I'm very happy with my latest Glock purchase, especially after swapping out the placeholders for Ameriglo IDOTs (and I just noticed, that is suspiciously close to "IDIOTs" ) but now I'm kinda looking at the Shield Arms magazines and magazine catch.

I know at least a couple of you said these were good-to-go but I'm wondering what, if any, advantage there is to the premium catch over the 'basic'. If I'm reading it right, one edge on the premium is beveled so theoretically there is less chance of a magazine catching as it's inserted?? Have any of you had this occur?

One weird thing I noticed...my right hand is my dominant hand, but I find reversing my mag catch and using my dominant index finger to drop the magazine is far easier and faster than using my thumb. And to me it feels like there is less 'breaking' of my grip?

G48 guy same basic situation. I went the PSA Micro Dagger route. My thought process is that at any point, for any reason, I have to have the ability to go back to plastic OEM mags without worrying about wear. Wear on the catch, wear on the mags. For this reason alone I personally think the Shield mags are a horrible choice.

What I really am waiting for is MecGar to make slimline dimpled metal mags which should put both of the previous options out of business imo.

Once you swap to a metal catch then OEM isn’t a viable option, ie once in awhile is fine but long term it’s one or the other. That’s seems dumb to me.

Anecdotal, but I watched a YT video with two guys who compared the two. The guy with the Daggers had several malfunctions within 3 magazines of shooting.

Of the two choices, the general consensus seems to be that the Shield Gen 3 mags with either metal mag release are the better option. On the whole they’ve been pretty reliable, but a lot of folks have reported that the mag springs tend to get weak after a few thousand rounds and then they have feeing issues, even though the mags were 100% until then.

I have two 43X’s - one is still OEM and the other has Shield Gen 3’s. My Shields are working fine, but I don’t have a ton of rounds through them yet. OEM is still the best choice for 100% reliability.

I will report back once I run a case through my dagger mags but my point still holds true. If you run shield mags YOU HAVE TO swap to a metal mag release. If the shield mags aren’t 100% or springs weaken or you just want to run one of the dozens of OEM 43x/48 mags you can’t just swap back. And for every report that says one is better than the other I can find a massive amount of reports showing they work 100%. Internet magnifies stuff and isn’t always reliable.

Switching out to metal locks you into one direction and one direction only. There is no world where that is the best solution. Come on mecgar get your stuff together and make a reliable metal slimline that doesn’t require a swap.

A couple months ago, I tried the PSA Dagger mags in my G48. On arrival, I disassembled them and checked for anything I thought was poor quality control or obvious flaws. None found. Left them fully loaded for 2 weeks to see if the base plates deformed or bulged. Nope. Got about 300 rounds each through the two I have with no issues. Will I EDC them? Not at this point but I will if they go to 1K without a problem. And no mag release swapping means my OEM mags are still good to go.

Have a g48 with first and second gen shield S15 magazines and their mag catch. What I don’t like is that it’s barely latching on the magazines you barely touch the mag release mags come out. I put the Glock mag release back in and it’s about the same so no shield mags for now.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: buddy357,

My only issue with the Shield mags is I didn’t get the 5 pack.

I have 3 Shield mags and have had zero problems with them.
I don’t know, off the top of my head ~ 3000 rounds…

Holosun ESP, the Shield mags release, and mag well, tungsten guide rod.

If you’re comfortable with a right or left sided magazine release, that’s your comfort zone.
If it’s working for you and you’re still scoring hits, good!
The Shield Mags and release are ambidextrous like the Glocks. Let’s face it, if you want to / need to switch sides, it’s not hard at all!

quote:

Originally posted by pedropcola:
If you run shield mags YOU HAVE TO swap to a metal mag release.

Not just any metal, you have to use a steel mag catch w/ Shield Arms' steel mags. When their S15s first came out, I used them w/ an aluminum alloy mag catch, and it gradually got chewed up to the point where mags wouldn't seat properly. Shield Arms eventually recognized this problem and changed their recommendation to use metal mag catch to steel mag catch.

quote:

Originally posted by iron chef:

quote:

Originally posted by pedropcola:
If you run shield mags YOU HAVE TO swap to a metal mag release.

Not just any metal, you have to use a steel mag catch w/ Shield Arms' steel mags. When their S15s first came out, I used them w/ an aluminum alloy mag catch, and it gradually got chewed up to the point where mags wouldn't seat properly. Shield Arms eventually recognized this problem and changed their recommendation to use metal mag catch to steel mag catch.

Yep, I had this issue as well. Problem started manifesting by blowing the mag out of the magwell.

No issues here. I’ve been using Gen 3 Shield mags in my G48 since I bought it several months ago. Nothing negative to report. I just bought a Radian Ramjet/Afterburner thingy for it too so I’m guessing a lot more rounds are about to be going down range.

I've got both the 2nd Gen Shield mags (which I got before the Dagger mags and 3rd gen Shield mags came out) and also the Dagger mags now. I also have the steel metal Shield premium metal catch in my Glock 43x. I have not had reliability issues with either types of magazines yet. Yes I am aware that the metal catch will wear out the plastic Dagger magazine's notch eventually, but so what. The mags are cheap, when the notch finally wears out, I'll just get new Dagger mags, but they've been reliable for several hundreds of rounds without showing any undo wear on the plastic notches. From the wear I'm actually getting on the plastic notches of the Dagger mags, it'll be a long time before they wear out from the metal mag catch. I usually carry the Shield mags, just because I've had them longer, and they've been reliable in my gun so far..

I also reverse all the mags catches on my pistols even though I'm right handed. I have small hands and it's far easier to reach the mag button with my index finger than my short thumb!

Snagged a 43X MOS not long after debut. Grabbed the S15 (Gen2) along with their mag catch.

To this day, years later the S15 has yet to make it through a single range trip without some sort of malfunction.

Same goes for the PSA's. Haven't made it through a single range trip without some sort of failure. PSA is sending out new springs/followers and base plates to see if that remedies the issues.

You don't really NEED the Shiel mag catch unless you're going to be doing and absolute ton of shooting and changing mags. The wear after a couple years of use, going to the range regularly is basically zero. Same for my 43 Using Shield Z9/Z8's.

Downside if you do use the S15 magazine catch is that it doesn't work well with the OEM Glock mags, it catches them while they are ejecting instead of letting them drop free unless you find the sweet spot.

Hoping MecGar comes out with some!

Took my G48 to the range today. 2 of the mags were PSA mags. I took them apart thinking I would have to sand down rough spots. They were smooth inside the mag tube. Without even trying the factory floor plates I put on aluminum ones because whether the bowing impacts the function or not I don’t like that.

I ran both full multiple times. Just like I expected it I had zero malfunctions. I was using cheap magtech steel cased ammo which I don’t find to be great ammo either. I will run a couple hundred more rounds through the mags but so far so good.

I’m in the camp of the Shield stuff is a bad idea. I want the factory catch and the ability to use factory mags. When mecgar makes the dimpled mags they will sell every one they can make for awhile. (My G19 mecgar mags worked fine too)