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Extended cap magazines — Do you?

jg7789

Operator
Founding Member
I've always wondered if its a good idea to pack aftermarket extended magazines in a car or something like that. Soemthing where you can have some extra ammo if you need it. But, will these work? Even the crazy pistol drums. Is the added firepower worth the risk of a non-OEM handgun mag? You all have any thoughts/experience with these?
 
I use some extended capacity magazines, but only the ones that have a positive proven track record. I have had great luck with the magpul 22 round magazines for my glocks. I will admit I have never purchased aftermarket magazines for my xdm, since they carry 19 and I have a bunch of them.
 
Not every gun likes all aftermarket products. You need to purchase one of several brands, see which ones work in your firearm if any.... Then buy those.
And besides...... Most mags are standard capacity magazines as the magazine produced for that weapon has always had the capacity that it is sold with. Example: A 30 round 5.56 mag is not hi cap. That's standard issue. A 19 round XDm mag is not hi cap its standard issue.
That's my 2 cents.
 
I would have to prove the aftermarket mag's reliability before I stowed it in a vehicle or carried it on me as a backup. I've had mixed luck with aftermarket mags for essentially any platform I can think of.

If there are factory extended mags available, i'm buying those before anything else.
 
My experience with my Glocks. They don't like third party mags at all. I tried several trying to save those
bucks so I could by other goodies. Ordered the High caps from Classicfirearms. They were $11 as I recall.
FTL factory or my reloads. Fire a couple, eject one, fire one, eject one, eject another... you get my drift.
I have to give Classic credit. They sent followers & springs to replace. Same thing. Doesn't take much and
I'm exasperated. Sent it all back. Went to the Glockstore.com and ordered genuine 9mm and 40 all day
mags and not one issue. Factory or reloads.
Bought a 40cal, 50 round drum, same dreadful deal. Of course Glock to my knowledge doesn't make a
drum so I'll have to do without unless some really proven product comes out. I'd love to have the double
100 round drum for my 300 BO, but I'd be nervous about that purchase for sure.
Not a fan of aftermarket mags at all. Save your money and nerves.
 
All great answers above however I’d also like to note keep in mind local laws and if traveling check laws ahead of time.

^ This, *_ALWAYS_*.

In some less-friendly states/areas, this could be a big problem!

-------

Not every gun likes all aftermarket products. You need to purchase one of several brands, see which ones work in your firearm if any.... Then buy those.

and

I would have to prove the aftermarket mag's reliability before I stowed it in a vehicle or carried it on me as a backup.

^ This is really the long and short of it.

Any serious-use magazine - be it for duty/service, self-defense, competition, or even just serious training/practice (er...a weekend-long class that I choose to not spend time with my family and pay $300+ for? yeah, you bet I'm taking that seriously! and same goes for the range-time I need to carve out of my daily life) - needs to and should always be vetted.

It doesn't matter if the magazine is aftermarket or factory. Yes, aftermarket often presents more concerns, but even with factory magazines, tolerance-stacking is very much still a real-world phenomenon that, although likely rare, is probably going to be at the very least less-than-desirable when it comes to the consequences involved, in a serious-use context.

And don't just bank on brand-name. Virtually *every* make has had issues somewhere in the past: it's like trying to find a car manufacturer that hasn't had a recall. ;) Yes, even the big-names like Magpul, Lancer, STI, and Springfield Armory have had issues in the past: issues which each manufacturer readily resolved to the satisfaction of their customers, but issues, nonetheless.

Also, it's worth putting in the effort to segregate your vetted serious-use magazines versus your range-beaters. Even those expensive STI and HK magazines are in the end disposable, and only so much retrofitting/repairs can occur. Magazines which are not dependable should be segregated immediately from general use: I like to put them into a "training" pile, particulary if they can reliably cause spontaneous stoppages/malfunctions (and for me, this is a one shot deal: prove to me you're not dependable just one time, and it's into the training pile you go!). In-practice, I will drop magazines just as I would in real-life, but for those times where I check my serious-use magazines for function, I will handle them with more respect, so that I preserve their bodies/components against potential damage.

And towards that final concern, indelibly mark every magazine in an unique manner so that they can be tracked.

4ishostage.jpg

^ That's my #4 practice/training 30-round Lancer L5AWM, sent as a "hostage/proof-of-life" picture by one of my favorite local instructors, when I'd accidentally left it behind at his range after a weekend's worth of learning.

One side is stenciled with a number, the other with my last name. Just a sloppy and quick job because I really don't care much about these mags - remember, they are all expendable, and practice mags even more so! :) There's three on the deck in this pic, plus the one in the gun, and there's two more on my support side, covered by my fat trunk-section in this pic. I chose "clear" magazines not because I wanted to see how many rounds were in them, but rather because along with the high-visibility paint, that helps me find them on the range (Not that it necessarily always helps! 😅 I have another set of 10 range-mags for my AR that are GenM2 PMags, and they're just plane-Jane black, but hit with the same paint, I typically bring both sets of mags fully-loaded to classes, one type stuffed 62-grain range-fodder, the other with 55-gr. of the same, albeit without the steel core in case the instructional cadre doesn't want that on their steel or if there are range restrictions).

M3T.jpg

^ Excuse the unloaded yet holstered sidearm - that's a big no-no, I know. :oops: This was at morning zeroing at a beginner-level class (one of the first that I attended!), and we had yet to make-ready our sidearms. [ That's my Daniel Defense M4V5LW, c. 2012, so it's still got that monster pic rail! Look at me, I didn't know enough in this class to even know to pull my stock out farther. We all learn! :) ]

We know that modern duty/service/defensive-grade firearms are extremely reliable, and that perhaps one of their only weak areas are the box magazines from which they are fed. During troubleshooting of a faulty firearm, being able to isolate the problematic magazine(s) will save you a tremendous amount of time and headache.
 
Last edited:
^ This, *_ALWAYS_*.

In some less-friendly states/areas, this could be a big problem!

-------



and



^ This is really the long and short of it.

Any serious-use magazine - be it for duty/service, self-defense, competition, or even just serious training/practice (er...a weekend-long class that I choose to not spend time with my family and pay $300+ for? yeah, you bet I'm taking that seriously! and same goes for the range-time I need to carve out of my daily life) - needs to and should always be vetted.

It doesn't matter if the magazine is aftermarket or factory. Yes, aftermarket often presents more concerns, but even with factory magazines, tolerance-stacking is very much still a real-world phenomenon that, although likely rare, is probably going to be at the very least less-than-desirable when it comes to the consequences involved, in a serious-use context.

And don't just bank on brand-name. Virtually *every* make has had issues somewhere in the past: it's like trying to find a car manufacturer that hasn't had a recall. ;) Yes, even the big-names like Magpul, Lancer, STI, and Springfield Armory have had issues in the past: issues which each manufacturer readily resolved to the satisfaction of their customers, but issues, nonetheless.

Also, it's worth putting in the effort to segregate your vetted serious-use magazines versus your range-beaters. Even those expensive STI and HK magazines are in the end disposable, and only so much retrofitting/repairs can occur. Magazines which are not dependable should be segregated immediately from general use: I like to put them into a "training" pile, particulary if they can reliably cause spontaneous stoppages/malfunctions (and for me, this is a one shot deal: prove to me you're not dependable just one time, and it's into the training pile you go!). In-practice, I will drop magazines just as I would in real-life, but for those times where I check my serious-use magazines for function, I will handle them with more respect, so that I preserve their bodies/components against potential damage.

And towards that final concern, indelibly mark every magazine in an unique manner so that they can be tracked.

View attachment 447

^ That's my #4 practice/training 30-round Lancer L5AWM, sent as a "hostage/proof-of-life" picture by one of my favorite local instructors, when I'd accidentally left it behind at his range after a weekend's worth of learning.

One side is stenciled with a number, the other with my last name. Just a sloppy and quick job because I really don't care much about these mags - remember, they are all expendable. :) There's three on the deck in this pic, plus the one in the gun, and there's two more on my support side, covered by my fat trunk-section in this pic.

View attachment 448
^ Excuse the unloaded yet holstered sidearm - that's a big no-no, I know. :oops: This was at morning zeroing at a beginner-level class (one of the first that I attended!), and we had yet to make-ready our sidearms. [ That's my Daniel Defense M4V5LW, c. 2012, so it's still got that monster pic rail! Look at me, I didn't know enough in this class to even know to pull my stock out farther. We all learn! :) ]

We know that modern duty/service/defensive-grade firearms are extremely reliable, and that perhaps one of their only weak areas are the box magazines from which they are fed. During troubleshooting of a faulty firearm, being able to isolate the problematic magazine(s) will save you a tremendous amount of time and headache.
Love the way you broke this down brother.
 
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