Extended magazines are all the rage. Whether you add a couple rounds to your carry gun or slap in a mag that hangs down to your waist, we can all agree that more ammo is a good thing. The fine folks at Beretta think so too and they have a sweet 30 round mag for some of their most popular models.
Beretta Quality
These 30-rounders are not aftermarket knockoffs. They’re blued steel products straight from the world’s oldest gunmaker, with the quality you’d expect. Let’s hit the specs:
- Caliber: 9mm Parabellum
- 30 round capacity
- Double stack
- Length: 8 inches
- Blued steel construction
- High-tensile steel spring
- Injection molded anti-tilt polymer follower
- Removable polymer floor plate
- Textured polymer lower sleeve
- Back witness holes
A Nice Magazine
This was our first encounter with the Beretta 30 rounder, despite having a couple of 92FS pistols laying around. We were immediately impressed by the magazine’s construction. The blued steel is nice, though handling it leaves fingerprints on the finish. But who cares? You can polish it right up if you want.
The polymer floor plate is easily removed for maintenance, just don’t let the spring fly across the room. We may or may not have done that. The polymer sleeve shows where the magazine fits in your gun. The textured front is nice, though you obviously won’t use it when you’re shooting. It does help a bit when reloading, if only to help you identify the front by touch.
The witness holes help with loading since it’s easy to lose count. We do recommend a mag loader, however, unless you just like sore thumbs.
The mag is noticeably heavier when it’s loaded. Which, of course it is, because it has an extra 15 or 13 rounds in it. No noticeable effect on recoil, though. Not that we expected any.
Testing
We’ve been testing this magazine for three weeks now. Four range trips and 450 rounds of ammunition have yielded 100 percent reliability in our two Beretta 92FS pistols. We used Blazer 115 grain FMJ and Federal American Eagle 124 grain FMJ for our test ammo. We also fired a few rounds of Sierra 124 grain JHP just to be certain it fed hollow points. It did.
We did a few full-speed mag dumps from both guns, as well as smaller groups to test slide lock and even a few mag change drills.
We only had one test mag, so the mag change drills were done with that and some standard 15 and 17-round mags. The test mag dropped cleanly from both guns during the drills. Changing to the 30-round test mag was awkward at first since our muscle memory wanted to attack the mag well at a different angle. But a few repetitions smoothed things out. Still, we don’t recommend using the 30-round mag as a reload unless you’re willing to make the requisite effort to do it right every time. We wouldn’t want to carry an 8-inch-long extra mag but hey, you do you.
Compatibility
The Beretta 30-round magazine is compatible with all Beretta 92 series handguns, as well as the Model Ninety-Two upgrade. It’s fun for those guns but not especially practical. It’s currently a range toy for us.
But the magazine is also compatible with the Beretta CX4 Storm pistol caliber carbine. All you need is a mag well adapter, which you can get from Beretta. That is where this magazine will shine. Not only does it double the Beretta pistols’ capacity, but it also does the same for the Storm.
Now, we don’t have a CX4 Storm, but that may change. We admit to liking Beretta firearms and a Storm PCC would make a sexy addition to the stable, especially with a 30-round capacity.
Final Thoughts
We like this magazine. It’s well-made and appears to be durable. It has been 100 percent reliable so far in two different guns. It isn’t all that practical for handguns, but it is fun at the range. As noted, we believe this would be a necessary upgrade for the CX4 Storm PCC. The Storm is a nice gun, but with a 30-round capacity, it becomes a serious home defense weapon or whatever else you want it for.
The Beretta 30-round magazine is a quality product. If you want to get your hands on one, you’re in luck. Gunmag Warehouse has them in stock right now. Go grab one. Or more than one.
