Sigma 9mm 17-round magazines

[TTSH]

It looks like I'm a little late to hear about this, but I see that Sigma/SD 9mm 17-round pre-ban-style magazines are available for sale again as of sometime earlier this year.

YouTube

That's great news for Sigma/SD fans, but it poses a problem for those of us in MA and any other locale with magazine bans with pre-1994 AWB exemptions. If these are brand new production magazines, how can they be distinguished from actual pre-ban magazines?

Or are they genuine pre-ban magazines that S&W had in storage somewhere and has finally decided to release for sale?

Does anyone have a genuine verified pre-ban and one of these newly-released ones that they can compare for us members here in MA?

 

[colt_saa]

I bought SIGMAs in 1994 and the full capacity magazines are visibly different than those made today.

The original magazines had a 3/8" or so thick base plate that allowed another cartridge to be loaded. You can see this style magazine on my Two Tone SW357V. I just think that 357SIGMA sounds good

The modern full capacity magazines have a 1/8" base plate that is more of a flush style as can be seen on my Titanium SW40Ti

The change in style occurred during the Ban, I remember because I bought several magazines then that were marked with the LEO warnings

Just watched the Video. Clever advertising

 

[TTSH]

I bought SIGMAs in 1994 and the full capacity magazines are visibly different than those made today.

The original magazines had a 3/8" or so thick base plate that allowed another cartridge to be loaded. You can see this style magazine on my Two Tone SW357V. I just think that 357SIGMA sounds good

The modern full capacity magazines have a 1/8" base plate that is more of a flush style as can be seen on my Titanium SW40Ti

The change in style occurred during the Ban, I remember because I bought several magazines then that were marked with the LEO warnings

Just watched the Video. Clever advertising

The point of my post is that the old, pre-ban style 17-round thick base 9mm magazines are back and available for sale on-line as we speak. The question is, after 25 years gone, why are they suddenly now back?

And more importantly to some of us, are they old pre-ban magazines or are they new current production magazines?

This same thing happened maybe 5 years back with pre-ban style 15-round thick base Sigma .40 ACP magazines suddenly appearing at various vendors. And again, were they old pre-bans or new current production magazines?

As best as anyone could determine, they were 100% identical to old verified pre-ban magazines. Not a single microscopic hint of difference in any respect.

 

[staylor]

The point of my post is that the old, pre-ban style 17-round thick base 9mm magazines are back and available for sale on-line as we speak. The question is, after 25 years gone, why are they suddenly now back?

And more importantly to some of us, are they old pre-ban magazines or are they new current production magazines?

This same thing happened maybe 5 years back with pre-ban style 15-round thick base Sigma .40 ACP magazines suddenly appearing at various vendors. And again, were they old pre-bans or new current production magazines?



As best as anyone could determine, they were 100% identical to old verified pre-ban magazines. Not a single microscopic hint of difference in any respect.

I've purchased 2 17 round 9mm Sigma mags from CDNN in the last year. I was surprised they were back and not old stock. At 19.99 they were a bargain. They each came in SW packaging and appeared to me brand new. There was no printing on them indicating only for LEO/Govt use. Here's a link CDNN SPORTS - SMITH WESSON SIGMA SD9 SD9VE 9MM 17RD STS MAG

 

[NewSport]

17 round sigma magazines

I find it hard to believe, that after all these years and long after the Sigma pistol was discontinued that S&W would put these back into production. To me (and I am not a manufacturer), it does not make economic sense to go back into production especially since a good 16 round magazine replaced them years ago. No one is storming the gates for Sigma 17 round magazines. These must be new old stock from an old distributor, gov't agency, prison system, etc., that has finally seen the light of day. Either that or S&W found a back room chock full of these mags. That's my guess anyway...

 

[Echo40]

I bought a 14 round magazine from Gunmag Warehouse for my SW40VE a little while ago for $19.99.

It was one of the redesigned magazines made for Gen 2 Sigmas with the thinner base plate.

 

[staylor]

I find it hard to believe, that after all these years and long after the Sigma pistol was discontinued that S&W would put these back into production. To me (and I am not a manufacturer), it does not make economic sense to go back into production especially since a good 16 round magazine replaced them years ago. No one is storming the gates for Sigma 17 round magazines. These must be new old stock from an old distributor, gov't agency, prison system, etc., that has finally seen the light of day. Either that or S&W found a back room chock full of these mags. That's my guess anyway...

Years ago I recall seeing Sigma 17 round 9mm mags for sale that were used marked LEO/Govt issue. The ones I recently bought at CDNN were in SW packaging and appear to be new/unused with no LEO/Govt issue markings. Maybe old stock, but the old stock (16 round) I have bought in the past came with no SW packaging and were marked LEO/Govt issue and obviously used.

 

[TTSH]

I find it hard to believe, that after all these years and long after the Sigma pistol was discontinued that S&W would put these back into production. To me (and I am not a manufacturer), it does not make economic sense to go back into production especially since a good 16 round magazine replaced them years ago. No one is storming the gates for Sigma 17 round magazines. These must be new old stock from an old distributor, gov't agency, prison system, etc., that has finally seen the light of day. Either that or S&W found a back room chock full of these mags. That's my guess anyway...

Logic and our experience with parts and magazines for other discontinued S&W semi-autos tells us that these 25 year old early Sigma pre-ban style magazines, which have since been replaced with new style Sigma/SD magazines, have got to be NOS. Going back into production for magazines that already have perfectly good existing replacements makes no sense at all... and it's not like there was a massive build-up in demand for early style Sigma magazines (other than for true pre-bans).

But it does create problems for those of us in MA and any other places that still have the 1994 AWB still in effect. If these are pre-ban NOS, that's great, but I'll bet you anything that the sellers won't sell them to MA license holders. Further, those of us who paid a small fortune for 17-round pre-bans prior to this motherload being discovered now face the prospect that our pre-bans will be considered post-bans by our overlords.

So it's important to find out if these new magazines are identical to the pre-bans (and therefore likely NOS) or if there has been some change made that we can rely on to differentiate pre-bans from new production (if these are indeed new production).

 

[NewSport]

I fully understand your quandary... Unless you can get a legitimate answer from S&W customer support or a reputable supplier like CDNN, I fear you will remain between that rock and hard place position you are in right now. Best of luck to you...

 

[rosewood]

The 17 round mags are the full size ones, the 16 with thin base came with the compact sigmas 4.5"bbl vs 4"bbl. I did order 2 of the 17 round ones for my sd9 and they appear same vintage as my 15 round 40 mags i have had for decades.

 

[REVCHARLIE]

I have 4 or 5 of the pre-ban 15 round .40 mags and they work in Sigma and SD guns as well.

 

[rosewood]

I have 4 or 5 of the pre-ban 15 round .40 mags and they work in Sigma and SD guns as well.

Yep
Me too.

 

[Smith61]

Good Luck

CDNN won't even ship handguns to Mass anymore. They had a close out price on some Ruger Single Sixes recently (MA Compliant) but cancelled my order cuz of my being in Mass.............

 

[rosewood]

Dang communist state..

 

[TTSH]

CDNN won't even ship handguns to Mass anymore. They had a close out price on some Ruger Single Sixes recently (MA Compliant) but cancelled my order cuz of my being in Mass.............

Dang communist state..

Yeah, welcome to life behind enemy lines in the People's Republic of Massachusetts. Many of the biggest name suppliers in the industry refuse to send anything to Massachusetts. It's a major headache for sure.

In the case of these apparently NOS pre-ban Sigma magazines, I'm not expecting any supplier to send them to Massachusetts. Just not gonna happen!

The good news is that I really don't care since I don't need them and I am probably getting out of the Sigma/SW/SD platform pretty soon anyway.