Trouble with aftermarket magazines

[4x4moses]

Being a wheel gun man from way back, I always admired the semi-autos, but never thought I wanted one. Then, when the polymer framed pistols came out, I (like many steel-lovers) swore I'd never own one of those "plastic pistols!" Well, a few months ago, I decided to bite the bullet, and buy a full-size M&P 9. All I can say is, I really like it. Thinking a few extra magazines would be handy, I bought several ProMag SMI-12A mags. Using Winchester 115gr, FMJ target ammo, 2 out of three ProMags failed to feed the last round in the magazine. Neither of the stock S&W mags had this problem. Has anyone else had this problem with aftermarket magazines?

 

[OKFC05]

Yep. Been posted many times.

 

[timn8er]

While I have never had a negative experience with Promag, I have read
enough negative comments about them to know it isn't worth the risk to buy them.

 

[BobsSmith]

Stay away from Pro Mag. They are garbage! Spend the money get original or Mec Gar.

Don't buy cheap mags... they are vital to the reliability of your pistol.

Bob

 

[Rastoff]

It's really a weird phenomena. For 1911s you're almost always better off with after market magazines. For every other type of pistol, factory mags only. I have no idea why that is, but it is what I've followed for many years now and it has never let me down.

All the mags I have for my M&Ps are S&W mags. They all work flawlessly and are worth any extra I paid for them.

 

[Danno_man]

The only good thing about cheap mags is they help with malfunction drills

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

 

[Ransom]

I just bought a 3914 that came with one factory mag. Since I was unable to locate additional factory mags I decided to buy a couple of new ProMags. Tonight I shot 115 rounds through them with no malfunctions. I think they will do until I can find some more factory mags.

 

[robertrwalsh]

I have had the fewest problem with MecGAR aftermarket magazines, but I still much prefer OEM mags. I have had poor luck with ProMag. Triple-K are really mediocre.

 

[4x4moses]

I've bought MecGar mags for a Taurus PT92, and they were far superior to the factory mags. But I couldn't find any MecGars when I was looking for my M&P. Oh well, live and learn!

 

[Bkreutz]

S&W factory mags are made by MecGar

 

[mlk18]

We have to grow past the terms factory and aftermarket. Like Bkreutz said, M&P mags are MecGar (as are some OEM mags from Astra, Beretta, Browning, Colt, CZ, Llama, Luger, Para-Ordnance, Ruger, Sig Sauer, Star, Witness, Taurus and Walther). We really need to start saying "top tier mags" and "low tier mags" or perhaps even quality mags and el cheapos. Companies like Mecgar, Wilson, Metalform, etc. all make top tier mags. Companies like ProMag, Triple K and others are definitely low tier mags.

The ProMag company continues to grow and develop new product lines, so someone is buying and seemingly happy with their products. I am not one of those people. I was allured at one time by the promise of capacity on the cheap, I was also highly disappointed. MecGar on he other hands has never failed to impress.

 

[ca survivor]

ProMags are junk and MecGars makes most OEM mags for Sig, Beretta, etc.

 

[Rastoff]

ProMag magazines have been great for my Mini-14. Just because a company makes mags for a company doesn't mean mags with their own name on it are good. I wouldn't buy a Mec Gar mag for my 1911, but the S&W M&P mags are fine.

 

[4x4moses]

I've heard before that S&W OEM mags are made by MecGar. I've also heard that the S&W branded mags are somewhat superior to their MecGar branded twins. I don't know if that's true, but I do know that I've never had a bad MecGar mag. And, for what it's worth, I have several ProMag 30-rounders for my Windham AR-15, and never had any negative issues.

I did notice that the ProMags seemed loose in my M&P, but the factory mags seemed unusually loose as well. As I said in the beginning, "live and learn." It was an expensive lesson, but I won't buy more ProMags.