How Reliable Are Sti 126mm 9mm Mags?

[Cuz]

I'm trying to get a feeling as to the reliability of STI 9mm mags off the shelf. Do they work or do they need to be tuned?

I have some Bevin tuned and some Dawson tuned 40 cal mags that are flawless. The Dawson's came tuned and worked since day one. The ones Bevin tuned didn't work until he tuned them.

Do I have to go thru all this for the 9mm mags too? I plan to use the 126mm size so that's all I'm concerned about right now.

Thanks,

-Cuz

[redwoods]

I have three .40 cal 126mm mags that I use for a duty gun.

I use them in a .40 cal STI Tactical 5"

Here are the things that I have noticed with the 126mm mags.

-I can't seat the mag as well because it goes up into my standard factory STI magwell

-I can't use the grams or dawson base pads because of the mag well

-I can only use SVI international pads or Dawson pads of the same type

-The SVI I am told are the better ones. They use a hex head screw for disassembly

-The 140mm mags with a grams pad don't stick out much more and hold more rounds

I know you were talking about 9mm, but thought I would let you know about the seating issues that I had. I would just go with a 140mm pad next time in my situation.

Redwoods

One more thing, I don't have my mags tuned and have no problems with my long OAL reloaded rounds, but have had some issues in the past with factory rounds, but again, that is for .40cal.

Redwoods

[Scout454]

I have 3 STI 126MM 9mm mags. I put Int'l base pads on them, loaded them up and they ran. Same thing with 3 SVI's. The STI's need the spacer and the 9mm specific follower. The SVI's don't.

[Josh Biondi]

I have 8 STI .40 mags. They worked fine from the first day and the only work that I did on it was to fit the feed lip.

Josh

[Cuz]

Thanks for the info guys.

What do you mean by the "spacer"?

-Cuz.

[Scout454]

In order to run factory length 9mm in an STI 9/38Super magazine you need a caliber specific follower and a spacer that fits behind the follower against the back of the magazine.

[Cuz]

In order to run factory length 9mm in an STI 9/38Super magazine you need a caliber specific follower and a spacer that fits behind the follower against the back of the magazine.

Does this spacer come with the magazine?

If I order a 9mm mag from Dawson do I need to tell him I want to run factory ammo so I'll get a different follower and the spacer???

Thanks,

-Cuz.