Considering I haven't seen widespread p-f user reports of 17 round magazines breaking, it seems that I drew a poor hand from the deck. All three of my 17 rounders failed in that manner, and it was difficult to source replacement baseplates at the time, so I'm comfortable with my decision to move away from them. On the other hand, I haven't seen a good reason to buy something other than the 18 round Mec-Gar magazines. I found them easier to load than the 17 round magazines, they hold more BBs, Les likes their taper for reloading, the spring seems to last longer than the OEM magazines, they have a nice high-vis follower, and they are often priced equal to or lower than the Beretta magazines (particularly in the 'OEM' flavor). What's not to like?