Vetting Magazines

[ssb]

Vetting the pistol itself is pretty thoroughly covered (https://pistol-forum.com/showthread.php?9-2-000-Round-Challenge) here. What about a magazine? What do we do to determine whether a particular mag is good enough for carry/defensive use?

I've generally trusted OEM Glock mags until proven otherwise (first sign of a problem -> goes into the training mag stash). I've got a fair amount of Magpul G17 and G19 mags, several examples of which have now seen at least 300 (the two G17 mags in my range bag are about 1,200/ea) rounds problem-free. At what point is the magazine considered reliable enough?

[StraitR]

I think vetting magazines is synergistic with vetting a gun, because most gun problems are either ammo or magazine related. I take a simple approach. I number every magazine I have and if I get a malfunction that's not obviously ammo or shooter induced, the mag is appropriately marked and relegated to range/dry fire use only. Life is too short to worry about the reliability of consumables.

[LSP552]

My carry guns have several magazines that have been tested and put aside for carry use and rotation. I have range magazines for training use and I'm not afraid to drop them in the mud or on concrete. I'm generally OK with a carry mag after it's had probably 50 - 100 rounds through it. I honestly don't remember ANY issues with a SIG or Glock standard capacity mag.

I treat Glock mags as consumables and don't get too attached to them. SIG mags will get spring changes when needed. If I replace a mag component, it gets vetted again or, usually, goes into the training mag stack.

[breakingtime91]

My carry guns have several magazines that have been tested and put aside for carry use and rotation. I have range magazines for training use and I'm not afraid to drop them in the mud or on concrete. I'm generally OK with a carry mag after it's had probably 50 - 100 rounds through it. I honestly don't remember ANY issues with a SIG or Glock standard capacity mag.

I treat Glock mags as consumables and don't get too attached to them. SIG mags will get spring changes when needed. If I replace a mag component, it gets vetted again or, usually, goes into the training mag stack.


pretty much same.. I vetted all my hk magazines with 100 rounds of ball and a magazine of HP ammo and then set them aside for carry..

[Saur]

I want to say I recall reading something by Paul Gomez about this, but I can't remember it all exactly. I think he mentioned testing the mags in full combat load (full mag, +1 in chamber), mag loaded but chamber empty, and then multiple runs w/ 3 rounds in the mag, 2 rounds in the mag, and only 1 round in the mag. I think this was done w/ the gun held in different angles, SHO, and WHO.

edit: found it at http://www.bugoutwhale.com/showthread.php/1302-Functional-Reliability-Test-Protocol-for-Semi-Auto He says its from Shawn Dodson. A read through it should give you some ideas on vetting your carry mags.

[Kennydale]

I do like the Magpul 17 rounders, I have two but need more. I do relegate them to just range and dryfire use.

[IronArcher]

If I have a problem, I'll pull that mag and start inspecting and measuring.
I found 1 mag had the feed "lips" just a touch too wide (.360 vs. .349 for all others I have). Made an adjustment to get it back in line with the rest, and put it back in rotation.

It's just a tube of steel, If it gets damaged dropping it, it shouldn't need to be thrown away or no longer used, it should be inspected and repaired if possible. Even getting them cheaply ($25/mag) I'm not throwing away a mag without checking to see if it can be made like new again.

[farscott]

Has anyone had a P30 magazine fail yet? I usually go through magazines like chicken covered in lard slips through my hands based on my experience with 9x19 1911 pistols, but I have not yet had a magazine stop feeding on a 9x19 P30. I cannot remember how many 1911 magazines I have tossed over the years, so the P30 magazine performance is quite noticeable.

[HCM]

Has anyone had a P30 magazine fail yet? I usually go through magazines like chicken covered in lard slips through my hands based on my experience with 9x19 1911 pistols, but I have not yet had a magazine stop feeding on a 9x19 P30. I cannot remember how many 1911 magazines I have tossed over the years, so the P30 magazine performance is quite noticeable.

The short answer is no. The P30 mag is a slightly longer version of the HK USPC mag also used in the P2000. My agency started using USPCs in 1999 and CBP / USBP still has over 40k P2000's in service. The only failure I've seen is the zipper welds on the back of a few of the mags have cracked after being repeatedly dropped on concrete when full.

They are tanks.