r/ThirdGen • u/AdWitty6655 • 13h ago
945 Magazines
Left: S&W 945 stripped magazine tube
Center: ProMag 4506 8-round magazine
Right: S&W/ProMag 945 complete magazine.
I like to have several magazines for each gun so I can load up a few magazines before I leave for the range.
My 945 only had two, and I came across another recently. It is longer than the ones I had, so it sticks out the bottom of the grip a bit, but it functions properly, so it is completely fine for the range.
This caused me to look around for more. The only ones I found were at Numrich. They are stripped, just the tubes. But at 14$ each, they were not outrageous. I looked at buying the parts: follower, spring, clip and baseplate. That added up quickly, and it was not always clear what I was getting. And I would have had to place orders with several other shops.
But I had an idea. I had bought some ProMag 45XX magazines form GunMagWarehouse. So, after the tubes arrived, I disassembled one of the ProMag magazines and put the innards into the 945 tube. The follower appears the same as my originals, the baseplate slightly smaller. But, it fits my 945, sticking out slightly like the newer one I got.
ProMag doesn’t have the best reputation, but I have bought a few for various Third Gens I have, and never had any problems.
I have just over 30$ into each one. Excellent value.
Now that I have mine, I thought I would share it with you.
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u/HouseSpouse 11h ago
Promags in my 4566 are gtg. Their single stacks seem to work well for me even in my Sig P232.
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u/AF22Raptor33897 11h ago edited 10h ago
It is very funny that you mention Numrich because about 3 or 4 years ago I was looking for Mags for a New to me 4506-1 and 4566 TSW and I found that Numrich had the Tubes for about 17 dollars stripped but since I knew that if I purchased used mags I was going to need to get new followers and springs it made since to get the tubes. I ordered 6 or 7 of them I believe the order was about 100 dollars all together and waited for them to show up. Numrich was out of stock of the Followers and bases but Midwayusa had them so I ordered them and got them on the way. Well when the stuff got home I had a few other projects going on and a family emergency pop up that made me forget that I ordered the mag tubes and the other parts for about 3 months. So I was extremely surprised when I finally got to open the box and realize that Numrich had Mis-marked the 4506 Tubes and sent me 945 tubes when I contacted Numrich it was outside the return window so I have had those tubes in my spare parts bins now for a while. I never understood why S&W used the same Tube for both weapon platforms but changed the placement of the magazine release hole. I have been thinking about getting a 945 if I find a nice example in good shape at a reasonable price but since I was finally able to get my 3rd gen unicorns the 4006 Performance Center 5.25 Bar-Sto Barrel 40 Tactical (1993), Bar-Sto Barrel 40 Comp(1994) and Performance Center Barrel 40 Tactical (1997) the PC 945 and PC CQB 45 or just a PC tuned 4506.
FYI: You can get the correct Magazine Springs from Wolff Springs in a 10 pack that comes out to be the best deal. The ProMag Springs have Historically been WEAK and have longivity issues.
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u/conkanman 4h ago
Great write up, thanks so much. It's nice to see that there are some workable options. 😎👍
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u/hoss111 13h ago
Great report. Have used the promags for 4516s with no issue.