Curious what y’all’s thoughts are on the Shield Arms Mags for the G43X and G48. The Glock Talk Forums are about 50/50 on the S15 mags. Seems some people have issues and others don’t. Some trust them and others don’t.
I’m interested in trying them, but I’m going to run the gun OEM for now. Money is the main limiting factor for me. I’ve already put a lot into the gun and I don’t currently have the funds to buy them.
I don’t like the idea of changing the mag release and not being able to run OEM (curious about PSAs new polymer mag). I also drop my mags a lot on concrete at the range. I don’t worry about the OEM mags breaking. Worse case scenario, I buy another $30 mag, but I haven’t had issues with quality mags and dropping them during training. It’s also one of those things, “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it”. 10+1 is a fair amount of ammo. More is always better, but I value reliability and shootability over capacity.
My neighbor just bought a couple for his 43x but don’t think he has had a chance to try them out yet. 15 rounds in that size package sure seems nice.
I tend to feel better prepared for the potential problems I might run into when having at least 13 rounds ready to go. But occasionally I have to settle for 11 which will likely cover most situations.
If some folks are having problems I think you would definitely want to test them out really well before trusting them.
I have heard the same 50/50 on the S15 magazines. Having to buy the magazine and metal release is $69. I would stick with the OEM and buy another magazine.
I just picked up my 43X today, very surprised that it didn’t come with 3 magazines like my 19X and 45.
If you want to use these magazines, you have to go with their mag release catch.
People are experiencing problems when still using original mag release.
I’m not G shooter, but friend of mine gets G43x with those mags and mag catch. He has never experienced single problem. I was testing this few times during classes and found it reliable.
I’m have one of those makes and models. But I’ve not yet gone for after market mags for the 48. If not yet done, maybe check out videos on folks who did. And watch it in range action/field.
For the 42, for on the hip spares, I like an after market I got, but not inside the carry, only on my hip/spares.
IDK:
Though rare, having to drop a mag, is a reality worth training for. Risks can include mags getting reshaped, loose, dented, cracked, small bits of soil, sand or gravel becoming embedded.
It makes sense that metal ones are stronger than plastic.
Maybe a creative happy medium? Find balance of enough quantity in a mag, as well as quality. Personally, if I ever dropped a mag on the ground such as in training, I would not want to use that same mag as my EDC; Answer - use/have different mags, one set for training (rough & tumble), then another set for EDC, that way my EDC’s are not banged up.
One would have to permanently mark them some way so they don’t get mixed up.
Going further, how about two exact FA’s, one where mag dropping is used, the other not (the EDC)? Costly though.
Just talk and theories on my part. I’m sure more experienced here can add depth. Anything for a fellow 48-er.
Hey Scoutbob,
I did reconfigure my G48 with the Shield Arms mag catch and magazines. Wasn’t a pretty picture. The gun would have a hard jam (where I have to drop the mag and then rack the gun to clear, the reinsert the mag and re-rack). Not and ideal situation in a self defense situation. I just reinstalled the OEM mag catch and went back to Glock magazines. Went to the range today and shot 150 rounds and the gun performed flawlessly. So I’m with you, 10+1 is a hell of a lot better than 15 with a jam every 3-4 rounds.
I was on the fence as well, but decided to stay with OEMs. If one needs more then 10+1 and a spare mag in a self defense situation, that person is a.) hanging out with stupid people, b.) in a stupid place, c.) doing something stupid or d.) is doing more than one of the above. That should be the issue that is addressed.
In the guns store where I work we carry all the major OEM brands plus many of the aftermarket selections. We see many of both. I have never had a customer try return an OEM mag because of a problem. Can’t say the same for the aftermarket varieties. Caveat emptor.
I guess you could say in retrospect that you were doing something stupid in a stupid place if you suddenly get attacked by a heavily armed person or multiple criminals. But these attacks don’t only happen in sketchy areas. I don’t think the kids in Texas or shoppers in NY had any reason to believe they chose option D before their worlds were suddenly torn apart by the stupid people who thought killing a bunch of innocents was a good idea.
10+1 will likely handle the vast majority of situations someone might run into. But in the above situations I would have wanted 30+1 and more than one spare mag. Though I generally settle for 12+1 plus a spare myself and just hope I don’t ever run into someone with a rifle and/or more than 1 or two additional armed companions.
I’ve decided to just stick with OEM. I plan to buy a few more mags, and I don’t have the cash to switch over. 10 +1 in a gun should be enough if I’m traveling I’ll pack a few extra mags to keep in the bag.
Sure, I think we would all agree that having five extra mags with us in a firefight would be vastly preferred over having one, but it’s largely a game of statistics. If you don’t hang with stupid people, go to stupid places, or do stupid things, It’s an extremely high probability that you will never have to fire your weapon in self defense. You can try to plan for all contingencies, but at what point do you concede you’re not Rambo? On a day to day basis, I’m just not going to carry enough rounds to protect a school full of kids from a nut with a long gun in a sustained firefight.
I went to the extreme on the example but bad guys often travel in packs. I spend a lot of time in the backcountry. It is usually much safer than most of the places people hang out. But every once in a while you run into nefarious people and help is a long way away. There is no back up out there. But you can also suddenly have a car full of thugs pull up next to you at a gas station. These are not stupid places or stupid things to be doing. Sometimes you just get unlucky.
I consider running into 3 attackers to be a fairly high probability. Though I have personally only had two clearly attempted robberies both with just a pair of criminals, I have had other situations where 3 or more people have been checking me out. Granted most of these were in SoCal which is a stupid place to be since I was forced to be unarmed in these instances and the criminals know their targets are almost certainly not carrying more than a knife.
I feel that 5 rounds per bad guy in the gun are a minimum for me to feel I have a good chance in a confrontation. I assume I won’t have a good opportunity to safely reload when confronted by multiple attackers. I don’t have any facts or statistics to support my minimum opinion but I have practiced shooting and moving under some limited simulated stress on multiple targets at various distances and that number seems to do the job most times. Though that is without the targets shooting back.
I settle for the 12+1 because that gives me 4 rounds per attacker in a 3 person scenario with one round to spare. So I get almost as much capability as my 15+1 in a much smaller and easier to conceal package. I do a lot of hiking so my odds of facing a threat are generally lower than most and weight matters a lot.
You do you but labeling everyone who has been caught in a very bad situation stupid is more than a bit condescending. It also implies that those preparing for more than one or two attackers at closer distances are just being silly. I have great respect for those who can comfortably carry a full sized handgun all the time. They can handle many more potential situations than I can.
I didn’t mean to be condescending at all, I apologize if you took it that way. I should have said “that person is most likely hanging out with stupid people, in a stupid place, doing something stupid”. Of course there will always be exceptions to this. Sometimes you DO hit the “victim’s lottery”. It’s like you say, “You do you”. If you feel the need to prepare for multiple attackers, then who would I be to say you are being “silly”? I am only speaking to why I only carry one spare mag.
In my limited experience multiple trouble makers are the norm not the exception.
I don’t offend easy. Just think the “if you need more than x y z amount of bullets your doing something wrong” mantra is often based on assumptions from people who mostly practice with perfect stance and grip while not moving and shooting at a single static target that is not shooting back. It gets reinforced by the assumption people will never run into a situation that is above the so called average (often stated as 3 shots, 3 yards, 3 seconds or something similar). That’s not how averages work. Since most encounters end with 0 or 1 shots being fired then there have to also be many events that required significantly more rounds to bring that average up to 3.
For me 10+1 is the absolute bare minimum to feel barely comfortable with the situations I have faced and can imagine running into some day. It’s all about balancing comfort and concealment vs capability. Everyone has to make that choice for themselves. But the more rounds I have loaded and ready the better I feel when sketchy people start paying attention to me.
More rounds equals more options whether your choices for the day were smart or stupid. One of those choices is how many rounds we have ready to go when we actually need them.
