This is something that's probably been covered here before but I just want to bring it up for people to weigh in.. Educate me please.
There are some simple real estate considerations, ie you want a smallish carry pistol in .45 it's not going to hold 15 or likely even 8 rounds.. Sure I get that. You want a slimmer handle so the only option is a single stack - makes perfect sense. But what about when there is no such limitation but they do it anyway?
I see some mainstream manufacturers, who supply governments that analyze all this stuff to death, who offer lots of capacity, others who are conservative with it (say Glock & Sig respectively).. For instance why does Sig only offer an 8 round mag for their P220 in 10mm, yet offers a 10 round mag for the (smaller) p220 in .45 ? Glock offers what a 15 round (assume a double stack), maybe more in 10mm for some models?
Is it because the absolute most reliable function is attained with a smaller single stack and it's a balance of capacity versus reliability? Or weight? Or some other consideration for how many rounds you can actually pump out accurately in a timeframe given the recoil?
Even with say .22LR, I read things like "well .22LR only functions reliably in magazines of 10 or less" and you got a whole bunch of manufacturers offering 10 round mags and that's it for such pistols, yet we seem to be able to put 25, 30, 40, whatever in a rifle mag and they run great, a pistol here and there or mag hacks exist in .22LR carrying 15, 17, 20+ rounds and they run great. Most of our .22LR pistols could easily fit a 15+ round mag, but it's only the fringe brands who offer that sort of thing out of the box. Why is that? How do they choose this stuff?
It's come to mind a bunch weighing different models I'm interested in, but recently was kinda disappointed when I found the huge 10mm Sig P220 was only going to hold 8 rounds, no other options, while my .45 version holds 8 in a standard form and 10 w/ the extendo (which admittedly is kinda stupid but they should be able to offer a 10 round mag for the 10mm version and likely they could fit a standard mag of 9 rounds in there).
There are some simple real estate considerations, ie you want a smallish carry pistol in .45 it's not going to hold 15 or likely even 8 rounds.. Sure I get that. You want a slimmer handle so the only option is a single stack - makes perfect sense. But what about when there is no such limitation but they do it anyway?
I see some mainstream manufacturers, who supply governments that analyze all this stuff to death, who offer lots of capacity, others who are conservative with it (say Glock & Sig respectively).. For instance why does Sig only offer an 8 round mag for their P220 in 10mm, yet offers a 10 round mag for the (smaller) p220 in .45 ? Glock offers what a 15 round (assume a double stack), maybe more in 10mm for some models?
Is it because the absolute most reliable function is attained with a smaller single stack and it's a balance of capacity versus reliability? Or weight? Or some other consideration for how many rounds you can actually pump out accurately in a timeframe given the recoil?
Even with say .22LR, I read things like "well .22LR only functions reliably in magazines of 10 or less" and you got a whole bunch of manufacturers offering 10 round mags and that's it for such pistols, yet we seem to be able to put 25, 30, 40, whatever in a rifle mag and they run great, a pistol here and there or mag hacks exist in .22LR carrying 15, 17, 20+ rounds and they run great. Most of our .22LR pistols could easily fit a 15+ round mag, but it's only the fringe brands who offer that sort of thing out of the box. Why is that? How do they choose this stuff?
It's come to mind a bunch weighing different models I'm interested in, but recently was kinda disappointed when I found the huge 10mm Sig P220 was only going to hold 8 rounds, no other options, while my .45 version holds 8 in a standard form and 10 w/ the extendo (which admittedly is kinda stupid but they should be able to offer a 10 round mag for the 10mm version and likely they could fit a standard mag of 9 rounds in there).