3913 and Promags - parts question

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aedavis

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I recently bought a 3913 and it came with two factory mags. I want to get some more magazines for it, but I'm not paying $60-$80 per when I'll only use them at the range.

The reviews I read of Promags for this platform are generally pretty positive, with a few negatives here and there. One person on this site mentioned that they fixed a Promag feeding problem by swapping the Promag follower out with an OEM S&W follower.

My question is this: What parts will swap? I can buy OEM mag floorplates, followers, springs, and spring floorplate catches at Midway right now. Does anyone know if I could swap all these parts into a Promag body?

Normally I'd never buy anything but an OEM or Mecgar magazine for a 3rd gen Smith, but I'm willing to experiment with Promags in this case.
 
Congratulations on acquiring the 3913, it is a nice pistol. For me Promag is a no no in handguns because of bad experiences. I use Promag products on rifles with no problems. I was able to acquire OEM 3913 magazines at gun shops (new and unopened in a box of used magazines), gun shows and from this forum, sometimes the fun is in the hunt. I paid $35-$60.
 
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I have 2

I do not know why but the two ProMag magazines that I have for my 3913NL work just fine. They are not marked promag. They have no ID marks on them at all. The baseplates are identical to PM magazines, but maybe they are something else.
I have an 8 round ProMag for the 4506 which I use with my 457. I replaced the spring, the follower and baseplate when the PM spring gave out.
 
In my case, only the followers were changed. The Promag followers dragged on the mag body causing feeding issues. Since then they have been trouble free.
 
I bought a ProMag model 39 magazine and it has functioned reliably the few times I used it. I also bought two S&W 39 mags from Sarco Gun Parts. I like the Sarco mags better and they are cheaper. Either the ProMag or Sarco mag will protrude below the grip of a S&W 3913 but otherwise should function.


Here is a link to the Sarco mags.

S&W-Model 39 9mm caliber magazine New Manufactured - SARCO, Inc

I created a post on my results using the ProMag and Sarco mags on this forum and here is a link.

http://smith-wessonforum.com/smith-...-39-magazine-review.html?highlight=Sarco+mags
 
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I’ve wondered the same about retrofitting pro mags with S&W parts. I had kinda lost interest in the 39XX series for lack of mags, but recently found a 908 that I couldn’t pass up. Thinking about testing a couple of pro mags.
 
I bought a 3913 last year from a forum member. Great shooter. Bought a couple of ProMags for it, and they stovepiped constantly. I took them apart and cleaned them, and accidentally (?) put then back together while flipping/reversing the magazine spring. The rounds then sat in the mag fingers square, and fed every round correctly. Doesn't mean that this could fix the problem, just worked for me.
 
Promags are great.. for practicing malfunction drills. My 3913 came with 2... both are 50/50 on whether they get emptied before a malfunction.. I use them when I don't want to pick up spent brass or use dummy rounds...
 
I have had excellent results with Pro-Mags in Sigs by replacing the springs. I started out replacing the followers and springs, but found out the springs would do the trick.

I have been using about a dozen Pro-Mags in my 229 for about 30 years now with no problems.
 
Promags are junk and even they know it.

Ive told this story before but I'll tell it again.

I purchased a SIG P229 Pro-mag and had nothing but problems, I called them up, to their credit they have excellent customer service, they send me a new mag....tell me to keep the first one.

Second magazine same issues, I called them up and got a refund and was told "You can throw them away, we don't need them back".

Now in my mind, if Im a business selling an item and there is a problem, that I am unaware of, Id want the item back to see "damn can I fix this".....clearly Promag knows they are selling garbage and figure most people won't bother to hassle with returns and all.

Long story short, spend the extra money and get something reliable.

And for those saying "ive had great luck I only had to change xyz".....whats the point in buying a magazine only to change out 95% of it? Seems odd to me. Id rather just buy quality after market or OEM
 
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I got my 229 during the AWB and regular capacity Sig mags were unobtainable and approaching $100 if and when you could find them. My gun had belonged to a police officer and it only came with 1 ten round magazine. I was going to lots of gun shows in those days and happily managed to buy 2 or 3 in the $50.00 range.

I discovered the Sig forum the same time I found this one. Some one on the Sig forum stated the Pro-Mags had good tubes, but not internals. A PM was about $10.00 and after buying a spring and follower, I had about $14.00 in a fully functional magazine.

I have not tried PM's in any firearm other than my now 2 Sigs. I have put many thousands of rounds through them including reloads and lots of aluminum. I took them to a 3 day shooting school and fired over 2K rounds with no problems. Others at the school were skeptical, but they saw the results.

I am not encouraging others to try them. I am just saying I did, and they work for ME.


fmflorida said:
Promags are junk and even they know it.

Ive told this story before but I'll tell it again.

I purchased a SIG P229 Pro-mag and had nothing but problems, I called them up, to their credit they have excellent customer service, they send me a new mag....tell me to keep the first one.

Second magazine same issues, I called them up and got a refund and was told "You can throw them away, we don't need them back".

Now in my mind, if Im a business selling an item and there is a problem, that I am unaware of, Id want the item back to see "damn can I fix this".....clearly Promag knows they are selling garbage and figure most people won't bother to hassle with returns and all.

Long story short, spend the extra money and get something reliable.

And for those saying "ive had great luck I only had to change xyz".....whats the point in buying a magazine only to change out 95% of it? Seems odd to me. Id rather just buy quality after market or OEM
Click to expand...
 
If you can rebuild the Promag magazine tube with a S&W follower and mag spring, that sounds like a win-win!

I don't have any personal knowledge with Promags for the 3913, but have always heard negative remarks concerning their quality.

I bought a used 3913 that came with two S&W mags and a 9 round mag made by a company called Ram Line. The Ram Line mag is hands down the worst magazine I have ever seen. It doesn't have a conventional zig-zag mag spring inside, it has a clock spring that is physically attached to the bottom of the follower and the other end is spot welded to the inside top/rear of the mag tube. The clock spring unwinds as you load the rounds in. I was so embarrassed by this magazine that I didn't include it when I sold the handgun. So if you ever see any of these for sale, pass, they are worst than worthless.
 

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max said:
I have had excellent results with Pro-Mags in Sigs by replacing the springs. I started out replacing the followers and springs, but found out the springs would do the trick.

I have been using about a dozen Pro-Mags in my 229 for about 30 years now with no problems.
Click to expand...
The quality varies with the model.
My 3913 Pro-Mags are fine.
My 4506 Pro-Mag was fine for about ten years. Then I replaced spring, follower, and baseplate, but probably only needed the spring. Still use it for my dry firing as the drop mag when practicing the reload while running.
I have not needed other Pro-Mag products, because other OEM mags are reasonable in price. 3913 mags run about $70 plus shipping, maybe 60. Promags are $20 free ship. Fine for dry fire and for dropping in the dirt or mud at the range.

Kind regards,
BrianD
 
+1 for Promags being terrible. Love the post about them being great for practicing malfunctions. So true. Never had any luck with them and swore them off. MecGar mags are excellent as the best non Smith mags I've ever had. Have several. Fortunately for all of my 3914's I have 2-3 factory mags each
 
3wire said:
The Ram Line mag is hands down the worst magazine I have ever seen. So if you ever see any of these for sale, pass, they are worst than worthless.
Click to expand...

I once bought a 915 that came with one Ram Line magazine and I can only concur with the above. I believe the Clinton ban basically put them out of business although the name does live on in some capacity.
 
Brian Parrish said:
They have no ID marks on them at all. The baseplates are identical to PM magazines, but maybe they are something else.
Click to expand...

Many ProMags have no identifying marks. I just got three ProMags for my Walther P1 and there are no brand markings. I used to sell mags and none of the ProMags had brand markings.

I once asked how they handled the warranty if there were no markings and was told, "We can tell our mags."
 
They can tell because genuine S&W mags don't need warranty replacement. Or at least didn't back then. I have plenty of 3rd Gen magazines that I've bought over the years and so don't have to buy aftermarket. The exception to that is some Mec Gar 59xx magazines. Which were of questionable provenance when I lived in Massachusetts, but are fine now that I live in Texas.

Yaworski said:
Many ProMags have no identifying marks. I just got three ProMags for my Walther P1 and there are no brand markings. I used to sell mags and none of the ProMags had brand markings.

I once asked how they handled the warranty if there were no markings and was told, "We can tell our mags."
Click to expand...
 
My 3953 (purchased last week) came with one factory magazine. Got extremely lucky with a quality IWB kydex holster today. The only mags I could find online were the auction sites. Not going that route just yet. Today I went to 3 pawn shops and my local gun shop to see if I could find more. Nothing. I'm not giving up, I will find at least 2 more factory mags because this is my carry gun, replaced my Glock 43. I love my Glocks and the 43 is a great gun, just not for me. In the meantime I am going to buy 2 Promags and upgrade with S&W springs and followers. I have had experience with promag in the past, mostly negative, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. No expectations but maybe I'll get lucky.
 
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