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MBX mags better than older Gen1 STI?


Tattoo

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Hey all,

 

Title pretty much sums up my question.  I stopped buying any mags back with the old i guess “gen1” STI mags.  Seems the newer STI mags were not all that awesome.  But i see a lot of the MBX mags now.  Are they better or just better than the new STI gen mags??

 

thanks

 

T

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MBX is the way to go.  The STI Gen2 mags are worth a look.  I have two Gen 2 140s that I use for classifiers with a mandatory mag change, or when I have to drop in mud or dust.  Otherwise, it's MBX.

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1 hour ago, zzt said:

MBX is the way to go.  The STI Gen2 mags are worth a look.  I have two Gen 2 140s that I use for classifiers with a mandatory mag change, or when I have to drop in mud or dust.  Otherwise, it's MBX.

Ive never used a Gen2 STI.  I have never had an issue with the Gen1 STI.  I guess i would ask are the MBX somehow better than old STI?

 

T

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6 hours ago, gator11 said:

I'm not sure it's a matter of better or not. I think most that buy MBX mags want mags that are ready to run with a higher capacity and dont require tuning. 

Ok i get the no tuning.  And i guess the old STI mags are no longer available 

 

T

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Used to be able to get just tubes from Brownells, to "Repair" an existing mag.. Back during 10 round days. Wasnt using STI guts anyways.  Id test the tubes, I think I had two that wouldnt drop free I sold to a tuner. Probably a bit out of square. My go to set up was Dawson SNL pads,  Modded per Dawson instructions springs or Dawson springs, and Dawson followers,, Never needed any tuning to run,, Some times had to take a hair off the lips to get them to gauge... These would give a good reliable 20 rounds.  so 21 to start, Then I reloaded with 19,,, I mean jeeze,, its a 32 round max game,, If you cant get it done with 21 and 19 ur stage is probably fubar anyways. Think I still have a few NIB Tubes laying around, If I stumble across them I will list them or trade em for some 45 caspian mags.

I also had 2 mags that were 22 + 1 to start,,, and yep I would use them on a 20- 23 round stage and not plan a reload, nor would I slow down. These mags never hit dirt though.
My philosophy,  Shoot to win, you might. Shoot to loose you will. 

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I never used any of the old sti mags, but I would venture to guess the mbx and new sti are better seeing as how multiple people build businesses strictly tuning those old mags, not so much anymore with these new options. The mbx don’t need any tuning in my experience, I have 2 170s in 9 and 2 140s in 40. Both have been great. I really like the mbx for 9mm. They just work. The new sti work great in 40, and about 99.9% in 9. Little tuning needed at the area where it goes double to single stack. 1 inch down from the top of the mag they come from the factory around .620, and they need to be brought down to .560-.570, and then they stack neatly in that transition and work great. 

 

Honestly though working on mags and tuning them to spec is pretty easy. I’m sure If I bought some old sti first gen mags I could get them working 100%. But if you have old ones and need some new ones I’d get either new sti or mbx. And id say mbx for 9, and sti for 40. No problems with mbx in 40, but they just aren’t necessary and the new sti will work perfectly for quite a bit cheaper. 50 for the tube, 30 for the basepad and 18 for guts gets you the complete mag for 100 bucks. 

Edited by Jfitz427
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My experience with STI Gen 1 tubes has been in 40sw.  They all held 19 reloadable, but that was with Bolen or Grams guts and pads.  I stopped using them because the feed lips were weak and bent often when dropped.  Yes, you can retune them, but it gets to be a pain.  I tuned them , then sold most of them.  I use the remaining for dry fire practice.  

 

My MBX 40sw mags have been dropped on every stage, three matches a month for two years.  They still feed beautifully and I have not tuned them.  They didn't need it.  I also have three Infinity Gen 1 mags with wither Grams or TTI guts.  They get dropped a lot and I haven't had to tune them.

 

I don't have j's problem with the STI Gen 2 mags (yet).  They feed just fine in 9mm.  I may squeeze the tops a little because they stick in the Uplula loading tool.

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Some of the comments here are a bit misleading.  The reason you may not need to tune MBX mags is because they are semi-tuned when made. Whereas the original STI and even SV mags were just formed with generic specs and thus required tuning.

 

Since most on here probably haven’t been playing the game too long......it used to be big business to tune mags.  Today’s mags, well, you don’t hear about that service or need like you used to.

 

And with the introduction of Bolen (now Taran) and Grams, that helped eliminate the need for perfectly tuned mags as well.   

 

Today, as long as your lips on the tube are close to proper spec (and that is so easy to achieve today) and you are using good springs......mags problems are almost a thing of the past.

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25 minutes ago, moverfive said:

Some of the comments here are a bit misleading.  The reason you may not need to tune MBX mags is because they are semi-tuned when made. Whereas the original STI and even SV mags were just formed with generic specs and thus required tuning.

 

Since most on here probably haven’t been playing the game too long......it used to be big business to tune mags.  Today’s mags, well, you don’t hear about that service or need like you used to.

 

And with the introduction of Bolen (now Taran) and Grams, that helped eliminate the need for perfectly tuned mags as well.   

 

Today, as long as your lips on the tube are close to proper spec (and that is so easy to achieve today) and you are using good springs......mags problems are almost a thing of the past.

  There is also a difference between true tuning and, oh let’s call it basic tuning. Most of the big money true tuning was to squeeze a few extra rounds in there. Ribs were ground down etc. Basic tuning is bringing mags into specs and adding aftermarket parts to up the capacity by a round or so.

  If STI mags are left bone stock they have pretty low capacity but as long as the feed lips are in spec they run fine.

 

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Up here in 10 round land the Cali 10 round MBX were the greatest thing until the gen2 mags came out 2 months later.  Problem is going to be parts for the MBX mags as only a few batches were imported and everyone went to the gen2 mags as they are cheaper.

 

without removing the pop riveted plate the spring and follower are next to impossible to get out and clean on gen1.  The plate keeps the mag to 10 rounds by law and removing it is a serious offence.  

 

I like my MBX mags just need to figure out how to get replacement springs/followers at some point. It’s a narrower spring supposedly.

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I run gen 1 mags for limited in 40 and they ran great right out of the bag. Have since changed out springs bases and followers with TTI parts. My gen 1 9 mags run well but had some issues with my 170 and some of my 10rd mags need some tuning. Just ordered an mbx to see how it goes 

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On 3/9/2019 at 1:11 PM, zzt said:

Mike, you probably will never wear the followers out.  Springs- yes.  Several have posted on using Grams and TTI springs and followers in MBX tubes.

From what I’ve read on the MBX site the springs are narrower on the Cali mags.  They are indented to limit to 10 rounds.

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22 hours ago, MikeyScuba said:

From what I’ve read on the MBX site the springs are narrower on the Cali mags.  They are indented to limit to 10 rounds.

Mike

Take a look at them

I don't know this, I've not looked at the 10 rnd mags

BUT

It might be a 1911 spring if it's a single column mag.

That's what STI used in their 10 rnd mags

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I had issues of the sti gen 1 mags randomly falling out of my gun (dvc 3gun) while shooting. So I bought 5 mbx mags, I’ve had no issues at all with mbx. I will pass along not use the sti mag tuning kit on mbx mags. Adrian told me his mags are mbx mags not sti mags and the tuning kit doesn’t work for mbx mags. 

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B, exactly what springs, followers and basepad are you using, and what is the reloadable capacity?  I called TTI two days ago and asked which of their stuff worked with Gen 2 mags.  I was told they hadn't played with them yet, so they didn't know what would work.  I definitely want to change basepads, because I don't think the plastic would survive many drops.

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46 minutes ago, zzt said:

B, exactly what springs, followers and basepad are you using, and what is the reloadable capacity?  I called TTI two days ago and asked which of their stuff worked with Gen 2 mags.  I was told they hadn't played with them yet, so they didn't know what would work.  I definitely want to change basepads, because I don't think the plastic would survive many drops.

140mm STI Gen2 tube

11 coil Grams spring and Grams follower

TTI 7mm basepad 

I think I can stuff in 24 of 38SC but easily 23 reloadable

 

With a 170mm tube, 13coil and a 3mm basepad.  29 reloadable

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