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Posted: 8/10/2022 10:58:25 AM EDT
Recently bought a P320 M17. A big selling point was that it's made in the USA. But all three mags I got are made in Italy. Was pretty disappointed.
I know there are USA made mags.
Is there a way to buy them somewhere? Everywhere I look does not list country of manufacturer.

Thanks!
Link Posted: 8/10/2022 11:05:00 AM EDT
[#1]
You're joking...right?
Link Posted: 8/10/2022 11:11:10 AM EDT
[#2]
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Quoted:
You're joking...right?
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No, I'm not. I want made in the USA mags...
Link Posted: 8/10/2022 11:20:23 AM EDT
[#3]
If you order from the Sig store, you'll get made in the USA Checkmate mags. Although I am suspicious of checkmate after the crappy mags we had in the army. The M17 mags I ordered have held up quite well.  

The Italian mags are made by Mec Gar....the world leader in Magazines and the best quality.
Link Posted: 8/10/2022 11:28:26 AM EDT
[#4]
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Quoted:
No, I'm not. I want made in the USA mags...
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Most people consider the Italian made (Mecgar) mags superior to the US made versions and would be happy to trade you their US mags for your Italians. Which ones are you looking for the 17rd or 21rd? Black or Tan?
Link Posted: 8/10/2022 11:56:44 AM EDT
[#5]
Mec Gar(italy) makes far superior magazines to Checkmate(US). so much so that every military issued m17 I've ever seen has the made in Italy Mec Gar Mags
Link Posted: 8/10/2022 12:15:43 PM EDT
[#6]
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Quoted:

Most people consider the Italian made (Mecgar) mags superior to the US made versions and would be happy to trade you their US mags for your Italians. Which ones are you looking for the 17rd or 21rd? Black or Tan?
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Looking for tan. Probably just a couple of the 17rd right now
Link Posted: 8/10/2022 12:16:14 PM EDT
[#7]
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Quoted:
Mec Gar(italy) makes far superior magazines to Checkmate(US). so much so that every military issued m17 I've ever seen has the made in Italy Mec Gar Mags
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I did not know that!
Link Posted: 8/10/2022 12:18:42 PM EDT
[#8]
The only way to be sure is to contact a vendor or Sig directly and have them check. Good luck.
Link Posted: 8/10/2022 2:01:34 PM EDT
[#9]
Go Italian.  Seriously.  Mec Gar is THE magazine manufacturer of the world.
Link Posted: 8/10/2022 2:32:21 PM EDT
[#10]
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Looking for tan. Probably just a couple of the 17rd right now
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IM sent
Link Posted: 8/10/2022 2:52:25 PM EDT
[#11]
I have a couple USA ones and would rather have the Mec-Gar. Wanna trade?

I will say that despite my apprehensions, the US ones have worked just fine. Still, I keep them as spare spare mags, the primary and first spare are Mec-Gar.
Link Posted: 8/11/2022 12:31:08 AM EDT
[#12]
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Quoted:
If you order from the Sig store, you'll get made in the USA Checkmate mags.
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For whatever it’s worth, every 15- and 17-round magazine I’ve seen for sale separately in local stores in the past year has been a USA made Checkmate. Nearly all of those were black mags, but I did get one 17-round Coyote baseplate (M17) magazine from an online retailer that’s a Checkmate. All the 21-round Coyote mags I’ve seen have been Italian Mec-Gars. I haven’t seen a U.S.-made 21-round magazine yet (but I haven’t seen any black ones in person).
Link Posted: 8/11/2022 10:12:43 AM EDT
[#13]
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Quoted:



No, I'm not. I want made in the USA mags...
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OP, the Italy mags are leagues ahead of the US made mags
Link Posted: 8/11/2022 10:43:31 AM EDT
[#14]
Link Posted: 8/11/2022 11:04:15 AM EDT
[#15]
Thanks for the input everybody.

What makes the Italian ones "leagues" better than the checkmate? I've read a few things saying the springs might be slightly better but I can't find any other breakdowns or info as to why they would be significantly better.

Not looking to trade. Want to keep these with the gun, just looking to add a couple of US ones. Will try to hunt some new tan ones down
Link Posted: 8/11/2022 11:19:25 AM EDT
[#16]
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Quoted:
Thanks for the input everybody.

What makes the Italian ones "leagues" better than the checkmate? I've read a few things saying the springs might be slightly better but I can't find any other breakdowns or info as to why they would be significantly better.

Not looking to trade. Want to keep these with the gun, just looking to add a couple of US ones. Will try to hunt some new tan ones down
View Quote

For starters look at the finish quality. Sleek and smooth and straight line cuts on the floor plate slot. My US sig mags are rougher and the cut on the bottom looks like they have a chimp a dremel and let him cut it. Absolutely terrible compared to my Italian mags.
Link Posted: 8/11/2022 11:55:00 AM EDT
[#17]
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Quoted:

For starters look at the finish quality. Sleek and smooth and straight line cuts on the floor plate slot. My US sig mags are rougher and the cut on the bottom looks like they have a chimp a dremel and let him cut it. Absolutely terrible compared to my Italian mags.
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Are there function issues or just mostly cosmetic stuff like that?
Link Posted: 8/11/2022 2:54:38 PM EDT
[#18]
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Quoted:


Are there function issues or just mostly cosmetic stuff like that?
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Cosmetically the difference are really minor. I once took some pics showing the US vs Italian mags side by side and you could barely tell a difference. One wasn't nessasarly better looking then the other, just slightly different appearance wise. I'd post them here but apparently I deleted them.

Functionally, I've seen some people claim they've had functional issues with the US made ones that was supposedly "fixed" but swapping to the Italian made mags? Maybe true, maybe not, I don't know?

What I do know is I haven't had any issues with the US made mags I have but like most people here, I am a big fan of Mecgar mags and have them for a number of different pistols and they have all served me well so given the choice, I would get the Mecgar made mags.
Link Posted: 8/11/2022 4:19:34 PM EDT
[#19]
I must have over 70 sig MecGar mags and just a handful of the Checkmate mags. all the Mec Car mags are loaded and all the Checkmates are used a range mags only
Link Posted: 8/11/2022 4:48:19 PM EDT
[#20]
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Quoted:


Are there function issues or just mostly cosmetic stuff like that?
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If you go off the company history yes.
Link Posted: 8/11/2022 6:45:23 PM EDT
[#21]
Attachment Attached File


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From the stampings, to the finish application, to the metallurgy, the MecGar wins every time.
Link Posted: 8/11/2022 6:48:13 PM EDT
[#22]
I think ETS mags are made in USA

Seriously though, the Italian and the USA ones have all worked the same for me over the last 6-7k rounds.
Link Posted: 8/11/2022 9:59:22 PM EDT
[#23]
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Quoted:
From the stampings, to the finish application, to the metallurgy, the MecGar wins every time.
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So you compare an obvious used mag to a new one to compare finishes and you can somehow see the metallurgy and know for a fact they are different? You must have those magic eyes
Link Posted: 8/12/2022 12:36:59 AM EDT
[#24]
I’m not going to guess at metallurgy, but I just compared a brand new USA mag to an Italian one that has about 250 rounds through it, and the finishes look the same as the ones in the photos above. The USA-made Checkmate had more rough-looking holes punched in the metal, has sort of a burr at the base in the rear, and has the same kind of pebbly finish as the one in these photos. I’ll post my own comparison photos when I have a chance.

Having said that, I’ll reserve judgement on how the USA mags perform until I’ve put a couple hundred rounds through them. Up til now, I’ve been using Italian SIG factory mags and ACT mags, because that’s all I had. I really don’t expect the US-made mags to perform much differently. Like many products in this industry, a manufacturer may produce different levels of quality for different customers based on their specifications.
Link Posted: 8/12/2022 12:16:47 PM EDT
[#25]
Thanks for all the input. I definitely still want some US mags but will probably keep the Italian ones as well and see how each perform over time. Still can't find any hard evidence of malfunction or serious issues with the US mags but reliability is the most important thing to me, even though US made is up there.
Thanks agin
Link Posted: 8/14/2022 10:19:41 AM EDT
[#26]
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Quoted:
I’m not going to guess at metallurgy, but I just compared a brand new USA mag to an Italian one that has about 250 rounds through it, and the finishes look the same as the ones in the photos above. The USA-made Checkmate had more rough-looking holes punched in the metal, has sort of a burr at the base in the rear, and has the same kind of pebbly finish as the one in these photos. I’ll post my own comparison photos when I have a chance.
View Quote

Well I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder. No idea what you think you see in the photos so I'm going to stick with my own person experience as someone with multiples of both and say the difference are extremely minor and vary from one example to the other. I have at least 1 Mecgar with a finish that I think looks worse then the typical Checkmate.

Given the choice, would I pick Mecgar? Sure, "just because" but are they actually superior? Not really in my experience but YMMV?
Link Posted: 8/15/2022 6:13:57 AM EDT
[#27]
You would think by now the mag prices would have come down some. I am sure they have made a bunch of 9mm mags by this point.
Link Posted: 8/15/2022 11:23:34 PM EDT
[#28]
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Quoted:
No idea what you think you see in the photos…
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I was talking about what I see on my own magazines. The visual differences are plain as day, but reread the last part of my post.
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