Mec-Gar 10 round 9mm magazine MGCGOV910AFC
A year or two ago I fit a 9mm barrel to my 9x23 5" 1911. I needed a magazine to test my fitting job and wasn't interested in spending the big bucks to get a Wilson, Tripp, or McCormick so I picked up a Mec-Gar from Greg Cote. The pistol ran fine and accuracy was spot on even with the el cheapo bulk 115gr ammo I used.
The magazine presented no issues at all. Feeding was velvety smooth. I tried to buy a couple more of those as the months went by but Cote was out of stock. I left a request on his site to notify me when they were back in stock. Finally, last week I was notified and immediately bought two more.
If anyone is interested, here is some information for you. First of all, each mag costs $22.
Below is my switch barrel 9x23 / 9mm with one Mec-Gar mag seated and the two new ones on display.
I don't have much experience with 9mm magazines but these are unlike others I've worked with. As you can see below the sheet metal of these mags has been bent to form a groove that runs up the length of the body. The groove serves two purposes. One, it acts as a spacer so 9mm rounds won't rattle fore and aft. Two, the top of the groove is formed into a feed ramp to help the rounds stay nose up as they exit the mag.
Here's a pic looking down through the disassembled mag showing the feed ramp. It is well formed and while it's not mirror finished, it is smooth enough to fulfill its mission. I see no need to waste my time smoothing it any more than it already is. It's a better mouse trap than bending the forward edge of the tube forward into a lip.
Another pic of the integral feed ramp.
Here's a pic of the fully assembled mag. You can see the groove at the front of the body and the follower. The follower is also unusual in my experience. It's similar to Tripp's in that the body is some flavor of plastic and it has a chunk of steel fit to it that is what actually makes contact with the steel slide stop to prevent the plastic from being damaged. I don't know if the very latest Wilson's have the same feature. You would think with how expensive those mags are Wilson would have done something similar.
Another pic of the follower showing where the chunk of steel is located. From a manufacturing standpoint, it's pretty clever. It's a flat piece of steel that passes through the follower body and is secured on the other side.
The magazine tube is extended and there is no spring stacking with all 10 rounds loaded into it. The feed lips are subtle hybrids. It's easy to identify .45 hybrid feed lips but 9mm is so much smaller that I had to take measurements to verify what my lying eyes were telling me.
