Originally Posted by
rintinglen
To my way of thinking, the major benefit to come out of the Wonder Nine years was magazines that work. Contrary to the good Colonel, it was not just fuddy-duddy, antiquated thinking that kept the revolver in front line service for so long. It was a bonafide fact that Semi-autos could and did jam at a significantly higher rate than revolvers would malfunction. Much of this was due to poor magazines, but when the wonder nines came along, Magazines got better. I don't know if it was the economic lure of customer demand, or if better manufacturing processes became cheaper and available, but these days, good mags can be taken for granted.
That was not always the case. My first Combat Commander came with two mags, one worked and one didn't. A gun Smith of my acquaintance reformed the feed lips and number two got better. But those were factory Colt Magazines--after market were worse.
Some of us can remember going to the bins of magazines at a gun show and buying a half dozen in the hopes of getting two or three that worked. But starting about the time that the S&W 59 hit town, things began to get better. By the late 80's magazine quality was an order of magnitude better. Mag related malfunctions had become rare.
Since then, things have only continued to be good, Yeah there are a couple of manufacturers out there who still make substandard stuff--Pro Mag, any one?-- but in the main, when you get a magazine today, it will function.