LC9 ProMag Garbage

[ZigZagZeke]

So I bought a pair of ProMag magazines for my Ruger LC9 on eBay. Bad mistake. I immediately noticed that my slide was locking open with one round left in the magazine. Not just inconvenient, but extremely dangerous. What if someone just closed the slide without looking, then pulled the magazine from the now "empty" pistol?

At first I didn't know whether it was the new magazines or the new Blazer ammo that was doing it. Last week I spent some time at the range testing. I put two Blazer cartridges in each of my three magazines. The Ruger magazine worked flawlessly. Both ProMag magazines exhibited the problem. I then tried all three magazines again with Winchester white box ammo. Same result.

Close inspection reveals that when the problem occurs the last round is left in the magazine, slid forward about 1/4" (by recoil?), enough to cause the slide to lock open, as with an empty magazine.

I'm going to see if I can make the ProMags work by strengthening the spring or some other tuning, but I really don't trust them, and I certainly wouldn't resell them to anyone. If I can't get them to work they will just be garbage.

Anybody else got any suggestions? I bought these from a private seller on eBay last December and really didn't get a chance to try them out until this summer, so getting a refund is probably not an option.

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[Kruel J]

Yikes, I would toss them right away. Just on the fact that as you stated they could possibly create a dangerous situation. And frankly, in my experience ProMag is not the best quality.

 

[2A2Dend]

Just a thought.
When the mag is empty, push the follower/spring all the way down with something. Does it hang up in either direction? Are the feed lips rubbing on bottom of the slide? You might try stretching the spring. A little lubricant?

All else fails, chuck'em

 

[Stomper]

I had a ProMag do the same thing in a Taurus PT145 MilPro.... won't buy that brand again, ever.

 

[cigars]

I got two Pro Mag ten rounders for my 1911. They work flawlessly. Maybe I got lucky? Reviews I read on them were generally good.

 

[Camelfilter]

Similar experience with 1 pro mag for my LC9S, 1 round hangs up >50% of the time, the other one works fine. Reminds me to label the bad one & look into it a bit more. Might need a touch of dremel to it, or as suggested a bit of lube.

Either way, I want to label it range only.

Yeah you have to keep an eye on stuff from them though. I have 2 32 rounders for my SR9C from them. One of which had a perfectly formed sharp dimple at the top where it could potentially primer strike. Took the dremel to that before even using it. Functions fine now.

 

[ZigZagZeke]

Aha! Even though Ruger says *ALL* LC9 accessories, including magazines will fit an LC9s (which is what I have), the ProMag ad says different:

RUG 16 - Ruger® LC9 9mm (7)Rd Blue Steel Magazine - ProMag Industries

RUG 16 - Ruger® LC9 9mm (7)Rd Blue Steel Magazine
RUG 16 A 6-rd magazine for the Ruger LC9 pistol in 9x19mm. Constructed from heat-treated blued- steel, with a follower, lock-plate, and base-plate molded from a proprietary DuPont® Zytel™ based black polymer.

*Does not fit the LC9S*

 

[etrain16]

My limited experience with ProMag is that they're not worth the $$. Only one I will give them a thumbs up for and that's the extended mags they make for the Marlin 795/7000 - they work really well.

 

[AMProducts]

ProMag has a long history of being absolute garbage and have burned a lot of people. Personally, even if given them i won't take them. It's interesting to hear a few people have had good luck with any of their magazines, but this is absolutely the exception not the rule.

If SHTF, and I found some promags, I would leave them for potential adversaries to find. If things came to blows and I was being shot at, I would much rather my adversaries use this kind of junk rather than a reliable magazine.

 

[UserNameInUse]

People
Realise
Our
Magazines
Are
Garbage

 

[ZigZagZeke]

Here's the dialog I just had with the seller. Of course he's not offering a refund or anything:

ME: "I finally got a chance to try out the two Ruger LC9 ProMag 9mm magazines I got from you last December. Both malfunction in the same way every time. They allow the last round in the magazine to move forward about 1/4", probably due to recoil, and that means the slide locks open with one round left. I've tried it with different ammo and they both seem to do it with all brands every time. The pistol functions perfectly with a factory Ruger mag regardless of ammo type. What kind of help are you willing to give me in resolving this issue?"

SELLER: "Those mags are for the LC9. you must have the LC9S. Even the manufacturer [ProMag] says they do not work in the LC9s. At this point just resell them that's what I did. If I remember right the listing did not include LC9s. Just resell them, they will sell fast."

ME: "I think I will just take a hammer to them. The Ruger website says that all LC9 accessories will fit an LC9s. Apparently it is ONLY the ProMag magazines that make any distinction. That said, ProMag is knowingly creating a dangerous situation and I'd be surprised if they don't get sued sooner or later. When the slide locks open with a round left in the magazine someone somewhere someday will close the slide and remove the magazine, and think they have an unloaded firearm. For that reason I'm not going to pass the problem on to someone else, even if they own an LC9, because someday those magazines might end up in an LC9s with the potential for disaster. I've bought my last ProMag product of any kind."

 

[AMProducts]

People
Realise
Our
Magazines
Are
Garbage

That needs to be a bumper sticker.

 

[Sgt Nambu]

I only have two promags in .223. I'm going to have to test them more thoroughly now!
They each emptied a mag full with no problems in the first test.

 

[jim97701]

Why does their website list them as (7) rd. mags and in the description as 6rd.?.

 

[AMProducts]

I only have two promags in .223. I'm going to have to test them more thoroughly now!
They each emptied a mag full with no problems in the first test.

Back when the OLL thing first kicked off back in 2005-06 in CA, it was hard to find 10rd mags that were of any decent quality, ProMag was kinda the one usually encountered at the gun store for the $20-25 range, the bushmaster 10rd mags, if you could find them were 30-35.

Pro-mag studiously put a "green follower" into their 10rd mags, however the first time you took it out to the range, you would get a nose-diving round on an as-yet-broken-in franken AR. Note, this "green follower" was nothing like the anti-tilt green follower common in GI mags at the time, they just colored their crap always-tilt follower green so you would think they used half-way decent materials.

Usually the gun would get through a mag or two, and then would jam constantly, it would be cleaned, lubed and the cycle repeated. Usually after a few dozen times of this the feed lips would get bent out of spec, and you would have to bend them back with a rock and a multi-tool, maybe it would work again, usually it wouldn't.

There's a lot of really high-quality mags out there that are available at rock-bottom prices, unless they're free I can find absolutely no reason to buy pro-mag when there are much better options.

 

[biggie24420]

I've had bad experience with their mags as well. Bought some for a sig p225/p6 and it sucked pretty bad. If some do work, I'd use it for range shooting, never for self defense. Q

 

[Raidingtime]

So I bought a pair of ProMag magazines for my Ruger LC9 on eBay. Bad mistake. I immediately noticed that my slide was locking open with one round left in the magazine. Not just inconvenient, but extremely dangerous. What if someone just closed the slide without looking, then pulled the magazine from the now "empty" pistol?

At first I didn't know whether it was the new magazines or the new Blazer ammo that was doing it. Last week I spent some time at the range testing. I put two Blazer cartridges in each of my three magazines. The Ruger magazine worked flawlessly. Both ProMag magazines exhibited the problem. I then tried all three magazines again with Winchester white box ammo. Same result.

Close inspection reveals that when the problem occurs the last round is left in the magazine, slid forward about 1/4" (by recoil?), enough to cause the slide to lock open, as with an empty magazine.

I'm going to see if I can make the ProMags work by strengthening the spring or some other tuning, but I really don't trust them, and I certainly wouldn't resell them to anyone. If I can't get them to work they will just be garbage.

Anybody else got any suggestions? I bought these from a private seller on eBay last December and really didn't get a chance to try them out until this summer, so getting a refund is probably not an option.

Yeah not a surprise. Every Promag that I've seen in use has been garbage. Lesson learned.

 

[Patrickffbritt]

So I bought a pair of ProMag magazines for my Ruger LC9 on eBay. Bad mistake. I immediately noticed that my slide was locking open with one round left in the magazine. Not just inconvenient, but extremely dangerous. What if someone just closed the slide without looking, then pulled the magazine from the now "empty" pistol?

At first I didn't know whether it was the new magazines or the new Blazer ammo that was doing it. Last week I spent some time at the range testing. I put two Blazer cartridges in each of my three magazines. The Ruger magazine worked flawlessly. Both ProMag magazines exhibited the problem. I then tried all three magazines again with Winchester white box ammo. Same result.

Close inspection reveals that when the problem occurs the last round is left in the magazine, slid forward about 1/4" (by recoil?), enough to cause the slide to lock open, as with an empty magazine.

I'm going to see if I can make the ProMags work by strengthening the spring or some other tuning, but I really don't trust them, and I certainly wouldn't resell them to anyone. If I can't get them to work they will just be garbage.

Anybody else got any suggestions? I bought these from a private seller on eBay last December and really didn't get a chance to try them out until this summer, so getting a refund is probably not an option.

Haven't read every reply, but the only aftermarket mags I trust is mec-gar
Have used em in several pistols, especially my two cz75s. 2000 rounds + no hang ups

 

[ZigZagZeke]

I bought two spare genuine Ruger mags. The ProMags are in the garbage. Problem solved.

 

[etrain16]

I bought two spare genuine Ruger mags. The ProMags are in the garbage. Problem solved.

Except your garbage is ruined now...