Which mags are authentic, or just as reliable?

[movingtarget]

Yes, I have 2 of them. Installed springs and followers from CZ USA and they still jam on the 9th or 10th round.

[Laufer]

Thanks movingtarget. My new 10-rd. mag from CZ-USA (Kansas City) arrived while I was gone.
 "Ceska Zbrojovka", Uhersky Brod", Czech Republic.

  Baffled. When trying to lock this brand-new mag into place, do people often need to slam it a tiny bit with a fist to fully seat the mag.?

[Thorn]

Yes, I have 2 of them. Installed springs and followers from CZ USA and they still jam on the 9th or 10th round.

Thanks!  Glad I checked before I bought them.

[oreocat]

Well I had the CZ 83 out this morning. I had five mags total with me. The original and two new ones from CZ-USA. Then I had the two $20 so called "factory" mags. I had regaped the feed lips and changed the springs to some from CZ-USA.

The Mags from CZ-USA were perfect. The two $20 mags still are junk, a couple of failure to feeds each time used from both. I noticed the front seam is splitting open on one of them. I'll salvage the new springs and figure the rest is a lesson learned.

My advise is just get the ones from CZ-USA, It will save you money in the long run, and they work.

OH, and I love the 83.

[il.bill]

oreocat - may I ask how much the CZ-USA magazines cost?

[oreocat]

Not Cheap, $43 each plus $6.56 shipping. But considering they work and the others don't, for me they are the only option.

  https://shop.cz-usa.com/ProductDetail/11302_Mag-Cz-83-380-12-Rd
 
  Midway also has them for $48.49.

[il.bill]

Here is an example of the old saying:  "You get what you pay for".  Two of the 'real deal' CZ-USA magazines are in my near future.

Thanks for the info!

[Thorn]

Interesting.  The $20 mags from J&G Sales that were causing FTF in my CZ-82 are fine in my CZ-83.  Not a single hiccup.

[Thorn]

Sorry for any confusion.  They are working in my CZ82, running the Makarov ammo.

Interesting.  The $20 mags from J&G Sales that were causing FTF in my CZ-82 are fine in my CZ-83.  Not a single hiccup.

[celem]

I was stung with unreliable new manufacture CZ 82/83 magazines - the ones marked "mfg CZ" on the bottom. Failure To Feed (FTF) are frequent and VERY frequent for the last round in the magazine.  Most places selling new CZ 82/83 magazines are selling the same magazines. They are said to be made in "a" factory in Czechoslovakia, hence the "CZ" marking but NOT necessarily by the ?esk? zbrojovka pistol factory. Since ?esk? zbrojovka is actually a consortium it is possible that the mags are made at a sister factory but wherever they are made they are not fully compatible.

I purchased two of these magazines (I think from J&G but my receipt is discarded) and frequent Failures to Feed made me think that my CZ-83 pistol or ammo was bad. However, I discovered that it was the new magazines and that the magazine that came with the CZ-83 worked perfectly.

After some research on gun forums I discovered, too late, that this is a common problem with these magazines. See the AR15-Forum Link below where some folks suspect them to be Chinese in origin. I don't know their origin - I just know that they are unreliable.
https://www.ar15.com/archive/topic.html?b=5&f=37&t=145296

My own research disclosed why they fail - they aren't properly made and the jaws, which restrain the top bullet in the stack, are misaligned. I have attached a marked photo that shows the problem and how to identify the bad/fake magazines. View the photo at this link:
http://i.imgur.com/nOuH3rp.jpg

I have ordered a used military CZ-82 magazine which, hopefully will work correctly. Military magazines with have a "crossed sword" arsenal marking.

So, beware of these "new" magazines

[eastman]

There are a lot of places selling cheap "CZ factory magazines". They are terrible.

CZ-USA sells the real deal. They aren't cheap, but they work reliably (which is the whole point).

[Blackwatch]

There are a lot of places selling cheap "CZ factory magazines". They are terrible.

CZ-USA sells the real deal. They aren't cheap, but they work reliably (which is the whole point).

+ 1

[celem]

There are a lot of places selling cheap "CZ factory magazines". They are terrible.

CZ-USA sells the real deal. They aren't cheap, but they work reliably (which is the whole point).

+ 1

Unfortunately, I am $60 in the hole with these junk fake CZ magazines that perpetuate all of the sellers on the Internet. The sellers claim that they are a CZ factory magazines, however, they're from A factory but they're not from the CZ factory.

[movingtarget]

Robertsons trading post I mentioned in my earlier post sold me 3 used mags for $75. Two out of three had problems. They also sell "new" CZ mags at 3 for $99. I called with my complaint and returned the used mags. then I told them I wanted three of the new ones but only if they have the indention on the bottom of the mag. They found three like that in their stock, and I paid the $24 difference. I have 2 CZ83's and have not had one problem with these mags. At $33 each I'm pretty happy.

[tcarn1]

So, if the clips have what looks like the "X" but is really the crossed swords along the side near the bottom (but not on the actual "butt" (bottom) of the clip, those are authentic Czech military issue, right? And that's good because ... they go with our military issue guns, right?

Thanks.