Korean-made G19 mags? (Page 1 of 6)
Posted: 9/6/2008 5:56:15 PM EDT
[Last Edit: C-4][Edited]
Anyone know the story on this? They're on Widener's website: Link They're $14 each or $13 each for 5 or more. For a Glock collector, they would seem like a neat thing to have. |
"Only the dead have seen the end of war" --Plato
I noticed these as well. I have been looking for a report, but have not found anything at all on any boards yet. They look like well done copies of an original Glock mag... from the pictures they look decent... better than Scherer crap. FML at least. A few months ago, these wouldnt make any sense to buy, with factory mags being $16, but with the recent price hike on Glock parts and mags, they might be worth a shot. If anyone try's 'em, please post! I may give them a shot... |
"Which brings me to another point... make doubly sure the stalls are empty before shouting at your penis in the men's room."--Cypher214
Indeed. Having heard nothing about them, knowing they aren't Glock factory, and the factory ones aren't a whole lot more than that, I would stick with factory and not look back. But yes, I as well would like to hear a "test drive" report, if only for curiousity's sake..... |
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Dan's Ammo has 'em as well for 2 at 29.99 shipped. I ordered some, and will try to give a range report. www.dansammo.com/odds.asp |
hell I'm Korean and I agree  There's absolutely no way I'd risk my life by buying a knockoff, simply to save a few bucks. I buy factory, I inspect them, and I test them thoroughly. |
Hobbes : "Do you think there's a God?
Calvin : "Well somebody's out to get me!"
Calvin : "Well somebody's out to get me!"
HA! Right on! |
Absolutely. These should NOT be used for self defense purposes. It will be interesting to see if they will be any good for range/training, or just for malfunction drills. 
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Thanks! I look forward to your report. 
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"Only the dead have seen the end of war" --Plato
| I went ahead and ordered some. I figured I had spent that much on a bad meal with poor service so I would give them a try. Already had 7 Glock factory mags for the G19, and figured I would buy these and try them out. If they are junk I will put them in my wife's garage sale. |
Hell, I ordered 35 G18 mags from Botach about 8 months ago when they had it on sale for $23 each with free shipping. Now I'm waiting for a good sale on FML G17 mags. I'll be willing to buy another 50. Remember... Glock mags will only go up in price now. |
If Osama Bin Biden gets elected, we won't be able to buy them at any price! 
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So I tried the KCI mags, or Kmags, as I have nicknamed them. Here is my review, and I apologize in advance of the quality of photos, as I am no cameraman, and this camera is not top of the line. I received the mags in their paper pouch, not much to report there.  The Kmag, upon first touch, feels exactly like an OEM mag. In comparison to the outside of the mag body, they are dimensionally similar of course, with slight differences of the sides near the top(generation difference in the pics), and at the back where the metal lining sticks out. The G19 mag is an old LEO/govt. with the 9mm1 follower. In looking at my G18 mag, the bodies look near identical, and the followers are almost a dead ringer for the 9mm6 style. The mag release cutout noticeable machine marks in it, but did not affect it at all. Kmag is the left one in the first 2 pics, and right in the next 4.     OEM 9mm1 follower vs. KCI brand:  OEM 9mm6 follower vs. KCI brand:    This is the inside of the G19 mag:  And here is the Kmag  In disassembling the Kmag, the part were nearly identical, and look to be all interchangeable. OEM left, Kmag right:    With the 2 Kmags I but about 120 rounds through them, not a lot but all that I was able to afford at the moment. 100 rounds of Winchester White Box through through the gun with no problems feeding, firing, and locking back the slide. Fired sideways, upside down, limpwristed, and rapid fire, no problems whatsoever. A very small assortment of Winchester Ranger 147s and Gold Dot 124+Ps also feed fine. Now this was an extremely short test of just a small percentage of these magazines. I am in no way saying these are good enough to become EDC mags. For all I know these things may fall apart at the 150 rd count. However, in my short test, they seem perfectly adequate for the cold, hard reality of the gun range. I DO NOT recommend these for self defense. The Kmag seems to be a perfectly fine training and range mag, but time will only tell us if that is true, and if they can be trusted even more, if at all. Until then, for carry mags, go Glock. Then go to the range and shoot the shit out of these ones. |
Yes dude, thanks for doin' this test. I feel we can all benefit from the information. Very cool. And thanks for the detailed pics. Lookin' at the pics, you definitely see the differences, and I can see a spot here and there where the "lesser" quality does show, but honestly, they're not as bad as I thought they'd be, visually at least. Tell me this, when fully loaded to capacity, lookin' at the back of the mag, at the bottom, does the mag baseplate "bow out" at all, as in downward? This is somethin' I'd look at, as we've all heard of aftermarket mags doin' this, and fallin' apart with roulds and spring goin' all over the place. Just curious how this area looks, when they're fully loaded. Thanks for the write up. Hell, we should almost send ya some more ammo to continue the test! 
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Thank you. It is the least I can do, compared to the info I have gleaned from this site. And yes, there are parts that look less finished, but doesn't seem to detract from the performance, and some parts, like the mag insert, look better than OEM. I am just wondering about the quality of materials that went into this. Is it a similar polymer, metal, or spring? Only time will tell is they can stand up to the use and abuse. You can see the lack of finish on the front of the Kmag, G18 left, G19 center, Kmag right:  As far as the baseplate "bowing out", I have not seen this happen yet. I am leaving one loaded to see what happens. Here is a loaded one compared to an empty mag:  I hope this helps! |
| I bought 3 of them and tried them out right out of the wrapper. Seem to work just fine, no problems of any kind. Drop free fully loaded, load easy enough, fit gun ok, no malfunctions. Much like the above and better review. Just thought I would throw in my 2 cents worth too. My only question would be would they wear out faster? No more than I shoot anymore, they will probably last forever. |
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Since when did ROK Army issue the G19? Do you have any source for this? Last I checked it was the K5 a.k.a. DP-51 pistol. |
| With the increase in the price of Glock mags these don't look too bad. I ordered a few to try out. At $12 it is worth a try. |
"We train young men to drop fire on people, but their commanders won't allow them to write "f**k" on their airplanes because it's obscene." - Colonel Walter E. Kurtz, character played by Marlon Brando in Apocalypse Now
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Originally Posted By Agrippa:
Thank you. It is the least I can do, compared to the info I have gleaned from this site. And yes, there are parts that look less finished, but doesn't seem to detract from the performance, and some parts, like the mag insert, look better than OEM. I am just wondering about the quality of materials that went into this. Is it a similar polymer, metal, or spring? Only time will tell is they can stand up to the use and abuse. Nice pix! Kinda curious, Agrippa, do these Kmags have the ambidextrous magazine release cutout on the upper front portion of the magazine body? TK |
| Bump... now that everyone's panic shopping for mags, this is good to know. Widener's shows 1800 in stock as of right now, and they're still $14 with cheap shipping. I just ordered one, and I'll probably get 2 or 3 more if I'm satisfied with them. Thanks for the write-up! |
"Send lawyers, guns and money... the shit has hit the fan." -Warren Zevon
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I bought 5 of them and they look good. I know they aren't worth squat if they don't work, so I am going to try them out at my next match. If they work they will become my dedicated range mags.
Mags work fine. |
"We train young men to drop fire on people, but their commanders won't allow them to write "f**k" on their airplanes because it's obscene." - Colonel Walter E. Kurtz, character played by Marlon Brando in Apocalypse Now
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I ordered 5 of these from Wideners on monday, I'll report back once I've had a chance to try them out.
ETA: I got my mags today. When loading a bunch of Glock mags, I always use the speedloader made by Glock. You cannot use the Glock loader to load these mags, the follower tilts to the rear and makes a mess. Otherwise these seem great for range use. |
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According to the latest Janes defense publication dated 2008. the DP51 mk II is the ROKs military sidearm. When I was stationed in South Korea back in 1982 Daewoo made alot of parts for our M-16s. Many people did not know this little known fact.
I carried an M-16/GAU for better than 23 years in the US Air Force, taught it as an instructor. Nothing wrong with Korean mfg weapons. I've seen more problems with our M-9s than I ever saw with the Daewoo 9mm pistols. |
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Take another look at this shot from page one, showing thei inside of the Korean mag:
Notice how the steel lining is dove-tailed? - just like the extremely high quality Sig and factory Glock magazines. This is a very high quality feature that shows the precision of manufacture. Moreover, the follower used is identical to latest generation Glock follower. These appear to be quite the bargain! |
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I picked up five just for shits and giggles and so far I'm impressed with them. They appear to be identical to OEM magazines with a slight difference in the color and feel of a standard Glock magazine.
I haven't had a chance to shoot them yet (I shot my G26 this weekend instead of my G19) but I did load them up and dropped them on the garage floor several times and they held together which is more than I expected. I'll get them to the range this weekend and get some rounds through them but I think they'll be good range mags which is what I bought them for. |
| Ran 10 of these this past Sunday at the range.Ran each mag twice for a total of 300 rounds fired "Without Issue".Mags drop free fully loaded or not.There are a few extra plastic burrs to clean up and the factory Glock speedloader doesn't work with the KCI's.But all in all they worked very well and will be my range mags from now on. |
Make My Day “Punk”…Pull My Finger
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Handling impressions:
1) The built quality feels (slightly) cheaper than Glock mags. Mag even feels lighter (i.e. like there is less material). Imagine a cheaper, but quality-done Korean/Chinese knock-off and you'll get the idea. However, if the mag keeps running this is moot given price IMHO. Score: -1 2) Parts are interchangeable with #6 follower mags. IMAGE BELOW. The tubes, for all intents and purposes, dimentionally are the same. Literally. The Glock spring and #6 follower fit the KCI mag and visa versa. I put OEM orange Glock basepads on the mags to ID them. Score: +1 3) The KCI spring is thinner and weaker overall. IMAGE BELOW. It feels similar to a Glock spring that's seen maybe a few thousand rounds. The spring length is the same as the Glock. However, the new KCI spring does not apply as much pressure as the new Glock spring (obvious, since it's thinner/weaker). Much of the weight difference noted in #1 could be the thinner spring. Since the recoil spring is a key part of the mag this is a bummer, but, as the KCI spring can be swapped for a Glock spring, I'm not too worried as a range mag. Still, if it keeps running, it runs. Score: -1 4) Overall, mags are not finished as well as Glock (e.g. plastic bits/shards in spots), plastic feels thinner, and metal lining seems of lower quality. I removed a few plastic bits around the feed lips, nothing much though. Again, this is NOT a Glock mag at the new Glock price. Still, it's a great bargin (assuming it keeps running) for what I paid. Score: -1 5) Price: I paid ~1/2 the price of a new Glock mag. The KCI mag is EASILY a great value at this price (assuming it runs). Even if the spring must be swapped earlier down the road, that's $4-$5 and you basically have a Glock mag. When CDNN had LE mags at $9.99 I heard it was a crap-shoot, some mags were ratty and needed new springs/followers. When OMB Express had new Glock mags for $16 those were the days. Those days are gone. Today, I can get new Glock mags for $25+ each (with shipping), and used Glock mags for $20+ each. I bought these as new, cheap range mags, so favor price and overall value. Score: +1 6) Use... what really matters IMO (Same KCI mag used for most range work, two others added for IDPA unless noted. Ammo is my reloads, FMJ and LRN. Shooting is mostly "defensive": a mix of one-hand, weak hand and two-hand, slow-fire, and strings in both a Glock OEM barrel and (mostly) a LWD or KKM G19 barrel with (mostly) a LWD steel captured recoil assembly or stock) Trip #1 = 235 rounds = 0 FTF Trip #2 = 200 rounds = 0 FTF Trip #3 = 200 rounds = 0 FTF Trip #4 = 125 rounds = 0 FTF Trip #5 = 226 rounds = 1FTF (stong hand only, 125gr LRN reload, LWD barrel, steel captured recoil assembly) Trip #6 = 143 rounds (including 45 rounds in G26) = 0FTF Trip #7 = 75 rounds, G26 = 0FTF Trip #8 = 30 rounds, G26 = 0FTF Trip #9 = 134 rounds (incl. 130rds with TRL-1) = 0FTF Trip #10 = 171 rounds = 0FTF Trip #11 = 200 rounds = 0FTF Trip #12 = 45 rounds, G26 = 0FTF Trip #13 = 200 rounds = 0FTF Trip #14 = 92 rounds, IDPA = 0FTF Trip #15 = 201 rounds = 0FTF Trip #16 = 222 rounds = 0FTF Trip #17 = 91 rounds, IDPA = 0FTF Trip #18 = 271 rounds = 3FTF (weak hand only, 125gr LRN reload, LWD barrel, steel captured recoil assembly) Trip #19 = 200 rounds = 1FTF (weak hand only, 125gr LRN reload, LWD barrel, steel captured recoil assembly) Trip #20 = 111 rounds, IDPA = 0FTF Trip #21 = 171 rounds = 0FTF Trip #22 = 190 rounds = 0FTF Trip #23 = 77 rounds = 0FTF Trip #24 = 230 rounds = 0FTF Trip #25 = 167 rounds = 0FTF Trip #26 = 99 rounds = 0FTF Trip #27 = 140 rounds = 1FTF (weak hand only, 125gr LRN reload, LWD barrel, steel captured recoil assembly) Trip #28 = 144 rounds = 0FTF Trip #29 = 126 rounds = 0FTF Trip #30 = 233 rounds = 0FTF Trip #31 = 45 rounds (incl. 30 rounds in G26) = 0FTF Trip #32 = 200 rounds = 0FTF Trip #33 = 45 rounds, G26 w/ A&G adapter = 0FTF Trip #34 = 100 rounds = 0FTF Trip #35 = 200 rounds = 0FTF Trip #36 = 195 rounds = 0FTF Trip #37 = 290 rounds = 0FTF Trip #38 = 190 rounds = 0FTF Trip #39 = 211 rounds = 1FTF (two hand, 125gr LRN reload, KKM barrel, steel captured recoil assembly) Trip #40 = 150 rounds = 2FTF (two hand, 125gr LRN reload, KKM barrel, steel captured recoil assembly) END OF "TEST" AND REPORT. I suspect recent issues to be related to mag spring wear. Spring tension was noticeably weak in primary mag after about 6,000 rounds. Replaced KCI mag spring with a used Glock spring in primary mag and it functioned 100% with 90 rounds. Spring tension with Glock spring feels typical. I expect to need to replace spring in other 2 mags around same round count. Total value as range mag, after 6,000+ round evaluation, given price = +5* * Adding Glock spring, value = +8 KCI spring = top Glock stock G19 spring = bottom KCI follower = right Glock stock G19 #6 follower = left |
| I have no experience with these magazines, but I found a link to them on another site. They're $11.99 each here. |
I just went to the range with the one I bought for testing. While it was reliable, it *DID NOT* drop free from my 2nd gen. G19... either full or empty. 
Definitely leaving this one in the range-only pile, and sticking to OEM Glock mags from now on. |
"Send lawyers, guns and money... the shit has hit the fan." -Warren Zevon