I am looking at a G19 and have a few questions about the mags. I see HICAP's for sale with descriptions like "FML" behind it. What does this mean? Also, there are drop free vs non-drop free mags. If these are factory mags, what makes them not drop free? I also see non factory mags for sale. Which ones are junk? Finally, what is a reasonable price for pre ban glock mags and for post ban 10 rounders? Whew...Once I started typing I realized that I had alot of questions! Thanks in advance.

Brian

Well Drake, in a nutshell:

FML stands for "fully metal lined" meaning although the mag body is plastic, there is a metal lining inside of the plastic.  This was done to keep the mags from "swelling" a tad when fully loaded, thereby allowing them to (usually) drop free from the pistol when the mag release is pushed.  NFML (non-fully metal lined) mags are only partially lined with metal and swell when loaded so that if the mag button is accidentally pushed it (usually) won't drop a full mag with gravity alone.  NFML mags have a round cutout at the top rear of the mag, the FML ones are more square looking.  Functionally, one is as good as the other.

I personally don't like the use of the terms "drop free" and "non-drop free" because some FML mags don't always drop free and some NFML mags will drop free when the release is pushed.  FML and NFML is much more accurate.

Don't waste your money on non-factory Glock mags unless strictly for range use only.  They are sometimes unreliable and should never be relied on for defensive/LE purposes.  Basically, they are ALL JUNK, save the Pro-Mags which are a tiny bit better but nowhere near factory Glock quality.  To be safe, consider ALL non-factory Glock mags to be worthless junk.

Pre-ban NFML Glock 19 mags can be found from about $50-60 for the most part.  Pre-ban FML mags are maybe worth $65-75.  Post-ban factory mags can be found at places like www.cdnninvestments.com (and others) for under $18.

If you have any other questions, don't hesitate to ask, that's what we're here for!

Ditto well said BMANSAR15

I try to get 2 Hi caps for each Glock
and 2-4 Klinton Glock mags .

Go with Glock Mags Only, no after market.

I use NFML because I dont won`t my mags to come out untill they are empty!!

Happy Glocking

Thanks guys! I will have to spend some more time here on the handgun part of the board, I really like it. I was going to stick with the factory mags but I needed to know for sure. A local shop has the G19 for $519. Is this a fair price? I did see one at the last show for $479. What do you think?

Brian

$519 is a little high. $479 is better but you can do better if you look around.

Just to add to the very well stated info above, here's a little background on NFML vs. FML mags. The first Glocks in the mid-1980s all came with NFML mags. They were designed in Europe (Austria to be exact) for a European market, where in the kind of pistols they're used to they have to pull the mag out of the magwell after hitting the mag release button. German Lugers and Makarovs are two examples right off the top of my head.

Americans were used to "drop free" mags in our pistols, because our mags are made of steel and don't swell up like Glock mags, and because American pistol makers just designed our pistols with mag releases that worked that way. Because of this, Americans train differently than Europeans, with tactical reloads and all that, and Americans wanted Glock to make mags that you didn't have to pull out of the mag well. Americans wanted mags that "dropped free," so Glock came out with the FML mags to make Americans happy.

That's your $0.02 history lesson for today.

As a point of reference, the Pre-Ban mags were priced at around $75 at a recent gunshow.  Would you consider a used Glock?  They are durable pistols, and if you don't mind a little holster wear, you might find a price within your range that would allow you to splurge for the hi-cap mag.  
The metal treatment applied to the Glock is durable, and the signs of wear are no indication of the durability of the gun.

I guess that I ought to add that the $75 mags at the gun show looked used.

Just thought I'd share my experiences with Glock 19 mags:

Some people sell all plastic X-Mags, which do not even have metal lips.  You can imagine how quickly those get eaten up by contact with metal.  The best bargain I've found so far is the FML Pro-Mag 15 round magazines from CDNN Investments (see link above).  The price ($24) is great; I've seen them sold for twice as much.  I have 4 of these and use them all the time at the range.  I've never had a failure to feed, but I still only trust the factory 10 rounders when it comes down to serious things.  If you can't do it with 10 rounds, you should have brought a bigger gun....