Colt 9mm mags?

greentips said:
Colt 9mm is very difficult to work with, if it is anything like UZI magazines. Many years ago I tried to convert UZI mags to work with Colt by cutting a notch in it.

The gunsmith did the job but it kills his tool over a couple of magazines. That sheet steel is hard. He swore to god he would never ever do it again.

There is a reason why no one wants to deal with these 9mm magazines. It is not fun. Seriously, just hunt down those dedicated 10 rounders offered by the dealers and leave the troubles behind.
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All I did with my Colt 9mm mags is measure a wood dowel, insert in mag, and pop a rivet in the takedown hole on the bottom. Took all of 10 minutes. The dowel rattles around, but so what? Out of all the mags I've modified over the years, these were among the easiest, and no new holes in them.
 
BigBeaverBoomStix said:
Never going to happen...I remember when the guys at Wolverine said they wouldn't carry Pmags because they weren't pinned, of course logic prevailed and now they do.

But high capacity pinned 9mm AR mags, these are an extremely rare and elusive mag, far beyond the current reach of every dealer in Canada, impossible to acquire, just ask them....

It's easier to buy a .50 cal gun, does that make any sense?
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Remember the first Pmag's sold in the EE went for $65-$70. Most dealers are selling them for $19.99. I have see them as low as $14.99.
 
Exactly, I was being sarcastic.

There's no reason why a dealer can't bring in 9mm AR mags, they just don't want to bother because they feel it's too much hassle for too little profit/sales potential. The canadian market is now flooded with Pmags, and it's not as if other brands of AR15 mags were hard to come by before that.

IRUNGUNS is the most likely source for acquiring these mags for the "handful" of people running 9mm AR's - but they've said it's not going to happen until they have their US website calibrated to take canadian credit card payments next year.

Original Colt mags will always command a premium, even in the states, because they're rare and highly sought after - I've researched and the going rates are $80 to $125US each.
The new "original" Colt mags made by the new licence holder, sell for $50.

Also there's the plastic mags that are extremely cheap and reliable, selling for $15 in the US, but 3 to 5 times that amount on the EE.

Canada's High Calibre Services has also said they'd be importing ProMag product, that includes 9mm AR mags by request, but not until next year.

I think we're in a shut down mode when it comes to special requests because most companies/dealers are wrapping the year up for Christmas, so new opportunities won't begin until January.

Modifying Uzi mags, has been said to work, depending on the skill level of the person and tools available - yet reportedly yields mixed results. So you may wind up just butchering a mag, scrapping your bits, to get a substandard mag that offers so-so performance. Not really a tempting option.

Working together, I'm sure we can develop a supply of these mags through a reputable dealer (yes Questar has/will have again, the 10 round stubbies - but the company "that can get really neat stuff that others can't" - isn't interesed in importing hi-capacity 9mm AR mags - I asked)

So I can wait - it's just a range gun, but after a year I'm definitely going to resolve this "wanna' get" situation, all the best.
 
The mags that I was talking about for $50 are the new ones Colt is shipping. I looked at them and they don't have the Mil/LE only markings on them or Colt on the base plate. But I don't care either...
 
...and so it goes. I guess I'll just continue to use my Colt brand 9mm mags as they are pretty well indestructible anyway.
 
Deckard said:
I did the first one, it isn't. Simple Dremel work. The second one, probably. But a group of guys could organize making these possibly.
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If someone had a machine shop and a spot welder, yes. The dremel work seems pretty easy..

Plus, were would you get UZI mags? I can't recall seeing them for sale much..
 
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BigBeaverBoomStix said:
Original Colt mags will always command a premium, even in the states, because they're rare and highly sought after - I've researched and the going rates are $80 to $125US each.
The new "original" Colt mags made by the new licence holder, sell for $50.
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Metalform has always been the OEM supplier of Colt 9mm mags except for a brief period where CProducts got the contract. I'd never seen Metalform mags for sale until they got dropped so I assume they were unable to while under the initial contract. The CProducts mags had so many issues that they were dropped and Colt went back to Metalform.

Metalform still makes the 32 and 20rd mags, available with plastic or metal follower I believe. Used to be able to order direct from their website but it looks like you now have to buy from one of their dealers like Brownells, CDNN, etc.. Looks like they're now using a black oxide finish. My Colt mags are parkerized or blued.

Interesting to hear that genuine Colt mags no longer have a Colt rollmark on the baseplate, that's the only reason they were ever able to command a premium.
 
Only because they have no choice if they want a reliable mag with a bolt hold open feature.

I have 5 Questar 10 round stubbies and they work great, but they're rediculously short. So for the range they're fine, but to do outdoor CQB at a match, well it would just be hilarious trying to juggle them out of a pouch and into the gun.

I'm not a fan of the Uzi mag option. But will definitely try it once.

I'm completely baffled that no dealer has been able to import these on a regular basis, CTCS had some for a while, said the mags they brought in were a little finicky, they didn't bother trying again.

Questar refuses to get anything but the stubbies - great mags that they are for the range.

Wolverine has no idea, Mr. Hipwell sounded a little baffled at the question, offering Uzi mags. Might be easier finding an Uzi?!

So no one really wants to pay a lot for these mags, $50 to $75 is the most I think is fair, but................this gap in the canadian market has created a "craze" in the availability and prices for them.

Now normally a savy retailer would step in and say, "Oh, you all want some of these? I can get that for you, (those words even appear in Wolverines' banner adds on their site)"

But in general it's, "I'll sell you what I've got, cause that easiest for me, special orders are a hassle, so go away"

IRUNGUNS will gobble up a huge chunk of the canadian market if canadian dealers continue to act in a sluggish and apathetic manner.

I spent months trying to track down Ruger 22/45 mags in Canada, again a very rare and unusual gun - placed a request with "Reliable Gun" - never heard another word - so much for reliable.

Now if anyone can actually mention a dealer - in this whole country - that is importing these mags, that'd help, any ideas?
 
Wolverine has no idea, Mr. Hipwell sounded a little baffled at the question, offering Uzi mags.
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Okay, but he's the same guy who sold me 4 for $100 during his massive mag sale (thread). They're probably all gone.

I'd like to see a cross connector for 4 stubby mags.
 
Yea, he's a fantastic guy, but not too helpful with the incredibly rare and uncommon 9mm AR.

I mean seriously, what's the deal, this is such a common gun stateside, but in Canada it seems to cause a lot of head scratching.

9mm AR mags, gee, I've never heard of those?? How about some Uzi mags? It's kind of funny...just such a back water situation.

Look at Theuron Defence, ArmsEast, can't sell any additional mags to go with the guns they're bringing in, been sold out for ages.

I think if a new gun buyer asked me for advice on what guns to buy in relation to supply of mags, I'd tell them to choose anything that uses Glock 9mm mags, 1911, AR mags, and 10/22, in this country everything else is a real hassle to locate. These 9mm AR mags are among the hardest to source in this country and there's no reason for it, just depends on a motivated retailer.

I'll pay a $50 EMT finders fee to anyone who can tell me which canadian retailer has any 9mm AR mags to sell - in stock right now.

Joke is, no one's going to be collecting, but I'll maintain this offer for a month.

Edit: We have a winner!!! Me, ATRS sells hi-cap 5/20 ASA 9mm AR mags for $115 each, however these are ASA modified Uzi mags, no bolt hold open, retail for $40 in the US.
 
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Deckard said:
People buy 9mm ARs to save money (quite often) and then buy expensive mags. Odd.
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I never responded directly to this excellent point.

It costs $1.50 per round for frangible .223 ammo at my club/indoor range, and they sometimes run out of stock, and you're not allowed to take any unspent rounds home.

So to blast off even just 10 rounds in your .223/.556 AR is costing $15, 50 shots $75, you can do the maths.

9mm costs .25 cents a shot on average, so 50 shots for $12.50

You figure even shooting just 100 rounds a month will save you $120 - 9mm versus .223 frangible, so in a year you're talking $1440 in savings!!! I paid about half that for the gun!!!

The great thing about a 9mm AR is that it is almost exactly the same as a .223/556 model (blow-back, sans gas tube), so you're learning to use an AR system, as opposed to any other 9mm carbine - such as JR Carbines, which are great but very different in terms of handling.

So it doesn't surprise me that some people shell out $300 for a Colt mag.

If you belong to an indoor range (mine is 15 min. away, unlike a 1 hour drive to an outdoor range), limited to pistol ammo, and you really enjoy the real AR platform, the 9mm AR is king.

So this should be a very well catered to market.

Patrick Sweeney, the gun mag/book writer, pointed out that the 9mm AR is ideal for LEO that use it for qualification shoots, since it is ideal at indoor ranges, a real advantage in the winter, that provides a similar .223/556 "kick" that a dedicated .22lr upper can't.

That's what got me interested in the 9mm AR in the first place, it's a fantastic trainer. Even against regular .223/556 ammo, that has an average cost of .40 cents, still .15 cents more than, and you're not restricted by pistol range limitations - though they may still gripe about you pulling out an "evil assault rifle thingy" at some pistol clubs.

So I'm determined to resolve this mag issue, it'll get sorted out eventually, just got to keep at it, all the best.

I noticed that in the latest inventory offering of IRUNGUNS.US they are showing a Colt 9mm AR as coming soon.
 
I'm really bending IRUNGUNS's ear, they're probably getting a little fed up with me, lol, but they are talking to me in general terms - sounds like things will finally get going in January.

I'm floating the idea of a bulk order, for any and all that want these mags, which would benefit everyone price wise - if the response is favourable they may go for it.

Every US business is very keen to increase their sales these days, so if the dollars are there it'll happen, since they have the capability business wise.
 
All I can find on their site are the plastic ones for around $15 each, it's a real maze and the search feature is faulty/inaccurate. They had some steel ones for about $34, but just 3 in stock and I couldn't find them later on, and they were missing the UPC code.

In theory, since they deal with Colt, they wouldn't be hard to source, but none for now on the site.

I'm happy enough to use the plastic ProMag ones, they generally get good reviews and are very cheap. I'm fairly certain if they brought 100 of them in a bulk order, for a special sale as per the "Monday Specials", they'd all be sold in a day - I just need to convince them that it's worth doing.

Still working on them....
 
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