I should get a few more 10-round .40 magazines for my P226. What I remember about quality is this:
OEM: Stainless steel bodies.
Mec-Gar: Blued steel bodies, but otherwise good. OEM maker for some guns.
Pro-Mag: Pretty much worthless junk.
Do I have that correct?
If we have to march off into the next world, let us walk there on the bodies of our enemies.
Some OEM mags are actually MecGar. In the past few years I believe Sig is doing a lot of their mags in house. That said the current P320 mags are made by Check Mate (USA stamped) or MecGar (Italy stamped).
I would consider MecGar to be the equivalent to “Sig” (because it may very well be a MecGar).
Not sure if any .40 cal magazines were made by Sig in Germany with the “Zipper” welds on back but they are certainly considered good to go.
And yeah - avoiding ProMag is pretty solid advice.
Agreed! Factory or Mec-Gar can't go wrong for Sig or Beretta.
+1. Any OEM mag marked “made in Italy” is Mecgar. 226/9 mags marked made in the US are Checkmate. When you get into the recent 320/365 mags, unmarked mags are made in-house with a small circled “c” mark indicating CM. All are good quality and reliable. I prefer any OEM mag, but for the price markup I won’t buy a Sig mag over Mecgar branded ones. Checkmate does fall lastly on my preference list, but only because I find the fit/finish slightly better on the other two brands. My few CM mags have been reliable. I have several zipper-backed mags and they have been boringly reliable as well. My only issue with them is they usually have a smaller capacity than the others.
Additionally, I stipulate the same wrt Berretta mags but do not like Mecgar for 1911s. I tried two and they immediately pitted due to rust.
I don't own a 40 but I have a lot of Sig P226 9mm magazines. Unless you have to have Sig branded factory magazines for some reason, buy Mec-Gar MGP2264010B. They won't exactly flush fit because of the base plate (that may or may not be important) but they are a lot less expensive and will work as well if not better.
Thanks, guys. I’ll order what I need in the morning.
If we have to march off into the next world, let us walk there on the bodies of our enemies.
Was just coming here to say that both the .40s I have owned -Browning Mk III Hi Power and Walther P99- use MecGar as the OEM magazine, and neither have suffered a single feeding or round retention issue.
"If I ever needed to hunt in a tuxedo, then this would be the rifle I'd take." - okie john
"Not being able to govern events, I govern myself." - Michel De Montaigne
The ONLY time I've seen ProMags mentioned in a positive light were reviews for their Glock 44 18 round mags. (As long as they were loaded to 15 rounds or less.) Otherwise, I avoid them.
In a sort of ghastly simplicity we remove the organ and demand the function. We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honour and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. We castrate and bid the geldings be fruitful.” ― C.S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man
I'm necessarily saying they don't suck... but... ProMags seem to work fine in my Walther P5 and my Beretta Cougar. But, when Mec-Gar is an option, there's really no need to roll the dice on ProMags.
For astute purveyors of pew: hipstertactical.com
Mec-Gar does make good mags for Beretta, but MDS mags (sold by Brownell's) have the lowest price for the best quality. MDS stands for Meccanica del Sarca, which is a Beretta subsidiary that has made all of Beretta's double-stack magazines since 1989. When you can find MDS-branded mags, they are always a little cheaper than comparable PB-branded Beretta mags.Originally Posted by TOTS
Reply With Quote