Originally Posted by
JonInWA
The M9 magazine saga(s) are somewhat of a case in point. DoD in its infinite wisdom specified and required the initial magazine contractor (Check-Mate Industries) to provide a magazine tune with a crackle-finish, both inside and out. While that worked acceptably in a temperate climate (i.e., Europe and North America), it was an utter disaster in SW Asia, with fine, hard particulate sand and dust that lodged the ridges of the finishes, precluding cartridge movements in the magazine tube. When Check-Mate realized the issue, they came out with their dry-film finished magazine, which, along with the Beretta sand-resistant PVD coated magazines specified by the USMC for their M9A1s (where the coating and stamped "stand-off" inner tube strakes preclude sand issues) resolved the issues. Check-mate then offered, for a very nominal sum (significantly less than a dollar per magazine) to remove the crackle-finish from previous magazines and recoat with the dry-film finish; DoD declined, so the two Check-Mate finished magazines are intermixed, with the end result being Check-Mate perpetually blamed for sub-standard magazines.