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Tested: G42 ten round magazines

20K views 19 replies 13 participants last post by  Bobcatbaseball  
#1 · (Edited)
EDIT: Link to the impressions
Tested: G42 ten round magazines


Previous post:

I've been waiting for ETS to produce their high capacity Glock 42 magazines for range practice. They were featured at Shot Show and were supposed to be out last month.

I had looked for alternative options before and I hadn't come across any.

But when Googling for replacement OEM magazines today, I came across the Pro Mag 10-round G42 option.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1018287257/promag-magazine-glock-42-380-acp-polymer-black

I hadn't seen those before?! I ordered a few and will test and post some feedback here. Is anyone currently running them?

As a disclaimer, this would be for range practice only. I like having extra mags for target ammo rather than having to load and unload SD ammo at every range session with every firearm.

For carry, I use OEM magazines. I do have a Magguts for both with a Ghost MED for the backup. Both have been 100% reliable (as has been others' experience).

I've heard mixed reviews on Pro Mag in general, but haven't heard much about their G42 offering. Honestly, if I could be sure that the factory Glock magazines for sale online were all "03" versions, I probably would have done that. But I don't want to purchase them and find out I have to ship them to the factory for an exchange. They'll just be for range practice.

Will let you guys know how the 10-round Pro Mags work now that the G42 is fully broken in and eating all ammo reliably.
 
#4 ·
I came across the Pro Mag 10-round G42 option.
I've had Pro Mag for several different platforms. Do you know what Pro Mag stands for?

Please Remember Our Mags Are Garbage.

I'm sure they'd be OK for range time, but since they would change the feel, I'd just as well practice with the factory magazines.
 
#7 · (Edited)
I'm sure they'd be OK for range time, but since they would change the feel, I'd just as well practice with the factory magazines.
I understand they would be range only but me I prefer practice with the gun as carried. I have a couple G19 mags and plenty of G17 mags but when I shoot my G26 I only use G26 mags with a pinky extension just like I carry it.
I think those are valid points in general.

These days I am 99% carrying my G26 and 1% carrying my G20. The G42 is mainly a range novelty, but I would like to keep familiar with it just in case. Not so mission critical that I need to shoot the 42 with SD ammo at the range.

I like going from pistol to pistol in a range session. If I stick with good fundamentals, I find that I'm spot on no matter which Glock / mag / ammo combination I use. If I start getting lazy or having a bad habit / compensation by sticking with just one firearm, it shows up in the transition to others.

So for me, I don't mind switching ammunition, magazines and firearms in a range session.

If I had very limited time or accessibility, I'd stick with one pistol and one ammunition. But for my current purposes, it doesn't affect me and it actually helps me keep an eye on my fundamentals.

When I first bought the G42, my first 6 shots were all on top of each other. My 9mm grip really translated well to the 380. Now that I've been spending more time with the 10mm, I've seen a similar improvement in my 9mm muzzle control.

The Glock 42 is a small pocket pistol, why do you need a 10 round mag- I am lazy too, but loading 6 or 10 rounds at the range is no issue-just another toy ?
It's not a laziness thing as much as it is an efficiency thing. I can load up my range bag at home and run through my drills and get back home.

When I'm at the range most of the time, I want to be shooting. Not loading magazines.

I currently have 30 (17 round) magazines for my G34 and 9mm Carbine, 12 (10-12 round) magazines for the G26, 6 (15 round) magazines for the G20, but only 4 speed loaders for the Smith and Wesson revolver and only the 2 factory G42 magazines. Probably 20 AR mags (30-40 round).

The bulk of my range time is spent with 9mm in transition and movement drills when I'm not ammo testing. Having a few 10 round Pro Mags for the G42 would help the flow of the range session. Especially if I didn't have to unload and reload the SD ammo in the factory magazines. If I felt my accuracy suffer with the different magazines, I'd either train harder on my fundamentals or switch to just one ammo and magazine combination.

When I first got the G42, the recoil spring was stiff and it wouldn't cycle some of the lighter offerings. I used that as malfunction training. In the revolver, some of the clean fire CCI primers don't fire on the first strike... I use those also as a "no flinch" drill.

I want to be versatile and to be comfortable with a number of different calibers and firearms. Because you never know what you'll need.

I fully expect to need to go over the Pro Mags with sandpaper, silicone grease and a file. I have no problem spending a few minutes doing that. I'll also likely pick up the 12 round ETS magazines in the future. If they work flawlessly in extensive range time, I'd consider having them as backup magazines.
 
#8 ·
G42 (and other Glocks) mags are cheap on fleabay. I have 10 stock practice mags that work perfectly, load them up at home and can do a 50 rd qual or practice course without refilling anything. And of course, they feel and function just like the carefully treated carry mags I have for the gun.
 
#9 · (Edited)
I just checked eBay and nothing cheaper than Midway USA.

Midway has factory Glock 6-round for $20 and the ProMag 10 round for $20.

If the factory Glock magazines were guaranteed all "03" version magazines, I would have probably gone with those over the ProMags. Reviews have said some are and some aren't.

But in my factory magazines I do Magguts and Magguts + Ghost MED, so none of them are 6-shot anymore. To get >6 round count, I'd wind up spending more to modify the factory ones.

It's an experiment. I'm fully okay with the possibility that the ProMags could be junk. But if they're not and work great with just a few minutes with a razor and sandpaper? That'll be a nice surprise.

EDIT: This is probably the best online picture I have seen:

Image

Looks like steel insert and feed lip. When I get them delivered, I'll take them apart and take some pictures. I expect to do some polishing, sanding and greasing. I have my factory Glock followers (that were replaced by Magguts), so can compare or possibly hybridize the two together.

But having a steel insert in the ProMag is promising. I know it's sacrilege, but Glock isn't perfect. It took them three iterations of the factory G42 magazine to get it right. I think I'd rather have an aftermarket 03 Mag copy than a factory 01 one.
 
#14 · (Edited)
Okay received mine and did some testing.

Compared to my "03" version Glock mag with Magguts +1.

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Front view
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Back view
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Top view
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The factory "03" follower to compare. Note the "notch" in the side of the follower on the 03 that isn't there on the ProMag.
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Better look at the notch with both followers removed.
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The PolyCase Inceptor is the most finicky 380 round that I own. In the beginning when the pistol was new, it FTF and FTE very frequently with this bullet due to the "lip" between the copper polymer bullet and the brass casing that would catch on the lip of the magazine if there was any contact at all with the slide stop lever.

With the ProMag, the lip is beveled and there was no hang up.
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Magazine inserted. Feels comfortable and doesn't alter grip angle for me.
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I checked to see how much movement of the follower when depressing the slide stop lever. It actually had less play than with the factory magazine (with Magguts).
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Opened up the magazine and there were little bits of plastic inside from the round count indicator holes. I removed them with light abrasion from a dowel.
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Underside of the Glock follower on the left and ProMag on the right.
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So I of course smoothed, sanded and deburred the magazine inside and out. With some 1000 grit sandpaper and a razor blade it took about 5 minutes to spiffy up the ProMag.

I had ordered a few ProMags, so I did the following hypothesis testing:
I put the Glock follower on one of the ProMags and left the other one stock. Both magazines were deburred and cleaned up. I loaded PolyCase Inceptor in my factory magazine (+Magguts) and the Glock/ProMag hybrid and the ProMag magazines.

Then tested with finger off the slide stop and finger pushing down on the slide stop while firing (the most vulnerable condition for FTF / FTE with that ammunition). Then the follow up control test with Winchester Winclean (that always works 100% no matter the slide stop contact).

Results are as follows: For my broken in G42.
  • Factory magazine with Inceptor and with Winclean, no failures even with slide stop contact.
  • Glock/ProMag hybrid and ProMag magazines: no failures with Winclean, even with slide stop contact.
  • No failures with Inceptor when no slide stop contact. ~5% failures for both the Glock/ProMag and ProMag magazines shooting Inceptor with heavy slide stop contact.
  • No difference between the two magazines configurations.
My conclusions:
The ProMag 10 round G42 are reliable. They tolerated slide stop contact on good ammunition without a single failure in 50 rounds. It didn't matter if a Glock or ProMag follower was used.

I could induce rare failure with known touchy ammunition if I mashed the slide stop down while firing (light contact didn't cause any failures). The Glock follower on a ProMag didn't change this frequency.

I would anticipate the magazines would also improve when broken in. I did spend 5 min cleaning them up inside and out and making sure no binding points remained, but that's not a big deal.

I have no problem carrying one as a backup magazine. Will do some durability range testing first, but I'm pretty pleased with the magazine performance.
 
#16 ·
I bought one 10 round pro mag in March. I had a 300 round range session and made it a point to cycle through 200 of those through the pro mag. Not one single failure. The base plate does have some play in it that isn't exactly confidence inspiring. I believe I'll order a couple Taran Tacitcal +2 extensions (had good luck with them in the 43) and get a couple of the glock brand 42 mag carriers for when i carry it appendix (crossbreed AIWB with Ulticlip-very nice). I carry it at work in a Smart Carry (love it!). When I pocket carry its in a recluse two sided pocket holster. Today I'm going to order a crossbreed Gideon for the pocket carry days. The 42 is my CONSTANT companion with the carry method appropriate for the dress and location. Happy Glocking to ya'l!!
 
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