Once again, someone has posted online that they are having problems with a cheaper brand of Glock-compatible magazines. I understand the temptation to buy cheap mags – why should you pay the exorbinant manufacturer’s price when you can get a cheaper brand that works just as good! The problem is, they don’t. Really. You can justify it in your mind however you like, but that “good deal”, really isn’t.
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For years I purchased the cheapest off-name brand magazines, and I almost always regretted it. Either right away or after using the magazine a few times, it would start jamming or failing in some other way.
When I started taking part in pistol competitions I chose the Glock 17 as my competition gun and I bought 3 extra magazines just for competition use. I’ve been using (and am STILL using) the same 3 Glock factory magazines since the beginning. I use them every range trip. It’s been years. After being dropped literally hundreds of times in the dirt and gravel, and feeding thousands of rounds into pistols and my AR9, they still feed and operate flawlessly despite the abuse. I keep them loaded with range ammo all the time and the springs have never failed to feed.
So where can I get cheap Glock mags?
Sometimes you can find used Glock magazines for sale. Based on my experience, I would have no issues at all with buying “police trade-in” used Glock magazines (Recoil Gunworks gets them in from time-to-time, as well as others). Usually these mags look a bit rough, but have seen very little actual use and cost 25%-50% less than new magazines.
I even picked up some used 10-round factory Glock mags for $5 each at a local gun store because no one wanted them. Although limited in capacity, they work great.
Magpul makes the only quality replacement for Glock factory magazines that I would trust. As a bonus, they are a lot less expensive than factory Glock magazines.
There are lots of other brands of aftermarket Glock magzines (ETS, Amend2, KCI, SGM, etc.). Some are better than others, but on average, user feedback and reviews tend to be less than stellar.
What about Colt mags?
Colt magazine 9mm AR’s use a modified Uzi mag design with the mag catch moved up higher on the magazine body. In fact, Uzi mags can be pretty easily modified to work in a 9mm AR just by cutting a new mag catch in the mag body.
Colt Manufacturing uses Metalform mags that are Colt-branded. They switched for a short time to another magazine maker (C-products, I think) and then switched back to Metalform. They seem to be good magazines for the most part.
However, Metalforms are expensive. A little too expensive in my opinion. I personally think they are cashing-in on their reputation as Colt’s OEM supplier and charging a premium as a result. [Everything “Colt” is very expensive, and Boomers will pay it and try to convince you to do the same.] At one time they were the only game in town except for the sketchy ProMag magazines, so they could get away with their high prices.
Times have changed, and now ASC and C-products make good quality Colt mags. They have refined their design over the years and seem to be reliable, lower cost, and in my opinion have better features like a stainless steel body and high visibility follower. I have personally had great success with them. In fact, they work, fit, and feed better than my Metalform magazines in my AR9.
This is one of those rare situations (like Magpul Glock mags) where an aftermarket manufacturer has developed a product that seems to be “on par” with the OEM product.
“AR Stoner,” the MidwayUSA in-house brand, is made by either ASC or C-products.
“Duramag” 9mm Colt mags are made by C-products.
ASC, C-products, and Metalform are the only Colt-compatible mags I would trust.
ProMag also makes Colt-compatible magazines. I have not tried the new metal-lined polymer magazines or hybrid metal/polymer magazines so I cannot comment on them. However, based on my past experience with their mags, I stay away from them. I have the previous polymer version that does not have the metal reinforcements. Mine have some feeding issues, and they bulge when loaded. I also had some of their metal mags. They had so many feeding issues I tossed them in the trash.
The all-metal ASC or C-products mags cost about the same as the polymer ProMags.
Drum magazines:
They look cool, but for the cost, drum magazines really aren’t worth the money no matter who they are from. Magpuls are around $100, X-Products are around $200, Betamag are around $350. Cheaper drums tend to be jam-o-matics. Even good drums have issues at times.
Personally, if I was forced to buy a drum magazine, I would only get Magpul drums, and even then only for range use.
A word about magazine springs:
By the way, the Fudds at the local gun store (and online) will tell you that loading a magazine and keeping it loaded wears out the spring. This is NOT true, and never has been. This is another one of those gunstore myths that won’t seem to die. Compression and release cycles is what wears out springs, and magazine springs are no different. This is a well established fact. Not rumor, not guesswork, not “my friend’s, cousin’s, roomate said so” nonsense. Fact. Ask any engineer who works with springs for a living.
You may notice that if you take apart a new mag and compare the spring to an older mag, the older spring is shorter than the new one. All springs take an initial “set” and become a little shorter. That doesn’t mean that they are worn out or too weak to work correctly. It’s normal. Put a new spring in a mag, load the mag and let it sit for a month. Pull the spring out and that new spring will now be shorter. That’s supposed to happen. It will still work just fine.
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