Brugger and Thomet has been gaining in popularity ever since their first contract with the US Military. They are known for their superior durability, and they don’t stay on the shelf for very long in gun stores. I had been wanting a B&T for a while before I found the deal I couldn’t say no to. I wasn’t sure if the price was worth the quality they claim you get with the B&T stamp. It was worth the price however and I have not regretted the money I forked over for the B&T GHM9. My B&T came with two 30-round magazines, and they have run flawlessly.
The B&T mags are a little on the high-end just like the gun, so this made me wonder the same thing. Is the quality of the mags worth the price? When I saw that B&T was making a 25-round mag, I was even more intrigued. You wouldn’t think five rounds would make a difference in a magazine, but they do. Normally I would want those five extra rounds because, well, more ammo is almost always better. But sometimes you want a magazine that is more compact, and this 25-round mag is a perfect size for some applications. There are a couple of differences between new and older magazines so let’s break them down and see how they are different.
Disassembling the B&T Magazine
Unlike other magazines out there, B&T doesn’t place a lip on the floor plate to catch the side of the magazine. Instead, the floor plate has two round holes in the side of the mag about a half-inch up from the bottom (see photo below). The floor plate has pieces of plastic on each side that stick up. They are molded to fit into the holes in the magazine. To take the floor plate off, you push in and down towards the bottom of the mag. Once the plastic insert has started to become dislodged from the hole, repeat the same process on the other side.
Keep in mind the floor plate is under pressure from the spring so hold your thumb over it to keep it from flying away. The 25-round mag has a hole in the bottom of the plate that allows you to push on the spring while you take it apart. This can help take pressure off the floor plate while you remove it. The older 30-round mag does not have any holes in the bottom of the floor plate, so it will come off as soon as you push in on the plastic inserts from both sides.
Re-Assembling the B&T Magazine
B&T uses a chrome-plated steel spring and it has a lot of pressure. This helps with reliability when feeding the ammo into the gun. The follower is attached to the spring, a feature not found very often. It also has two longer sides that help keep it from tilting inside the mag. To put the magazine back together, make sure the follower is facing the right direction. Putting the magazine back together is a little harder than taking it apart. This is a little backward from most other mags as reassembling is normally the easy part.
Once the follower and spring have been placed back in the mag, the insert and floor plate need to be pushed into the bottom of the mag. I did this the same way during disassembly. I pushed the insert into the mag and held it with a small punch when then inserted the floor plate. Because of those two plastic sides that stick up from the floor plate, the spring likes to get in the way. Once you get the floor plate inserted, you should hear it “click” into place.
No Metal Around the Feed Ramps
The second thing that is much different between this mag and the older ones is the metal around the feed lips. My older 30-round mags have a metal cover that reinforces the polymer feed lips. This helps keep the feed lips from slowly separating or cracking. If this happens, the gun will start to double feed and jamb. This newer 25-round magazine does not have a metal cover. They are the same magazine, except for the 25-round mag has been cut down. There will not be as much pressure because of the 5-round difference in bullets. Almost everyone is making their mags from polymer so B&T may have decided the metal cover was no longer needed.
I loaded and unloaded the 25-round mag multiple times to see how smoothly the ammo went in and out. You wouldn’t think this mattered, but I have an after-market mag for the B&T GHM9, and I’ve had nothing but trouble with it. I’m not even sure what brand it is because it came in a box of random discontinued mags I purchased. But the follower in that mag gets stuck as it is being unloaded and causes it to jam in the gun. The 25-round B&T mag, however, did not have any issues at all.
Final thoughts
On the range, the 25-round B&T GHM9 mag functioned flawlessly just like the 30-round mags did. I performed a few drop tests, and nothing came flying out of the mag. I also left the mag fully loaded to see if there were any noticeable issues with the feed lips separating or cracking. So far there is nothing. I like the addition of the rubber bumper pad that is available for the B&T mags. My only concern with this mag would be how well it holds up over time with no metal around the feed lips. But after doing some research it appears this may be a discontinued feature. I could be wrong, but all the 25 and 30-round mags I could find on B&T’s website are completely polymer with no metal around the top.
Other companies like ETS have been doing this for a while and I have never had any issues with them so this may be a simple, cost-effective way for B&T to make a cheaper mag with the same quality. But aside from that, the magazine is well made. I have never had any trouble with a B&T magazine yet and their reputation has earned them a standing on the high-end manufacturer’s list. If you have a B&T, you will find the same quality you expect when using their GHM9 25-round magazine.
