I recently dusted off an old W German P226 9mm. It has one original Sig mag. 15 rd. And, years ago, I bought a couple checkmate 15 rnd mags.

Looking at buying a few more. I see Mecgar. (Good). Checkmate (ok). But, I see a lot of flush fit 18 rounders by both companies.

Is 18 round the current “Factory” magazine? Are they as reliable? I’m happy with 15. So, reliability is key for me.

Thanks.

Mec-Gar is the way to go. No need to buy any other brand. I expect a few others to chime in with the same feedback.

quote:

Originally posted by elberettas:
Mec-Gar is the way to go. No need to buy any other brand. I expect a few others to chime in with the same feedback.

Correct.

Here is the only link you need
https://gregcotellc.com/cart/s...p22618afc-p-614.html

Yes. I’m good with Mec-Gar. Do they only make 18 round magazines? Only Sig factory magazines are 15 rounds now?

They used to make 15 and 17, but now it's only 18 and 20.

Very good. I own lots of Mec-gar mags. Even for .32 Walthers. I’m going with the reliability of a Mec-Gar 18 rounder is as good, or better, than Sig factory 15 rounders. Buy the Mex-Gars.

Greg Cote is the best place for those MEC-GAR mags. I have ordered many types from him over the years.

quote:

Is 18 round the current “Factory” magazine? Are they as reliable?

No to the 1st question. Yes to the 2nd question. The 18-rounder, while gives the appearance of flush fit, is really not. Its body is just a little longer than the 17/15-rounder, but the polymer base gives that illusion of flush fit..

The original mag is 15-rounder. Mec-Gar first achieved 17 rounds by using the same mag but chopped off the follower's leg a bit. Then, came the 18-rounder by lengthening the mag body just a tad. All are equally reliable.

Going a little further, the "factory" Xgun mags are 19-rounders (German) and 20-rounders (US). The 19-rounder uses the 17-round mag and adds the Plus2 extended base. The 20-rounder uses the 18-round mag and adds the Plus2 extended base.

CDNN is running a sale on Sig brand P226 mags if Greg Cote does not have what you are looking for.

https://www.cdnnsports.com/mag...m-15rd-blue-sig.html

https://www.cdnnsports.com/mag...0rd-sig-factory.html

Rob

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:
The 18-rounder, while gives the appearance of flush fit, is really not. Its body is just a little longer than the 17/15-rounder, but the polymer base gives that illusion of flush fit..

The original mag is 15-rounder. Mec-Gar first achieved 17 rounds by using the same mag but chopped off the follower's leg a bit. Then, came the 18-rounder by lengthening the mag body just a tad.

While they may also be a tad longer, the real trick, and “why” they can get those three extra rounds is because they have nested springs. As the spring collapses down from being loaded, it is foiled and profiled so that it collapses further in upon itself compared to the original factory design which does not. This is per several places I’ve seen, but when I saw Ernest Langdon explain it in a video about the Beretta mags (which are basically the same size and also went from 15 to 18 rounds), I decided that was as good as gospel on the matter and didn’t chase it further.

I’m not sure the baseplate dimensions actually have anything to do with it because the Beretta mags are so close as to not have an appreciable difference and it’s the same method. In fact, looking at them, the Mec Gar baseplates are thinner from top to bottom.

Fantastic info. Thank you.

quote:

Originally posted by P220 Smudge:
While they may also be a tad longer, the real trick, and “why” they can get those three extra rounds is because they have nested springs. As the spring collapses down from being loaded, it is foiled and profiled so that it collapses further in upon itself compared to the original factory design which does not. This is per several places I’ve seen, but when I saw Ernest Langdon explain it in a video about the Beretta mags (which are basically the same size and also went from 15 to 18 rounds), I decided that was as good as gospel on the matter and didn’t chase it further.

Actually, it's really a combination of things, not just one.

In the SIG P226, the "factory" SIG logo Mec-Gar 15-rounder also has the spring with that tapered profile at top you referred to, just less. There are 14 coils, and the follower's legs are full-size long.

Going to 17, using the same mag body, they went with a couple of more tapered coils at top, plus reducing the number of coils to 13, and chopped off the follower's legs.

Then, going to 18, everything is the same as the 17, but they needed to lengthen the mag body a little. I don't know about Beretta mags, as I no longer own them, but I'm betting the 18-rounder is also a little longer than the original 15-rounder.

quote:

I’m not sure the baseplate dimensions actually have anything to do with it because the Beretta mags are so close as to not have an appreciable difference and it’s the same method. In fact, looking at them, the Mec Gar baseplates are thinner from top to bottom.

I never said anything about the baseplate of the 18-rounder, which is polymer, having anything to do with helping accommodating more rounds. In fact, it doesn't. Mec-Gar constructed it the way it is to help cover up that bottom part of the mag that protrudes beyond the mag well, giving the appearance of flush fit. If you replace that polymer base with the original metal baseplate from the 15-rounder, the bare protrusion at the bottom becomes clear.

The best mag in my opinion is the factory 15 rd Sig logo mag with the made in Italy by Mec-gar stamp, in the anti-friction coating. These mags were also available in blue, and in parkerized.

As for Mecgar 18/20 rounders, I have an issue with the baseplate. On some factory grips the baseplate smashes into the bottom of the grip and they have to be slammed home. There is a tolerance stacking issue. On the made in USA 20 round mag baseplate, it’s properly designed and fits these guns perfectly.

I heard somewhere years ago that Mec-Gar is not allowed to sell the factory SIG magazines under their own brand name, to avoid competing with SIG. So the 15-round factory P226 magazines can only be found with the SIG logo in SIG packaging, while Mec-Gar can sell the 18-round mags under their brand. I’m not sure that’s completely accurate, but it seems to match up with the branding on the different capacity magazines that I’ve seen.

I bought 20 of them from Greg and they are flawless..I run them in my 226 and 229.

You might run a WTB (want to buy) in the Classified Section on the main page here.
.

https://gregcotellc.com/cart/s...uer-magazines-c-123/

Greg Cote has the 15 round SIG branded P226 magazines along with the Mec-Gar 18 and 20 rounders.

I personally own a number of the P226 17 round "early" Mec-Gar magazines.

I also own 18 round and 20 round and other Mec-Gar magazines as well as original SIG P226 15 round and other magazines.

I'd take Mec-Gar over SIG all day long they're affordable and top quality.

I always had heard it was mostly spring re-design that allowed Mec-Gar to increase their capacity, although changing the follower and spring ala the P30/VP9 to get more rounds sounds legit.

The "Early" Mec-Gar P226 17 round magazines that I have happen to have metal bases not plastic

In any case Mec-Gar makes 100% top quality magazines they're cheaper and just as good/better than other SIG magazines

(if not made by Mec-Gar and branded SIG etc)

Flush fit factory 15 round:


Mec-Gar “flush fit” 18 round:


As Q said, they’re not really flush fit. Whether it bothers you may depend on your feelings toward Glocks!

quote:

Originally posted by elberettas:
Mec-Gar is the way to go. No need to buy any other brand. I expect a few others to chime in with the same feedback.

Same here. Bought several 18-rd MecGar when I got my last 9mm P226 a few months ago. No need to look any further!