades in a 3rd Gen are.

I think many of us may take for granted the evolution of the design. As my first couple of S&W pistols were 3rd Gens, I didn’t learn about the evolution until I was already a fan and worked backward by getting a 2nd Gen.

It may sound like an odd argument, but the 659 is a fun big ‘ole pistol and when you have a 659 and a 5906 in front of you and you can spend a lot of time comparing them, you might agree that these 3rd Gens were a heck of an update to a great pistol.

I agree with Sevens that the 3rd gens were big improvements over the 2nd gen pistols.

I also feel that the 2nd gens were a big improvement over the 1st gens.

The 659 (1st S&W semi that I ever shot back in the '80s) was such a sea-change over the model 59 that it put semi-autos in the holsters of most of America's LEOs.

And the firing pin safety of the 2nd gen design finally created a Smith & Wesson semi-auto that was DROP SAFE and therefore for the first time, fit for carry.

John

Speaking of having enough magazines (or not, as the case may be), I was keeping an eye on two separate pairs of 5906 factory mags on GB over the weekend. The used pair went for $61 and the new pair for $82, plus shipping. Suddenly MecGar looks really good at their price... so does buying firearms to fit the mags you have already, LOL!

Lots of different mags for my stuff. Spent a fair amount of time and $$ trying to get happy with the inventory. I love my 1st, 2nd and 3rd gen Smith's and still buy more from time to time. I trust them 100% but when talking about an emergency situation then the question for me becomes about simplicity. The variety of mags across those guns can be addressed but not easily. I have decided that my SHTF guns are M&P's that share mags in order to keep it simple. The 2.0 compact is my go to. I have more than one. All of the standard 15rd mags that came at purchase along with an undisclosed number of 17rd mags...doesn't matter (in terms of function) which one comes out of the bag. Grab and go means just that. Other considerations have been addressed but the M&P's are the jump off point. All any of us have to do is suit ourselves and this is where I landed when it comes to pistols. YMMV.

Carry guns are a different story. I carry 3rd gens a lot but only one mag type to worry about at a time.

Top notch collection...his smaller 945s use a 6 round CS45 mag with an extra slot cut in it for the mag release.

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In addition to my M59 I also have a Marlin Camp 9 that uses the same double stack 9mm magazines.

I have a M39-2 and a M639 that both use the same single stack 9mm magazines.

But that is all the cross over I have going on in my accumulation.

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S&W 5906, 6906 and KelTec P-11 5906 mags fit all 3. 6906 mags also fit P-11