I've been occasionally following posts and reviews of these mags. Wasn't really doing it intently...until now...since I've now have a G43X in background check purgatory right at the moment. Most of what info that I've found so far is quite positive, but I've come across a more disturbing and troubling issue of late.

One gal during a training course had the base plate fall off of one of her Shield Arms mags during a reload exercise. Others have reported similar problems. Some revolve around those +5 extensions that SA also sells, but others have claimed that the standard flush base plates have had similar failures as well. Perusing SA's website I saw that Checkmate is the actual subcontracted manufacturer of the mags and all I could think was, "Uh oh, where have I seen THIS before?"

So has anyone on the forum found any similar failures with these mags?

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Originally posted by monoblok:
Perusing SA's website I saw that Checkmate is the actual subcontracted manufacturer of the mags and all I could think was, "Uh oh, where have I seen THIS before?"

Would you mind elaborating on this comment? Checkmate makes most SIG OEM mags now, and I haven't heard anything about faulty base plates.

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Originally posted by iron chef:

quote:

Originally posted by monoblok:
Perusing SA's website I saw that Checkmate is the actual subcontracted manufacturer of the mags and all I could think was, "Uh oh, where have I seen THIS before?"

Would you mind elaborating on this comment? Checkmate makes most SIG OEM mags now, and I haven't heard anything about faulty base plates.

One is NOT the other. Just a guess he's alluding to Checkmates purported issues with M9/92FS magazines.

If this was a problem with the 43X magazines, of which I have no knowledge, it would likely be attributable to their (Shield Arms) design... No?

I drop mine on the concrete floor repeatedly during reloads. I haven't had any issues. Sometimes I fling it out of the gun during reloads and they still work.

I use those “problematic” Checkmate mags all the time with my 92’s. I suppose if I take them to the Iraqi desert they will stop working. Up here in Maryland dirt they are fine. And cheap. And the problem coating that caused the issue was mandated by the government. Moral of the story is don’t throw internet shade without actual experiencing said problem. Lol

Buy some and let’s us know how your test turns out. I am curious as well. I almost bought an 18 round Glock 44 mag by ProMag though and don’t even own the gun so my opinion might be suspect.

My "Uh oh" about Checkmate was not specific to a base plate problem per se, but to Checkmates's learning curve before their magazines ran without issues in classic P-SIGs, which in the case of the P229-1 and P226 was specific to various stoppage issues. These were solved some time ago but I still vividly remember how much of a problem it was when SIG introduced the Checkmate-sourced mags when the Mec-Gar mags they had more or less been exclusively using had been so problem-free.

As for the Shield Arms mags, for all I know these problems that are being tossed out on the web they may very well be due mostly to the end users rather than something endemic to its manufacture and/or design. The one photo I saw involved a replaced extended base plate; in that example perhaps it could've failed because of it being poorly installed. There wasn't enough backstory to draw anything definitive from it. So that's why I pose the question here.

Chowser, thanks for the feedback on your mags. That's the kind of information I was looking for.

I haven't put my S15s through any hard use. Just range time. They are doing very well so far. I did upgrade them with the +10% magazine springs which I think should be the standard mag spring right out of the box as the standard springs were anemic.

The other thing I noticed was they are very easy to disassemble for routine cleaning. Far easier than factory Glock mags. Although what that might mean is that they could have the potential to spontaneously disassemble in hard use. I haven't had that problem, but then I haven't really abused them either.

The Glock mags are clearly sturdier and about as close to bomb proof as a mag can get. Is that worth a 5rnd. penalty? That's debatable. My main concern so far has been reliability. In that regard they've done well for my needs.

My mags are from second and third batches of the original run with the old springs. They did send me the +10% power springs but I haven’t needed to use them yet.

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The other thing I noticed was they are very easy to disassemble for routine cleaning. Far easier than factory Glock mags. Although what that might mean is that they could have the potential to spontaneously disassemble in hard use. I haven't had that problem, but then I haven't really abused them either.

Putting a fully loaded magazine in my G19, I fumbled the insertion and dropped the magazine. It hit the tile floor on the left rear corner, the corner had a burr from impact, and did not “disassemble”. As I said, this was a loaded magazine. The base plate did shift a little forward but a couple of taps on the front edge put it right.

Aaron Cowan did. They passed.