All posts in Magazines

Warranties on gun magazines?

chip mccormick magazines I have had 1911s around for years and the 45acp is probable one of the top 3 calibers that I reload.   There are lots of things you can do with various bullets.  I’ve seen people load bullets in 1911s and they ran like champs, other 1911s had issues with hollow points or semi-wad cutters.   There are always thing you can tweak on a 1911 to make it more modern, and in fact,there are 1911s out there now that really aren’t like the 1911s that the Government had but they are very fun to shoot.   There is something about the balance and grip feel on the 1911 that is so natural unless you have small hands.

I started out with GI magazines for my 1911 and quickly found out how inferior they were.   I have mostly used Wilson Combat Magazines but recently for financial reasons, I guess it was time to test out Chip McCormick magazines and see how well they fared.   We did have an issue with 2 magazines in the last 5 years where the base plates fell off the mags, but Chip McCormick does have a 3 year warranty on their magazines.  I don’t understand any company that wants to stay in the shooting business that doesn’t back their products up with decent warranties.   Based strictly on customer purchases, I don’t see why anyone should consider deviating from the things that work.

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Even 1911 magazines have been hard to find!

Wilson Combat Magazines

Wilson Combat Magazines

We’ve had many customers call us up and ask if their 1911 will run various types of magazines in it.  There are compacts, subcompacts, commanders and government models, and also a great many manufacturers.  Some of the problems people seem to have with 1911s is they change too many parts out and end up with a customer job that needs magazines that just tweaked.   We often tell people to contact Wilson Combat or ask the gun manufacturer to give them feedback on which magazines to get.   There are Wilson Combat 47, 47OXCB, 47D, and now the Elite tactical magazines more commonly known as the ETM mags.

I haven’t had the  urge to switch to the ETM magazines because I have a very good stockpile of the 47D magazines.  The difference between the Wilson combat magazines with the 47 and the 47D are basically the 7rd vs the 8rd.   I think the 1911 45acp with an 8rd magazine is a very potent gun.   There are many things you can do to train to be proficient with the 1911 and doing tactical loads ect. shouldn’t slow you down.   You have to remember that a handgun is basically a replacement for a knife or a sword and if you need more than that, you are better off getting a shotgun or a rifle rather than 33rd Glock magazines.

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Thanks are settling down, but is the panic buying over?

Glock factory magazinesI guess it depends on whether or not you want to think about all of the things that could cause people to buy more firearms or ammunition, but now that the States that passed the new gun legislation  have pretty much done so, not many more are going to pile on.  Their are going to be Political and economic ramifications for passing some of these new gun laws and we’ll find out the results in 2yrs.   We recently heard that some companies like Remington are now restricting sales to gun shops that are price gouging on ammuntion and their are now boycotts of several big name companies for what they did in regards to AR15 sales on Magpul Pmag sales.  We see this type of panic and emotionalism after hurricanes or earthquakes and it’s widely accepting that the political opportunism that Obama has played is going to have blow back at some point.

We have noticed that there is somewhat of a slow down but much of this is because there isn’t anything to buy.  Ammunition is going to be hard to get for a long time but Glock Factory Magazines are starting to show up on our inventory and we recently got some Glock 21, Glock 26 and Glock 27 magazines in, in large quantities.   We  have not raised our prices about list price and we’re seeing positive response from our customers and developed a lot of loyalty.   The only thing that seems to be impossible to get right now are the Glock 22 coversion kits, although we do have small quantities of spare magazines in stock.

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Is there anything else besides Magpul Pmags?

lancer magazines It seems that there are other manufacturers that are putting out really good magazines and usually we find  this out from the guys that a running 3 gun matches.  Competition shooting is not only a competition between shooters, but also a place to test out gear, firearms and everything you can put in them.   We hear feedback from our customers about various scope mounts, iron sights and sometimes about various brands of ammunition.   Every once in awhile we hear people mention products from Larue Tactical and it’s on our “things to do” to get setup as a dealer for them.   There have very well price rifle scope mounts and lots of guns run aimpoints ect on them.

When it comes to reliability of firearm magazines, you pretty much have to stick with factory magazines but in the case of the AR15, factory magazines are probable what USGI mags are and they are inferior to the commercial market.  One name we’ve been hearing more and more lately are the Lancer magazines that are made in Allentown Pennsylvania.   These magazines have a unique look to them and instead of having windows like the magpul pmags, they are translucent and you can see what you have in your round count.   Not everyone cares about these but the Lancer 30rd magazines seem to be run by the 3 gun guys more so than Magpul Pmags.

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Glock Factory magazines vs after market?

I remember almost 20yrs ago a company called USA magazines, and after the first Assault Weapons ban, that was about the only manufacturer I knew that made 30rd magazines for the Mini 14, but I had really bad experiences with them.   The majority of the problem was with the followers and this seems to be a pretty common issue.   If you move machinery from one location to the other and have any minor changes in the equipment, that slightly out of spec magazine is going to jam up in your firearm and that is pretty much what the problem is with after market magazines.   I have not the time or the energy to test out after market magazines because I actually started using them and then learned to only buy Factory mags but now that there is another run on firearms and magazines, some people are tempted to buy what they can.

Should you bother putting your money into something that is not a factory item?  If you don’t have any other options a brand like Promag magazines Promag magazines has a pretty good reputation and some of our customers have told us that they use them in their AKs and or in the Walther PPK or Ruger LCP we can give you that.  There’s nothing wrong with having a bunch of magazines that are in your range rotation but for primary use, i would stick with magazines that have been tested or just stick with Factory magazines.  Many companies stand by their magazines and have warranties so also do some research into that before you buy.

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Magazines, ranger plates and magazine grip extensions

chip mccormick magazines I never really bothered with magazine extensions on my CCW guns because I’ve mostly learned to stick with the standard capacity magazines instead of trying to turn the gun into something that it was never meant to be.  For instance the Sig 239 is a great CCW gun and although you can put a 10rd magazine in there, the profile of the gun is going to change and depending on the clothing that you are wearing,  you may have just created a snagging location or a hang up on your shirt.   Sometimes moving around a little with your CCW method will give you an idea of how your clothing may bunch up or scrunch up in certain areas around your gear.  The Material of various shirts makes a huge difference and even though it light flow straight down over your gun, high winds can cause embarrassing situations with even the smallest CCW gun.

I never witness there being a difference in 1911 reliability between 7rd and 8rd pistol magazines but I’ve always felt the magazine durability has improved enough to get 8rds out there.  I have noticed some gun magazines have increased their capacity but the Chip McCormick magazines that I use are the Power Mags and they have a slight magazines extension that helps with faster reloading.  All of my 1911s drop these mags without any snags which is something my Colt factory magazines do not.  Drop free magazines are important because that is one step that can slow down a reload of the firearm.

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CCW Firearms and Kahr firearms in general

Kahr magazinesManufacturing technology has dramatically improved over the last decade and gun magazines are becoming more and more durable.  All gun parts and firearms will eventually wear out, but proper maintenance and attention can get you longer use.   Magpul pmags are king of the AR15 magazines although there has been some minor changes to the design in recent years.  When  you’re looking for handgun magazines, we have Sig Factory magazines, Glock magazines, Beretta magazines, Chip McCormick magazines, Promag magazines, Mec-Gar magazines, CZ magazines, Walther magazines, Wilson combat magazines and many other rifle and handgun magazines.

The 45acp is still one of the most popular CCW calibers, but finding a firearm that is easy to carry in this caliber is not always the easiest things. Kahr firearms are excellent CCW guns we stock Kahr magazines because many firearms similar in size are not as robust. We are a stocking dealer of many gun accessories for the Kahr pistols and Kahr magazines. Kahr .380 and 9mm are also our best selling CCW gun accessories.Kahr makes some of the best concealed carry friendly 9mm handguns in existence. They are the most durable small 9mm handguns and even their 40 caliber guns are very nice.  It’s always good to have 2-d spare Kahr magazines and rotate through them when you are training.Many people think that pocket guns are all j-frame revolvers or you have to go with a .380 type pistol for deep cover concealment, but Kahr CW 9mm are outstanding in size, weight and firepower.

 

 

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Generation 3 Magpul Pmags hitting the market

magpul 30rd pmags for saleThis year was a year to remember and it looks like the famed Magpul Pmags are enemy number 1 of the anti-gun crowd.   It’s amazing to watch people demonize an object and put down the blame that 10rds vs. 30rds has any impact on gun crime.   We’re hearing from Law Enforcement customers that are annoyed the things that they need are becoming so hard to get.   Given that we here at Rogue Elite have the gift of foresight, get ready for the Magpul pmags that are going to end up back in stock on all of these gun auction sights. The panic buying is over and it’s time to replace your old AR15 magazines.

Standard Capacity magazines may be affected in certain States and shockingly in Colorado where Magpul is most likely going to have to relocate.  I got to hold the new Magpul 30rd magazines for sale at a convention in South Carolina a few weeks ago and got the whole low down on them.  I have no idea why the United States Government doesn’t have these as standard issue.  Now that any of the fit arguments are over Magpul as a company should be considered an asset to our Nation and not be getting kicked out of a State.

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Still seeing the 1911 being used in Law Enforcement

chip mccormick magazines Today we had a police officer mention firearm retention during arrests and why the Blackhawk Serpa holster was his preferred gun holster.   Another Officer mentioned that he still used a 1911 because he liked the idea that if someone was unfamiliar with this firearm that even if they got it in a struggle they might not be able to shoot it.   There are always different scenarios that you can run with, with each tactical or mechanical device and you use.  Training and gaining muscle memory is something that is hard to change and it’s very hard to jump back and forth with firearms and be proficient.   I suggest consistency is more important and will make you less prone to making errors.

There are reasons I love the 1911 and reasons I don’t use it as a primary sidearm but if I did carry it, I would probable have to put in more range time to remember to disengage the safety every time.  If you are looking for reliable and consistent 1911 magazines for under $30 the best one I use is the  8rd Chip McCormick magazines called the Power Mag.  I have never seen a reason to  not use 8rd magazines although I think the 1911 looses it’s balance with 10rd magazines.   The 10rd Power Mags are very popular for competition shooting so again, it’s also about training and adjusting to the firearm or device.

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Wilson Combat Magazines vs everyone else

I’ve mentioned many times in my blog posts that my first handgun was actually a Colt 1991A1 and I got a screaming hot deal on it.  $375 out the door for as far as I know an unfired firearm that was brand spanking new.   My first experiences with it were like many, it did not run out of the  box and I had to do some minor tweaks to my approach for carrying this firearm, what type of ammunition to use and what type of magazines.  I only had 1 magazine with it when I got it and it did not last more than a couple reloads before the magazine lips started to bend and the gun would close on an empty chamber, the problem was that I was using USGI magazines that are in all practicality, throw away magazines.

There are many new fancy 1911s out there Kimber is what I consider fancy as well as Les Bauer.  I have seen plenty of feeding problems for people that did not use Wilson Combat Magazines and eventually they figure it out and go to an online discussion forum and find out what works best. We recently noticed that some companies have upgraded their standard magazine capacities have learned the technology to do that, I have not found any truth that the Wilson Combat 8rd magazines were less reliable than the 7rd magazines.  I think an 8rd 45acp is the best option since 10+ rounds of 45acp tends to make the guns too heavy.

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