At one point, Check-Mate offered DoD to refinish all stocke of the phosphate coated magazines with the dry-film finish, at a cost of. The dry-film magazines have performed superbly, and also have what I consider to be a advantageous hardened steel, low profile baseplate. Unfortunately, the PHOSPHATE coated magazines were not purged from the theatre-both magazine types were intermixed at the arms-room/unit level, according to my understanding. Check-Mate, upon hearing reports of magazine issues in-theatre, actually imported some sand from the theater, analyzed the proble, and provided an alternative dry-film finish, whach was approved by DoD and massively injected into the suppky chain. Obviously, that finish was a massive "fail" in Iraq and Afghanistan. DoD's original intention was that the phosphate coating, applied both externally and internally, would be ideal for corrosion prevention in temperate climates (which in fact all reports that I've come across indicates that it does). Regarding the original phosphate finish-it's essential to understand that it was a DoD CONTRACT MANDATED finish, not something Check-Mate chose willy-nilly on their own. All Check-Mate magazines have a lifetime warranty, and Check-Mate stands behind them.ĭoD magazine issues: There are two: One, the original (up to late 2004) DoD specified phosphate finish, applied internally and externally a crackle-type finish, its ridges trapped the fine talc-like sand/dust indegenous to Iraq and Afghanistan, precluding effective cartridge travel inside the magazine and Two, allegedly insufficient spring tensility. Check-Mate found it to be slightly oversize, sent it through the sizing die, and returned it to me-where it's performed without any subsequent hiccups. During this period I've had exactly one magazine issue: One of the magazines was slightly oversize towards the tube base it would easily insert and flawlessly chamber cartridges, but would not drop free from the frame without manually pulling it out. Ok.over several years, I've had some detailed discussions with Check-Mate's partners over the 92 magazines-and I've been running 8 of the dry-film ones of varying vintages (2005, 2008, 2010) interchangeably for carry and for thousands of rounds. The sponsorship was a nice gesture I genuinely appreciate and prefer their magazines for my Beretta 92D and various 1911 regardless of the sponsorship. Obligatory Disclosure: I'm one of Check-Mate Industries' sponsored shooters, which came about after agreeing to field test their 1911 and 92 magazines over a period of several years. Good to see.Checkmate Industry mags.Doc, I'm gonna call you on this one. We begin First Article Testing of the magazine Januand should announce the results by Shot Show in Las Vegas.” Additionally, we are submitting samples of ceramic coated M2HB Top Covers and Barrels Supports that we manufacture. While slightly more expensive they offer far superior performance and have already been proved in the small arms field. We are planning to evaluate harder coatings that include ceramics. The other major improvement is the plating and dry lubricant process that will prevent very fine sand from embedding into the surface. It turns out that one critical radius on the magazine is entirely too small to allow for adequate clearance in the magazine well. The greatest improvement is that we copied magazines produced by Mec-Gar for Beretta. “Airtronic has made several improvements. Walter, responded to DID’s enquiries about this problem: Considering that the troops are using the M9’s in an area of the world that is populated by little else but dirt and sand, this makes the use of such magazines a bad idea.”Īirtronic Services is a woman owned licensed manufacturer of firearms, destructive devices and components for military use. By all reports I have heard from the field, the new magazines are not made as well and are extremely sensitive to dirt and sand. The military decided to go with another vendor, Checkmate, to supply the magazines for the M9. Until very recently, the magazines for the M9 pistol were produced by Mec-Gar. “Recent reports from Afghanistan and Iraq have reported less than satisfactory reliability with the M9 pistols traceable to the magazines. One does hope the folks at TACOM and the GAO paid attention to field reports along the way.
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