15-Round Para mag vs. 8-Round Wilson Combat and Mec-Gar

[Big Frank]

The 15-round extended mags for Para-Ordnance P-14.45s don't extend very much farther than the standard plastic basepad, as seen in the pistol in the first picture. It extends about the same amount a typical 8-round single-stack 1911 mag with a plastic basepad extends beyond a flat-base 7-round mag. In the picture are a Wilson Combat 8-round with a "low-profile" basepad, a Wilson Combat 7-round with a welded baseplate, and a Mec-Gar 8-round. I always tell people that's about how much farther they stick out, and I can't very accurately measure my own mags. I know they used to stick out a little bit, and with the extensions on them they stick out a little farther. I can measure the basebad on my one original 15-round mag and compare it to the stock  basepads I took off, or the ones that are on my other 2 guns. They were all the same on the 10, 12, 13, and 14 round .45s and other caliber pistols of those sizes. You get 15 rounds in the same mag length as 8 rounds, give or take a small fraction of an inch. It may be less difference in length than the 7 and 8 round mags. I know there are also flush-fitting 8-round mags the same size as the 7-round mags, but have never hear anyone recommend them. Most have extended basplates of plastic, or some kind of metal on more expensive ones.