Review: ETS Group Mags for S&W M&P

The Elite Tactical Systems Group recently added 40-round magazines to its line-up for the S&W M&P 9 series, and we have been checking them out.

The ETS 40-rounders are available in models to fit CZ Scorpion Evo, Glock, Sig P320, as well as HK VP9 and MP5 platforms in addition to the S&W mags. All are clear polymer magazines that the company says provides "extreme impact resistance" so that they won't crack or break if dropped.

The Knoxville, Tennessee company also makes smaller mags for those who aren't looking to go full 40. For instance, we tested 30-, 21- and 17-round capacity M&P sticks from ETS alongside one of the new 40s. (All photos: Chris Eger/Guns.com)

For those curious about the specs, the 40-round mag is 10 inches long and weighs 19.5 ounces when loaded. The 30 goes 8 inches and 14.9 ounces. The 21 is 6 inches and 10.2 ounces. The 17 is 5 inches and 8.3 ounces.

All weights are with 115-grain brass-cased 9mm FMJ. The all-metal mag is a S&W factory magazine.

What you see is what you get when it comes to disassembly for cleaning, which is easy and can be done with the aid of anything sufficiently pointy enough (pen, knifepoint, rifle bullet point, et. al.) to depress the button protruding through the bottom of the floorplate.

Reassembly is dummy-proof, although we did note that you have to smack it a bit to get the floor plate to lock back into place.

The translucent body allows easy viewing both of ammo count and the type. It feels light but held up in tests.

We dropped, stomped, and slapped both loaded and unloaded ETS mags around in normal operation – nothing extreme, such as tossing them out of airplanes or blowing them up with C4 – and they remained intact and functional.

ETS bills their mags as having creep-resistant feed lips, meaning they won't spread when stored loaded for long times. The mags we evaluated all had black followers.

ETS tells us they make all their mags in the U.S. and they are all marked as such, alongside model type and capacity. Unlike some mags, they are not factory date stamped.

When it comes to performance, we ran all the mags several times, both fully loaded and partially loaded, through an M&P M2.0 Compact that has always ticked like a clock. Verdict? The old Smith kept running, with no failures across 400 rounds of circa 2005 reloads we unearthed from the back of the closet. Each time the mag locked the slide back on empty. All mags were used dry, right out of the package.

A typical run, with the ETS 40:

Speaking of the range, we got a few curious takes from neighboring stalls and a couple of genuine questions, which is always good when it comes to fellowship in the gun community. While a 40-round mag may not be practical for EDC, they do provide a lot of fun when poking holes in paper or ringing steel, especially once ammo prices come back down from the stratosphere. It is not hard to see where they could help bring new shooters into the fold.

So, what next? Well, to test how the ETS mags hold up against harsh environments, we have a couple subjected to ongoing exposure to heat, cold, UV light, and common gun-related chemicals to see if they become brittle or start to break down over time. Others are resting, loaded, to see if the lips creep. Stay tuned for that update in a future article.

MSRP on the ETS mags is $26.99, and they carry a lifetime warranty.

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