where to buy "italian made" ruger lc9 magazines online

hi, im having the typical magazine issue with my ruger lc9s.
does anyone know what websites sell "Italian made" magazines? or should i just look at local gunshops?

thanks Bboy

I don't know of anyplace that explicitly sells the Italian ones. I got my first two online but I can't remember the name of the place and I've thrown away the paperwork. I remember I ordered them because their store picture showed the "Made in Italy" mark. They weren't described as Made in Italy but I figured I'd take a chance based on the photo and the ones that I received were. I couldn't find that same site and photo in a google search this week UNLESS it was Midway (which it might have been). However, Midway is out of stock and I think that the most recent feedback comments there indicated the magazines received were USA ones.

We have a Cabela's a few miles away and this past weekend they had a few magazines - some marked Italy and some USA - it broke my heart to pay Cabela prices (40 bucks each) but I picked up two of the Italian ones.

Just in case you don't know, the magazine packages may not mention LC9s, just LC9, that's fine the magazines are the same.

Good luck,
John

I would recommend hitting the local shops. At this late(r) date, it seems that Ruger is only shipping USA made, and so that's likely to be what the online retailers have (since they probably move through their stock faster).

I just picked up a couple mags at a local (backroads) shop. The only 7-rounder they had was Italian. The 9-rounders were USA. The mag that came with my wife's (Christmas present) LC9s (muddy girl) was USA.

On a related note, it looks like the 9-rounder has the same metal body as the 7-rounder, the only difference being the extended base plate. Anybody know if my eyes are reading that right?

Don

ABout a month ago I sent a US made extended one back to Ruger because it wouldn't
stay locked in; they called and during the brief discussion I ask for an Italian
mag and was told that is all they now use. This was specifically on the LC9; not sure about other models.

I hope that's true...and that they aren't just shipping the Italian mags with new guns and dumping the USA ones on the accessory market...

Sounds like they recognize the problem is real...you'd kind of think they might actually recall the USA mags...

John

like many on here...my lc9s just came back from the factory ( dropping magazines everytime i fired it). they replaced my USA mag with an italian one. seems to work fine know.

i went as far as "modding" my spare usa mag...and it still drops even after the repair.

thanks for all the suggestions. looks like ill search the local shops and if i cant find one..call ruger and order one.

The Italian Mecgar magazine was one of the strong points of the LC9, and a big part of the excellent reliability of the LC9. Ruger cannot have saved that much money switching to a cheaper magazine, seems like bad judgement to me. Mecgar made a considerable investment in personnel and manufacturing facilities to get to the point where they produce a superior product. It does not seem reasonable to automatically expect the same quality when outsourcing to a local or cheaper source. Glad to hear they are going back to original magazines.

I don't mean to hijack this LC9s magazine thread, but I think I've discovered an interesting parallel regarding Ruger's magazine manufacturers.

During the month of November I purchased two SR22s. Both came with high-gloss, nicely blued magazines. No place of manufacture is stamped on them, but the Ruger logo has a script letter R.

A purchase of an SR22 during November entitled the owner to an additional magazine shipped from Ruger after receiving the appropriate proof of purchase. These magazines have a dull, matte finish. No place of manufacture is stamped on them, but the Ruger logo has a blocky Machine (typeface) letter R.

If you'll look closely at the Italian-made LC9 magazines, which have a high-gloss finish, you'll note the Ruger logo has a script letter R. The USA-made LC9 magazines, which have a dull, matte finish, have the Ruger logo with a blocky Machine (typeface) letter R.

This leads me to believe Ruger is experimenting with at least two different magazine manufactures for several of its firearms. I have several Beretta handguns. The Beretta magazines that are made in Italy have the nice, high-gloss finish. Those made in the U.S. have a dull, matte finish. I'm pretty certain Beretta Italian magazines are made by Mec-Gar. My CZ magazines have a similar finish. I believe Mec-Gar is also CZ's magazine OEM.

My SR1911, which was made in April 2011, had magazines made by Check-Mate, which is also an OEM for Beretta's USA-made magazines. I find all of this interesting.

Just sent my LC9s Pro back to Ruger today....shot the 7 rd mag and it dropped after one or two shots.
9 rd stayed in and did fine...both are US made...Cust Svc said to send it back and let them check
the magazine latch...if I remember correctly. 7-10 turn around....my old trusted LCP goes back on the belt
tomorrow.

Hmmm, my new LC9s came with a "USA" mag and I bought another USA mag while at the store. Both working great. No issues at all. But I will definitely keep an eye out. Thanks for the info!

So I wonder if Italian made Ruger magazines will one day be collectors items. My local Gander Mountain had four Italian LC9 magazines today on the rack. I bought three of them. I'm thinking about going back and getting the fourth.

Perhaps Ruger is sick of problems with their US magazine supplier and "learned their lesson" and shifted back to their previous Italian supplier. It takes a lot to set up for ultra quality manufacture. Aside from state of the art manufacturing facility, a company would need an excellent team of employees with outstanding leadership. I think that companies like MecGar fit the bill while others do not. I am very much in favor of American products and American jobs, but the product still needs to be well made.

Italian made Ruger magazines are here to stay, regardless of what Ruger does. If Ruger stops contracting to Mec Gar, then Mec Gar will go on making the magazines, but sell them to you at a steep discount. This is what they do for Sig, Beretta, etc.

Essentially, you should always buy mec gar mags over factory mags if you get the chance, because you could be rolling the dice on factory mags.

Does anyone know if any of the Ruger 9rd magazines are Italian made? I picked up a couple of 9rd mags (USA made) but haven't had the chance to try them yet. They do seem to latch in the frame solidly, just not sure when firing yet. The metal part looks to be the same as the 7rd, so does anyone know if the extended base of the USA one could be put on an Italian one to make it into a 9rd?

(edit)
After taking a 7rd magazine and a 9rd magazine apart, both of them being the USA made versions, the only shared component I see is the spring. The top guide is deeper, obviously the floor plate is different, and the metal body looks to be identical except the 9rd has two notches in the sides for the spring follower to lift into to be able to slide the floor plate off. If they don't make an Italian version of the 9rd, It looks like it would be possible to be able to use a Dremel to duplicate those notches in the sides of a 7rd Italian body if one wanted to convert a 7rd Italian into a 9rd.
All of my USA mags do latch in solidly, so I hope there will be no problems once I get to fire several rounds through them.

Yes, there are both Italian and USA Ruger mags, in the same packaging, with the same part number. The Italian mags (made by Mec Gar, I understand) are stamped "Made in Italy" in the same place that the USA mags say "Made in USA" and they have the same Ruger logo stamp.

The only difference I've found between USA and Italian Ruger mags is that the USA mags look like they were stamped with old tooling or were heavily polished after being stamped. This is noticeable in the area around the magazine catch cutout and at the feed lips. My USA mag that came with the gun is rounded in these areas while the four Italian mags are very sharp and almost look undercut slightly.

Oh, and the other difference is that the bluing on the USA mags is shamefully thin and poor compared to that on the Italian mags. The Italian mags look like quality gun parts while the USA mags look like an ebay special...

aWoods said:

Italian made Ruger magazines are here to stay, regardless of what Ruger does. If Ruger stops contracting to Mec Gar, then Mec Gar will go on making the magazines, but sell them to you at a steep discount. This is what they do for Sig, Beretta, etc.

Click to expand...

Yeah...as long as they're making mags for Ruger they are probably locked into a non-complete clause. I'd rather see them drop the relationship with Ruger and market their much-better-made magazines directly. That way I could get the good mags for $20 instead of $40...

OldePhart said:

Yes, there are both Italian and USA Ruger mags, in the same packaging, with the same part number. The Italian mags (made by Mec Gar, I understand) are stamped "Made in Italy" in the same place that the USA mags say "Made in USA" and they have the same Ruger logo stamp.

The only difference I've found between USA and Italian Ruger mags is that the USA mags look like they were stamped with old tooling or were heavily polished after being stamped. This is noticeable in the area around the magazine catch cutout and at the feed lips. My USA mag that came with the gun is rounded in these areas while the four Italian mags are very sharp and almost look undercut slightly.

Oh, and the other difference is that the bluing on the USA mags is shamefully thin and poor compared to that on the Italian mags. The Italian mags look like quality gun parts while the USA mags look like an ebay special...

Click to expand...

I called a friend of mine that I knew has a LC9, and asked him to check his mag and see where it was made. When he said Italy, I headed over to pay him a visit and compare the two types. I see the difference you are talking about in the cutout. It looks like a few gentle strokes with a small file would easily square that cutout. The Italy mag has a nice shiny blueing, and the USA mags have a very flat looking finish. I tried his in my gun, and mine in his gun, and could not feel any difference in the way they latched up, so maybe they have improved the cutout in the USA mags but didn't improve the blueing one bit.

I believe I am going to check the store where I picked up my 9rd mags and see if they get another shipment in within the next few weeks and swap them for the much better looking Italian versions.

Mine never released under recoil but my USA mag was releasing in my IWB holster any time I twisted my torso - this didn't happen at all with any of the Italian mags and continued to happen even after I modified the backing slightly so it was clear of the button. When I carefully compared the USA mag to the Italy mags in my LC9s I discovered that if I pushed slightly rearward on the magazine release button as I pushed it down, the USA mag would release after visibly less depression of the mag release button. If it's enough to be visible I figured that it had to be at least several hundredths of an inch.

I thought about the file but I think I'm going to call Ruger and see if I can get them to swap me for an Italian mag. I'm afraid that taking any metal off might actually make it worse and besides, we need to start holding Ruger's feet to the fire until the bean counters in charge realize that shipping crap and letting their customers do the QC is not saving them money in the long run...

butcherboy1985 said:

hi, im having the typical magazine issue with my ruger lc9s.
does anyone know what websites sell "Italian made" magazines? or should i just look at local gunshops?

thanks Bboy

Click to expand...

I just got 2 yesterday at Cabelas for $35.00 each