The PMag and the more costly Colts are more reliable or me.
I have several different brands. No idea why i still have them around as they are not dependable with failure to feed being the biggest problem. If they were aluminum or steel the lips could be altered.
I haven't figured out the life of the plastic mags yet.
best advice? if they aren't reliable, then trash can them if they can't be made reliable.
i consider magazines the most failed component in many firearms, and the first source of problems. if i can't trust a magazine, or repair it to make it reliable, i throw it away. the small price to replace a failed magazine is cheap insurance.
I had a Mag comparison article on here before.. Its years ago.. mostly concerning how different popular Mags fit (or Dont fit!) into most common chest rigs.
original mas were intended to be semi throw aways. Many GIs reloaded or loaded fresh mags, when they had time but a lot of pre loaded mags, came in boxes. It has been so long I'm not sure about that though.
A whole lot o emptied mags are still on the battlefields unless the Viet Names could find something to make from them.
The prices we pay means we have to keep them and reload them.
There is no way an aluminum GI AR15/M16 should cost ten dollars and more.
I've got one mag from Nam that the weld at the rear has finally given way and the lips spread apart.
Wish I could repair it. The lips are probably thin but I really haven't thought about it til now. No telling how many rounds have been through it. It is GI but no aluminum though. Must be stainless but I haven't tried to figure it out no rust and little care except taking apart to clean since 69.
I am kind of biased to NHMTG AR Mags.
But over almost 18 years with a lot of exposure personally including law enforcement, professionally associated with the AR Business and for my shooting pleasure. I can say I have never had the first issue with an NHMTG AR-15 Magazine. In Semi or Auto applications. Both in 20 and 30 Round Mags.
I am not saying it could not happen, but I would almost bet the NHMTG magazine would have been dropped or damaged. I know there are other good magazines out there but these have stood the test of time for me! And when something has been this reliable it is hard for me to change when I am going to depend on them 100% OMI!
Yes, I do have some P-Mags but still like my metal NHMTGs!
Brownells has a sale every now and then where you get a can of 420 rounds of 62 grain green tip on stripper clips in a 30 caliber GI can, and 10 Brownells brand 30 round magazines for something like $269 total.
I did it, and the few brownells mags I have tested work great. They are made of aluminum.
I prefer 20 rounders so you can get down LOWER in prone!
My one P-Mag kept falling out of my rifle. I went to ASC, steel, ten rounders and had no further problems. For any kind of trouble I have four 30 round Brownell's best aluminium available to me (live in a 10 round state). Brownell's work like a charm.
no need to be too technical or analytical about magazines. buy a quality name brand, whether it's steel, aluminum, or polymer and be done with it. it's not rocket science.
I believe Magazines are an integral part of your system.
There will always be production variances between lower and mag catches.. So some may find Magazine X works better than magazine Y in their rifle.
I can think of many examples. At a recent all day shoot at 0F my very best mags of them all my Lancers, started giving me issues. An orgy of mis feeds, double feed, you name it.
Clearly the steel feed lips which are one of its selling points were affected by the cold in some way.
My PMags and other brands ran fine.
One of my buddies had the same issues w/ these mags.
A 3rd buddy who however was running a LW magnesium lower had no issues with my Lancers.
This is were running your gun hard in conditions approximating a minor gun fight at least ever once in a while is important to shake out bugs or notice anomalies like this one.
best advice? if they aren't reliable, then trash can them if they can't be made reliable.
i consider magazines the most failed component in many firearms, and the first source of problems. if i can't trust a magazine, or repair it to make it reliable, i throw it away. the small price to replace a failed magazine is cheap insurance.
that was a lesson i learned a long time ago. better to spend a little more initially than to buy cheap ones that will need to be replace because they are junk.
I've always bought the Wilson 8 rounders for my colt 1911
and colt 20 rounders for my AR
although, I have bought some 30 rounders from Brownels and they work well.
they were 10 bucks each, made of aluminum and have a green follower
I've got magazines from many companies,I have never cared for the PMag magazines. They limit the length that bullets can be seated to,and that makes precision shooting suffer when you loose .040"-.070" less OAL seating ability.
ASC is my favorite magazine for my 223,6.8,and 308 family case size cartridges.
I use 20 rd magazines in my AR-15's,I can't stand how long the 30 rd mags are. And,I use 10 rd mags in my large frame AR,the 20 rd mags are too long for my use's.
I have a friend that cleans out storage units and he found six Okay brand 30 round magazines and gave them to me, they were originally a military issue magazine that just a few years ago started selling to the general public. They work great but do have some sharp edges, they are made out of aluminum of very good quality.
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