Magazine Favorites?

[roscoe]

Hello All,
Nice site you have here! I haven't shot my mini in about 15 yrs., and want to get back into it. I see there are a lot more mag manufactures out there. Who makes reliable 20 & 30 round mags? Any I should be leary of? Thanks.
roscoe

[Camera man]

1st. of all, welcome. I would say that most would tell you to stay away from USA's and Western's. I only have Ruger factory's and PMI's. I would like to test drive a few of the new Promags that are out there now.

[Ghost]

Thermolds :usa: :beer:

[papa1]

Welcome to the forum. The only ones I know that work are the Ruger 20s. Some guys say the ProMags are OK.

[treedawg]

There's no better mag to be had than factory 20's and 30's. You can score factory 20's in $35.00 range and factory 30's are $50.00 and up if you can find them that cheap.

TD

[bwraven]

Keep in mind that a mag that works well in my Mini's, may or may not work well in yours. Buy one, test it, then consider purchasing more.

That said, these are my personal favorites:

Old stock:
Ruger factory 20's and 30's
Thermold 30's
PMI 30's
McCoy Mobile 30's
Bingham 40's


New production
ProMag steel 20's and polymer 30's
Masen "Black Warrior" steel 30's

[Bushw@cker]

Factory and PMI are my favorites, with Pro Mags up there.

[roscoe]

Thanks guys. Pro mags seem like the afforadable choice. I see a couple links for John Masen Black Warrior. I like the price, but none of you mentioned them. Should I take that as if you can't say anything good, say nothing at all?
bwraven, you like pro mag steel 20's, polymer 30's. Are promag steel 30's OK?

[Nobody]

Promag 30 steel mags aren't available for sale just yet. The quality of Promag steel has never been up to Ruger factory standards, Promag's claims nonwithstanding.

Likewise, Promag polymers are not the equal of Thermolds because they are made of plastic, not Dupont Zytel nylon. This is reflected in their price of $14.55 each vs. $50+ for Thermolds.

Promag polymers do function flawlessly when new, but you will soon see erosion around the hole in the front of the magazine where the magazine catch inserts itself. Promag had similar erosion problems with their Glock polymer mags and subsequently discontinued them. Promag could have metal-lined this area, as Glock does, or they could have chosen to use Zytel, as Thermold did. Unfortunately, they did neither. Promag polymers also have rear lugs that are shorter than the Thermolds from which they were copied. This has resulted in a magazine that seesaws instead of locking up tightly. These are probably not magazines that you would want to use as monopods when firing from a prone position, as many carbine schools have been teaching their students to do. Promag polymers are best seen as disposable mags for range use. I suspect that the magazine springs will outlast the useful life of the magazine.

[cajungeo]

Welcome to the forum roscoe. The guys pretty much gave you the best mags to use. I would buy a couple of a brand to try if they work get more, if not send them back for a refund, and try another.

[bwraven]

ProMAg steel 30's aren't out yet, as mentioned above.
I do have Masen 30's, and they work great in my Mini's. I just spaced-out and forgot to add them to my list (which I have now edited to include them.)

I'm not certain of the composition of the ProMag Polymer's. I really don't think that they are simply "plastic." I will attempt to contact ProMag on friday and clarify this. The Thermold's are so high priced because they are in very limited supply, and have an established reputation. They were priced similar to current production ProMags before the AWB. I have well over 1000 rounds through one of my ProMag Polymers, and see no erosion of the material at all. But time will certainly tell!
They also carry a Lifetime Warranty.

[roscoe]

Thanks for the info guys! I'll be ordering soon.