Brazos mags

[Storm52]

This was in the Classified and has sold For Sale: New in box Brazos 4 mag set . Tuned tubes , Grams guts and Dawson SNL pads. $450 Shipped

Why are magazines for the custom (limited?) pistols so expensive? I do understand that they aren't mass produced somewhere but they those are very high priced for something that will be dropped repeatedly in mud/dirt/sand/rock.

Edited May 15, 2009 by Storm52

[chrisa006]

If you take the component costs. Mag tube, Grams spring and follower, and Dawson basepad, what the guys get to polish, etch, and tune for 100% reliability, is very little. Do you need them??? Maybe not but for what I put into this sport it isn't worth the chance!!

[UW Mitch]

It boils down to how many matches do you want to risk experimenting learning to tune your own mags versus paying for something that works. Just like we buy built guns, not just parts kits because we want the guns to run, we buy built/tuned mags because we want to go to a match with the confidence that they'll work. For my Open Gun, JPL built it, and for a relatively small fee he built me tuned mags to go with the gun.

That being said, as an engineer, I'm trying to build some mags and learn to tune them myself. I'm positive my mags will cause me time and competitive edge WHEN they fail during a match, but for me, it's about the learning process. And I've got a full set of mags I know work, so if I screw up one stage with my home-tuned mag, I'll just not use it until I can diagnose my failure.

Good luck!

~Mitch

[al503]

Bob's mags are on the cheap side compared other vendors I've purchased from. I have 9 of them and they work flawlessly.

Edited May 15, 2009 by al503

[nhglyn]

I got a set of 4 140mm mags ands 2 170mm mags from Bob with my latest pistol and they all work flawlessly. Fair price and unquestioned reliability= you can't go wrong. Buy 'um!

[Storm52]

Thanks for the replies. I didn't word my question very well. I wasn't questioning the value of Brazos' or any hand tuned magazine. The cost, considering the item received and its intended use, is neglible when you factor the cost of the accessories and custom gun. I certainly didn't mean to imply that Brazos mags are more expensive than any other custom shops. The title could have read CSMartin (?) or anyone. Reading that the mags are tuned to a particular gun or caliber of say the Brazos' guns, I better understand the labor and tooling involved.

My question should have been: "What labor and materials are involved in making XYZ magazine?"

I don't shoot open but I know what prices these guns bring. I was just curious as to why a magazine was as expensive, relatively speaking. When you order a new gun built, do you not receive new magazines that are included in the gun price. Or are the magazines a separate beast.

S

[jimd]

Thanks for the replies. I didn't word my question very well. I wasn't questioning the value of Brazos' or any hand tuned magazine. The cost, considering the item received and its intended use, is neglible when you factor the cost of the accessories and custom gun. I certainly didn't mean to imply that Brazos mags are more expensive than any other custom shops. The title could have read CSMartin (?) or anyone. Reading that the mags are tuned to a particular gun or caliber of say the Brazos' guns, I better understand the labor and tooling involved.

My question should have been: "What labor and materials are involved in making XYZ magazine?"

I don't shoot open but I know what prices these guns bring. I was just curious as to why a magazine was as expensive, relatively speaking. When you order a new gun built, do you not receive new magazines that are included in the gun price. Or are the magazines a separate beast.

S

No matter how many mags come with the gun, you'll need more... so figure on mags as being additional to the cost of the gun.

[Chris Keen]

I've purchased 2 custom guns, and none of them came with mags. If you're lucky you'll get one factory mag that is junk, and holds 15 rounds. But normally the mags are a separate beast.

For Limited mags the parts alone come to $110 (tubes $55, basepad $35, internals $20) and that's for the cheaper STI tubes. SV or Rescomp tubes will run you another $30~$40. And they still arent tuned for 100% reliability. At this point you are still hoping and praying that you got tubes that are well within specs.

Many of us have bought tubes and internals, and mixed & matched them until we got a combination that worked good, but we were still left with only 19 rounds. Or we got a combination that would run 21, but once in a while the follower would roll over on us, and all we had was a shaker-tube full of useless bullets.

Tuning mags is as much an art, as building/tuning guns and needs to be done by someone who is experienced & reliable. I have had my mags tuned by a number of different mag gurus, and have finally settled on 1 guy for all my mag needs. If anyone wants more info, PM me for details.

[G-ManBart]

I was just curious as to why a magazine was as expensive, relatively speaking. When you order a new gun built, do you not receive new magazines that are included in the gun price. Or are the magazines a separate beast.

S

If you buy a factory STI you get one mag with it. If you have a custom S_I built no mags come with it (normally).