I ordered 4 8 round and 2 ten round Mec Gar mags for my new Colt Commander 9mm. I have tons of Mec Gar mags and have never had a problem. These, however, are different. The mags were very hard to load (not unexpected with new mags.) The 10 rounders were pretty easy up to 9 rounds, which I expect with new mags. The 8 rounders, however, were incredibly difficult to load. I was able to get 7 rounds in two of them with a struggle, the other two only managed 4 each. It does not appear to be a spring issue, it looks like they get stuck in the tube. I tried a variety of bullets, from 115 to 147 gr in various configurations with no luck. I'm going to shoot with them tomorrow and see how they function, if not well I'm going to return them. The one (of course) Colt mag that came with the gun was flawless. I have to say I am really surprised.

I'm surprised to hear that. I've been using MecGar mags for decades in various platforms, without any issues.

If these MecGar mags do turn out to have problems, and you want to replace them with something different, Check-Mate makes the OEM magazines for Colt.

Or if the issue is just that they're too hard for you to load to full capacity, you can get a magazine loader like an UpLula to help you out.

What's the word on Mec-Gar's Glock mags? Have they proven to be reliable? I heard they were designed to work specifically in the Staccato HD and not so much in Glocks?

I have never had a single issue with Mec-Gar, but I recall reading that 9mm 1911 mags are known to be a little problematic across the board, regardless of brand. I have no personal experience with this (I have only owned 1911s in .45 Auto), so take that with a grain of salt.

I was using an UpLula. Like I said, it's not the springs it's something in the tube. I have a tub of mag loaders from various manufacturers, and a UpLula for when those don't fit. The angle on the Colt is a bit different.

I use both the 9 round and 10 round Mecgar mags for my 9mm 1911 Colt Goverment Model. The 9 rounders are very hard to load fully load when new, I agree with you about it seems they got stuck. I think if the cartridge didn’t go in straight in the tube it may hang up inside. I slapped the back of the mag to loosen it up. I may load some and let them sit before I go out next time. The 10 rounder, a different design, was easier to fully load. These mags were 100% reliable in my pistol as was the Checkmate Colt mag that came with the pistol.

I also bought Metalform 9 and 10 round 9mm mags for this pistol and had many failures. The rounds usually nose dived in the magazine.

I bought two Mec Gar's for my 9mm 1911 Commander about 18 months ago. Neither one would load more than three or four rounds. I emailed their customer service and was asked to send the mags back. I was told that they got a batch of "out of spec" mag bodies which caused the issue. I was sent two new mags a couple weeks later and have had no issues with them.

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Originally posted by iron chef:
What's the word on Mec-Gar's Glock mags?

Big flop. Lots of reported failures on the interwebs.

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Originally posted by bubbatime:

quote:

Originally posted by iron chef:
What's the word on Mec-Gar's Glock mags?

Big flop. Lots of reported failures on the interwebs.

The guy who runs the weekly steel challenge matches at my range was telling me he’s had some success with them, but he only uses them in a gun he installed an aluminum mag release in, otherwise they want to correctly seat and eventually fall out of the gun. He said that’s the failure he keeps hearing about and seeing. Apparently a polymer may catch and a steel magazine body isn’t a great combo.

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Originally posted by P220 Smudge:
Apparently a polymer may catch and a steel magazine body isn’t a great combo.

Sounds as if they're having similar problem that Shield Arms did when they introduced their high capacity mags for G43X/48X. I thought Mec-Gar did something about their mag catch slot to alleviate the steel mag tube chewing up the polymer mag catch, but it's disappointing to hear the negative experiences.

quote:

Originally posted by iron chef:
What's the word on Mec-Gar's Glock mags? Have they proven to be reliable? I heard they were designed to work specifically in the Staccato HD and not so much in Glocks?

I've used two of them through Shadow Systems guns. In my MR920's, (Glock 19 sized gun), using the factory magwell, loaded to 18+1 they work just fine. Of course they do stick out a little.

On my DR920, (G17 size gun), and my XR920, (G19X/G45 size gun) with the factory magwell, and loaded to 18+1, they kept ejecting out of the magwell, after any shot. I'm no engineer, but the magazine plate is the type found on the Gen5 Glock magazines, and I suspect it is ever slightly not allowing the magazine to fully seat. I suspect, though I haven't tested this yet, that these magazines would work in these two guns if I took off the magwell. Which leads me to believe they would work in any handgun that takes Glock magazines that a.) don't use a magwell, and/or b.) the magwell is wide enough to accommodate the Gen5 style magazine plate, and allow the magazine to fully seat.

I do have it on really good authority that this being new technology for Mec-Gar they are working to correct these deficiencies. One of the ways is to introduce sometime in the fall, a plus 2 magazine adapter, specifically for Gen3, and Gen4 Glock clones. It is also my understanding that they will be intro during a 16 round flush fit G19 size magazine. I strongly suspect that you will need the Gen3/Gen4 style plus 2 adapters to run them in guns using a magwell. Personally I wish they would just make a Gen3/Gen4 style magazine plate that didn't add capacity. We'll see.

I've thought about owning a Springfield Armory Garrison in 9mm. A buddy of mine, is a big fan of 1911 style guns, and Mec Gar magazines in general, just not the two of them together. His experience is that the Wilson magazines are qualitatively better all around, and recommends them for any 9mm 1911's.

quote:

Originally posted by iron chef:

quote:

Originally posted by P220 Smudge:
Apparently a polymer may catch and a steel magazine body isn’t a great combo.

Sounds as if they're having similar problem that Shield Arms did when they introduced their high capacity mags for G43X/48X. I thought Mec-Gar did something about their mag catch slot to alleviate the steel mag tube chewing up the polymer mag catch, but it's disappointing to hear the negative experiences.

They did. The mag catch on the magazine has zero sharp edges. I mentioned my experiences with them through a few of my Shadow Systems guns in another comment.

I am a big Mec-Gar fan and will buy them for anything but the Beretta96/40SW.
The 15rd mags had a body swelling issue. Went down a very long road with them and the issue was never corrected.
Bought them from Greg Coate who confirmed the known issue. Who first replaced them. I then contacted Mec-Gar directly who also confirmed the known issue and blamed it on a faulty heat treat oven. They shut down for holiday around Christmas/New Years so with that and being out of the USA took awhile for them to show up to only have the same issue. When the past few rds were loaded the mag bodies would swell and cause the mags to stick in the frame of multiple guns which made for hard loading/unloading.
Their final answer was to buy +rd bases which I wasn’t going to do.

To many other good makers of the 9mm Colt mags. Just return them and get something else. Cannot remember all the different options right now as its been a number of years since I bought all my 9mm mags for my DW Guardian even have some early Mec-Gars and non have any issues.

I'll consider Check Mate and Wilson Combat then. I've never had a bad WC mag.

As mentioned, their Beretta 96 magazines have problems. They specifically will not work in the Beretta Cx4 Storm. There is something off with the geometry of the mag lips. When I called them, they told me they were aware of the problem but had no plans to correct it. Interestingly, they do work in the Beretta 96 series of pistols but not in the Cx4 Storm.

quote:

Originally posted by Fredward:
I'll consider Check Mate and Wilson Combat then. I've never had a bad WC mag.

I thought the consensus among 1911 fans is that the most reliable mags are Wilson Combat and Chip McCormick (aka, CMC). WC acquired CMC in 2018, so they're pretty much the same quality level now.

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Originally posted by Sig Sauer: For Hire:

quote:

Originally posted by iron chef:

quote:

Originally posted by P220 Smudge:
Apparently a polymer may catch and a steel magazine body isn’t a great combo.

Sounds as if they're having similar problem that Shield Arms did when they introduced their high capacity mags for G43X/48X. I thought Mec-Gar did something about their mag catch slot to alleviate the steel mag tube chewing up the polymer mag catch, but it's disappointing to hear the negative experiences.

They did. The mag catch on the magazine has zero sharp edges. I mentioned my experiences with them through a few of my Shadow Systems guns in another comment.

Yep, the Mec Gar mags are dimpled.



The only downsides I've read is they will not take Glock mag extensions, but as far as I know there isn't any aftermarket Glock mags that will take Glock mag extensions.

I have used Mecgar mags in my P226 and P229 for decades with zero issues. Same when I had a Beretta. I have a couple of the new G19 mags and have not had any issues with them so far.

I hope I am not hijacking the thread.

For those that have used the Mecgar Glock magazines, have you observed/experienced any benefit from them over MagPul or OEM Glock magazines?