Glock 19 and 26 Magazines $15 Each

Lucas Tactical is selling some new Factory Glock magazines for $15 each, which I haven't seen. . . ever, I guess.  The 17-round 9mm magazines are sold out, but they have 15-round G19 magazines and 10-round G26 magazines left.

Shipping was $6 for 5 magazines.

It will be interesting to see how many hits I get on this post, given that I haven't posted anything in 6 months.

CDNN Investments $19.99 Glock mag sale

CDNN Investments is selling Glock factory magazines for $19.99 each.  Take your pick of standard-capacity or 10-round mags.  I haven't seen that in a while.  You might also find some used magazines for $14.99.

Magazine Update; Korean Glock and AR-15

Korean Glock Magazines

I have a bunch of these, both 15 and 17 round 9mm magazines.  Initially, there were some that were not dropping free when empty, but they have "broken in" and now do drop free from multiple pistols.  I've been in the habit of always taking a Korean mag along when I take a Glock out for some practice, which is pretty often.

Loading the 15-round magazines, along with a couple of Glock factory magazines, I noticed that Korean magazines were noticeably easier to load.  Although I haven't used the Korean magazines all that much, the springs had compressed a bit, and were just a little bit longer than the mag tube.  To the credit of the Koreans, the mags actually never failed.  Regardless, I replaced the Korean springs with Wolff extra power springs, and the Korean magazines soldier on.

All the magazine springs have some use on them.

The KCI spring wire diameter is 0.045".  The Glock magazine spring wire diameter is 0.051".  The Wolff magazine spring wire diameter is 0.048", but is obviously a much longer spring.  It doesn't seem like a lot, but I think you can see that the Korean spring is smaller.

The 17-round magazines don't seem to have this problem, or at least it hasn't manifested yet.

The Korean magazines are significantly cheaper than Glock factory magazines, but consider the added expense of the replacement spring before you buy.  Centerfire Systems sells the Korean mags for $8 and $13 each, and I wouldn't pay very much more than that.  Brownells sells 3-packs of Wolff magazine springs for $18, IIRC.

And yes, I'm sure that that is the right Wolff spring for that magazine, and yes, I can still get 15 rounds into that magazine.

Lancer AWM AR-15 Magazine

I've been trying out one of the opaque black 30-round Advanced Warfare Magazines for a little while.  I was just about to add it to my SHTF stash.  This weekend I was shooting one my carbines, and when I inserted the AWM magazine into the rifle, I noticed that a round popped loose into the action.  Although it struck me as odd, I cleared it, and continued on.  I came home, loaded the magazine back up, and tried that a few more times.  I tried downloading the magazine 1, 2, and 3 rounds.  When inserting the magazine "with vigor," but not abusively hard, I was able to duplicate the failure over and over again.  Dropping the magazine from two and a half to three feet onto a carpeted floor will also release a round about half the time.

I think I bought 3 of these.  I don't think I'll buy any more.

Oh, one of my older Lancer L5 magazines does it too.  D'oh!

It would seem that I am not alone.  Did some searching, and I found a m4carbine.net member, G19A3, had reported the following.

Although I cannot recommend Lancers either, I loved the translucency, but found that they tend to "waterfountain" a round or three when slapped in authoritatively on a bolt-locked-back condition. I experienced this with 30rd Lancer L5's and the later 20rd AWM's. I roll only Colt or OKay USGI 20rd & 30rd aluminum mags now. I'm still hoping one day for a translucent mag that doesn't do this. Someone indicated on another thread they have tested the new HK translucent mags for this and they are GTG in that respect, but I haven't tried them yet. I understand AUG mags do this too in a bolt-locked-back condition. Must be something about the polymer to make a translucent mag, even with metal reinforced lips like the Lancers.

CAA MAG17 AR-15 Magazine

The last couple of times I took this magazine out, I had bolt-over-base malfunctions.  This is with two different brands of ammunition.  Never had this happen before with this rifle.

I had it happen twice within about 12 rounds with Wolf Gold .223 Remington, 55 grain FMJ.  I unloaded the magazine, and loaded the remaining rounds into another magazine, and continued shooting without issue.  Went through 4 other different magazines (that day), without issue.  It's hard to draw any conclusion, other than that the CAA magazine is the problem.

The CAA MAG17 also will not firmly lock into the ACR.  The notch for the magazine catch is a little small, and I guess the ACR mag catch is a little larger than that of an AR-15 or M-16/M4.

Fortunately, I only bought one of these.  I like the features of the MAG17, but I'd rather have magazines that don't induce malfunctions.

DefCAD 3D Printable AK-47 Magazine

Magazine freedom, now in Kalashnikov flavor.

It was teased in the Vice Podcast Interview with Cody Wilson of DefCAD/Defense Distributed.  The file is now available for download, from the DefCAD site.

Video Screencap

I'm not really sure how durable a 3D printed ABS AK magazine is.  I wouldn't expect the locking lugs to last very long, but it's a magazine that you can make in a one-bedroom apartment with computer and a $750 3D printer. If you haven't visited the DefCAD site yet, you can browse the files here.  You won't be able to open the files without some kind of CAD software.

Some Rifle Magazines Available

Tapco 30 round black AK-47 - Galati International - $13.95 - SOLD OUT
Tapco 20 round black AK-47 - Brownells - $14.99 - SOLD OUT
C Products 20 round AR-15 - Galati International - $19.95


Not great prices, but I've seen worse.  Galati has set a limit of 5 magazines.

Sign Petition: NBC David Gregory Broke D.C. Gun Law

Sign White House Petition to Press Charges against NBC Meet The Press host David Gregory, for breaking Washington D.C.'s "assault weapon" ban.  He held up, on camera, a 30-round AR-15/M-16 magazine, and stated, "Here is a magazine for ammunition that carries 30 bullets."  Oops!  D.C. gun laws say these magazines are not legal in the district.  It doesn't matter whether you have a firearm that it goes to or not.  Since Gregory is advocating a federal ban on these magazines, I think it's important that we hold him responsible for breaking the D.C. law.  I'm sure that he'd probably rat you out for doing the same, given the opportunity.

Screencap from NBC video (link posted below)

NBC has the episode posted on their website.  He holds up the magazine at about the 9 minute 45 second mark on the video.  You can skip to that point by dragging the triangle underneath the video.

You can read more about it on The Patriot Perspective WordPress page.  David Gregory Violates DC Gun Law On National TV —– Update: CNN’s Don Lemon Admits To Breaking Gun Laws, Too?  The text of the D.C. law is posted there, if you want to read it.

EDIT 12/26/12:  Not even half way there yet.

EDIT, early 12/27/12:  DC Police investigating MSNBC's David Gregory for possessing illegal ammo clip Mwahahaha!!

It seems that NBC asked about the magazine, the police told them it wasn't allowed, but they ignored them and carried on anyway.

I know that there's lots of stupid crimes, I've seen the TV shows and read the reports, but usually they don't involve asking the police beforehand, doing it anyway, announcing it, recording it on video, broadcasting it nationwide, and putting the video on the internet for the whole world to see. THAT is a kind of stupid, the likes of which I have not seen in a very long time!

Some Cool SKS Stuff

Stumbled upon the SKS magazine adapters from www.sksmagadapter.com (go figure).  They sell a few interesting items, but I think the 5th Generation magazine adapter is the most impressive.

The magazine adapters just bolt onto the bottom of the SKS action.  With the magazine adapters, you hack the duckbill off the front of the Tapco 20-round magazines.  The 5th generation allows the modified magazines to drop free when you press the trigger-shaped catch, if your bolt is modified so that it doesn't retain the magazine by the feed lips.  The magazines go straight in, with no rock-n-lock.

This video does a good job of showing how the 5th generation adapter works.

Unaltered SKS bolt doesn't allow Tactical mag changes, or magazines to drop free

The 3rd generation magazine adapter allows for trimming the duckbill off the front of the Tapco magazines, but the adapter is really just a front lip for holding in the front of the magazine.

3rd Generation Mag Adapter

For use with stock rifles and the 3rd generation mag adapters, they also have an extended magazine catch.  It's hard to tell from the photo, but the catch is sitting right in front of the trigger guard.

The mag release is pretty expensive though, at $58 (shipped).  They will send you $7 through PayPal if you send them your stock SKS mag catch though.  The 5th generation mag adapter works out cheaper than the 3rd generation adapter and extended mag catch.

They say this stuff will work with ALL SKS rifles, regardless of which country they're from.

I think there will be an SKS rifle build in my future.  I'm thinking a 16" barrel (or maybe a 14.7" barrel with permanent attached flash-hider/brake), 5th generation mag adapter, folding stock, scout scope base. . .  Sounds like a lot of money to put into a $300 rifle, but have you priced AKs lately?

AR15.com Thread - AR-15 Magazine Torture Test

The Unscientific Plastic Magazine Test

If you thought the origional PMag test videos were a little crazy, you haven't seen nothin' yet.  Green and tan follower G.I. mags, PMags, Tapco mags, Troy Blattlemags, Tango Down ARC mags, and Lancer AWM.  The magazines get soaked in various cleaners overnight, run in the dishwasher, heated with MRE warmers (I dunno either), dropped multiple times. . .

There were some mag body cracks, rounds popping loose, one mag rusted, one badly rusted spring, some discoloration, one floorplate melted some, a floorplate came loose, a couple dented magazine bodies, an explosive disassembly, and even a cracked follower.

Perhaps also of interest - Unscientific PMAG Chemical Tests

I was beaten to it by TheFirearmBlog, but if you haven't seen it, it's worth checking out.

5.45mm AR-15 Magazine Guide

Comparison of 5.56mm and 5.45mm magazines

5.45x39mm caliber stamping, SS is for stainless steel

The only dedicated 5.45mm AR-15 magazines that I know of are the C-Products/ASC/Stoner 5.45mm mags.  Except for cosmetic batch-to-batch changes, they all seem to be more or less the same.  Finishes vary from a sort of matte grey, like the Fusil AR mags that I have, to a glossy black.  The followers, springs, and stainless magazine bodies all seem to be essentially identical in form.

The finish on the magazines, by the way, kind of sucks.  After a few uses, you’ll notice that the finish is wearing off, maybe flaking off, around the edges, especially where the mag fits into the rifle.

Although, I’ve heard that some shooters are having better luck with the new ASC (Ammuntion Storage Components) magazines, the three that I bought from AIM Surplus all gave me the same problems that I had with the C-Products magazines.  C-Products closed down shop, but rumor has it that ASC is the same people, making the same parts, off the same tooling and machinery.  The product line is essentially identical.

The Stoner magazines from Midway are rebranded C-Products/ASC magazines.  There may be some 5.45mm AR-15 magazines with Smith & Wesson stamped on the floorplates, for the M&P15R rifles and uppers – same deal as with the Stoner mags, rebranded C-Products/ASC.

Followers
The C-Products 5.45mm followers are similar to a no-tilt follower, but with no anti-tilt leg at the front.

5.45mm followers are missing the front leg

There may be some magazines out on the used market with skeletonized white plastic followers.  There was a guy selling these followers on a few gun-related message board classifieds as improved. 5.45mm AR-15 followers.  Last I heard, Spike’s Tactical had the tooling to produce these “improved” followers.  At least one batch of Spike’s 5.45mm uppers came with a magazine with the white follower already installed.  They had stopped this by the time I bought my Spike’s upper.

I’ve read that the “improved” followers only work with the earlier C-Products magazines.  I can’t confirm this because I can’t get hold of one of the followers, and besides that, all my magazines seem to be structurally identical.

"Improved follower" video I found on YouTube

Magpul followers can be modified to fit the 5.45mm magazine bodies.  When you try to put one in, you’ll see that ribs on side of the Magpul follower interfere with the floorplate tabs on the bottom of the magazine body.  If you cut away the ribs on the follower that get in the way, they seem to work fine.  One of the magazines that’s been working really well for me has a Gen.III yellow Magpul follower.  Unfortunately, the Magpul follower is not a cure-all, and will probably not fix a finicky magazine all on it’s own.  The anti-tilt legs of the Magpul follower may cost you a few rounds of magazine capacity over the standard black 5.45mm follower.

Magpul No-Tilt-Follower modified to fit 5.45mm mag body

The ASC magazines that I fixed the feedlips of are working well with the black 5.45mm followers that came with them. I had originally tried the Magpul follower because I didn't know why the magazines were giving me trouble.  I tried it again when I found one magazine that just refused to work, and I was getting desperate.  Not a necessity, but if you want a high-visibility follower, or if it's something you think might help, then maybe it's worth a try.

Compatibility
Springs for standard AR-15 magazines will not fit the 5.45mm bodies.  The 5.56mm AR-15 magazine springs are too wide to fit the 5.45mm bodies.  AK-74 magazine springs will fit, but nobody sells just the springs.  You’d have to scrap an AK-74 magazine to get the spring, and they aren’t that cheap at $13+ each for surplus magazine.  AK-47 magazine springs will not fit either.  (EDIT, no longer true, scroll down for note on Wolff magazine springs)

Magpul PMag spring top, C-Products 5.45mm spring bottom

The C-Products 5.45mm magazines are, unfortunately, a little bit on the short side, and don't have enough power to trip my extended bolt catch consistently.  You may even have trouble getting them to feed reliably without spraying some dry lube into the magazine tube, because the spring has a hard time pushing up the ammo fast enough before the bolt carrier returns forward.

Width and length of the 5.45mm AR-15 magazines are standard G.I. size, so they’ll fit most any mag pouch that will work for a 5.56mm AR/M-16 mag.

The LULA AR-15 magazine loaders don't work with the 5.45mm magazines.  The Pro-Mag loader that crams 5 rounds at a time into the magazine at once, and works well with 5.45mm magazine, as well as with 5.56mm mags.  I got my Pro-Mag loader from Bravo Company USA (they call it "AR15 Personal Magazine Loader 5.56mm"), but they are available from other places too.

Magpul Ranger plates will fit the 5.45mm magazines, but again will require modifications.  Just for kicks, I spent maybe 10 minutes cutting the lockplate with a hacksaw and round file.  I don't have any of the Magpul L-Plates, but I would imagine they would work with the same modification.

C-Products 5.45mm magazine with Magpul Ranger plate

Ranger lockplate modified for 5.45mm magazine

Oh, I guess I wasn't the first to try.

PMags with 5.45mm ammo
With the front leg of a new Magpul PMag Maglevel follower cut off, 5.45mm rounds will feed well, and the magazine holds 29 rounds of 5.45mm.  The mag, modified like this will not trip my extended bolt catch when it runs empty though.  The LULA 5.56mm AR-15 loader sort of works with the modified Maglevel, but not as well as with 5.56mm ammo.

The older Maglevel magazines without the dust cover that clips onto the bottom, or round count markings, will jam up when you try to load them with 5.45mm ammo, even with a modified follower.

PMag Maglevel follower chopped for use with 5.45mm

Modified follower will stick out through the feedlips

Related Link:  Desecration of a PMAG: 5.45x39mm - Cutting the follower, and magazine compatibility.

Other Magazines with 5.45mm ammo
I'll spare you going through all the different kinds of magazines I have individually.  D&H aluminum with Magpul follower, standard 30-round PMags with no window, PMag 20s, and 30-round Troy Battle mags will generally work okay if you don’t load more than 12 or 15 rounds.  If you try to cram in more than 15 rounds, the ammo or the followers will jam in the tube, and the magazine won’t feed properly.

I tried a 30-round Lancer L5 magazine, but it jammed up when loaded with 12-15 rounds.  The magazine body bowed out, making it difficult to insert into the rifle, and it definitely didn’t drop free when the mag catch button was pressed.  I believe that there are multiple generations of the L5 magazines.  There are reports of some working better than others.

EDIT: 9/28/2014 - Extra Power Magazine Springs
Wolff Gun Springs has started selling AK-74 magazine springs.  They are longer than you need, but I think they have fixed my problem child magazines.  At $5.60 each (when you buy 10) they are a little expensive though.

I cut off 5 coils, and bent the end of the spring to hook onto the 5.45mm AR follower.  Not really a big deal.  You could probably cut off more, but I figure that it's easier to cut off more later, than to try and add coils back on.  I intend to buy more and replace the springs in all of my 5.45mm AR magazines.

Thanks Wolff!!

Related Links:

Tuning 5.45mm AR-15 Mags
M4Carbine.net Forum: I am taking the 5.45x39mm plunge - currently at 57 pages
AIM Surplus: Spike's Tactical 5.45x39mm 16" Mid-Length Upper
AIM Surplus: Spike's Tactical 5.45x39mm 8.25" Upper

This article is an attempt to compile all the knowledge of the 57 pages of the M4Carbine.net thread, other sources, and my own personal experiences.  Thanks to Neckbreaker for finding the PMag modification thread on XDTalk.  Thanks to thisguy41487 for having the balls to hack up PMags.  Thanks to whoever figured out the Magpul follower mod - I can't find the thread, or your username, sorry.

Review: Troy Battlemag AR-15 Magazine

EDIT:  If you are a 2nd Amendment supporter, you should probably read about Troy's hiring a Ruby Ridge shooter, before continuing.


I haven’t used my Troy magazines too much yet to talk about reliability, but I can show you some pictures, and tell you a little bit about them.

Battlemags with and without pull-tab

The Troy Battlemags come with two different lock-plates.  They come assembled with a pull-tab lockplate, which you can use to pull the magazine out of a mag pouch.  You also get a flat lock-plate if you don’t want or need the pull-tab.  It’s a nice touch, to be sure.  It beats paying three-something dollars for a standard Magpul or a couple dollars more for a Ranger plate.  I guess it might be a problem when you go to Tap-Pull-Roll-Rack with a partially loaded magazine.

The Troy magazine base-plate is held on with tabs, much like a Lancer L5 magazine.  The Lancer disassembly tool actually works really well on the Troy magazine.  The Lancer tool is piece of plastic that usually sells for around $3, but you might find them cheaper on closeout since the new Lancer magazines don’t require a tool to disassemble.  You don’t really need the tool, you could use the tip of a bullet to push in the tabs, but it can be difficult to get one, and then get the other, without the first tab popping back into place.  The Lancer tool pushes in both tabs at the same time.

The Troy base-plate is slim; it’s actually the same width as the rest of the magazine.  If you want a polymer mag, but the wide bases on PMags are pissing you off, or they just don’t work with your vest or pouches, then the Troy’s may be for you.

The Troy follower is an anti-tilt unit, in high-visibility green.  The spring it bent, such that the follower is pushed straight up, rather than rear-first, as is the usual with most AR/M-16 magazines, including the PMags.

The magazine body has a fish-scale checkering pattern on the sides and down the front and back.  All the texturing is oriented to give maximum traction when pulling on the magazine.  When seating a Troy magazine, you had better get your palm at least part-way under the base-plate.  If I were texturing a magazine body, I would probably use multi-directional pineapple grenade checking, like Glock used on their 2nd and 3rd generation frames, or maybe stippling - like between 36 and 60 grit.

If you need some kind of a pull tab to get mags out of your vest or pouches, these may be a good deal.  If you like 6-pack SAW magazine pouches or something, and the fat base-plates of PMags won’t fit, the Troy mags may work out for you.  I do like the high-visibility followers, and the bend on the top coil of the spring is something that should get done all the time, but usually doesn’t get done.  I guess they aren’t my favorite magazines, but there’s really not anything wrong with them, and under certain conditions I can see them being very desireable.

EDIT, 10/21/12:  I've run 3 full loads through one of the Troy mags, without any issues.  I've loaded it with M193, and put it in with my SHTF stash.  The other one will make it into the rotation for further testing.

Tuning 5.45mm AR-15 Mags

So far, every C Products and ASC 5.45mm magazine that I've tried has caused jams, straight out of the packaging.  Every one.  Things are okay if I don’t load more than about a dozen rounds, but when I load 20 or 25, I’ll get plenty of stoppages.  Whenever I remember to check, the stoppages have all come when feeding from the right side of the magazine.

This is the typical 5.45mm feed jam. Looks like bolt-over-base.

If you load 5 or 6 rounds (look at both feed lips), you’ll see that the feed lips are holding the case along the full length.  When you get to around 20 rounds in the magazine, you’ll start to see that the lips of the magazine are really only holding the case near the rim.  The left-side feed lips are usually pretty good, but the right-side feed lips have all left the front end of the cases of the rounds without much support.  There seemed to be a logical connection.

You need to be prepared to finish manufacturing the magazine tubes.  In a somewhat rare fashion, I decided that this particular job was better to handle with some finesse, rather than brute force.  Another Spike’s 5.45mm upper owner said he fixed the magazines with a hammer.  I decided to make another magazine lip tool, and I bend the feedlips. . . carefully.  At first, I was just bending the lips to hold the cases of the rounds better when loaded to capacity.  This resulted in about a 50% success rate.  Some of the newly tuned magazines ran fine.  Some still jammed as if I hadn’t done anything.  Some of the magazines would feed up until the 2nd to last round, and then jam.

The problem seems to be related to the angle that the bullets were presented.  With the magazines that worked, the tips of the bullets were only a few millimeters above the front edge of the magazine.  The ones that continued to jam, as if I hadn’t done anything, had the bullets sitting higher.  The ones that didn’t jam until the 2nd to last round, I had bent the feed lips too far, and the tip of the bullet was almost even with the front edge of the magazine.

The modified magazines hold the 5.45mm ammo at the same angle as my D&H aluminum U.S.G.I.-type 5.56mm magazines.  Yeah, I guess maybe I should have checked this earlier.

See how the tip of the bullet in the unmodified mag points skyward.  "There's your problem!"

New strategy.  Take one of the magazines that works, and fix the others to match it.  This seems to be working well.  I think maybe I got this figured out.

Tapco Maybe Interested in Making 5.45x39mm AR Mags

A Tapco rep on AR15.com is saying they may be interested in making 5.45mm Russian magazines for the AR-15 platform if there's enough interest.  Drop an e-mail to customerservice@tapco.com to show your support, if you're interested.

Link To Thread on AR15.com

CProducts is the only company currently making 5.45x39mm AR mags, and there's a rumor that they are in trouble.  There's been a lot of complaints about the CProducts magazines not always working so well anyway.  Magpul apparently not too interested in 5.45mm mags, and Lancer has said no.

PMag Coupler = 50 or 60 Round AR-15 Magazine

California Competition Works has developed a PMag coupler.  It's made of anodized 6061 aluminum.  You remove the baseplates and lockplates from your two Magpul AR-15 magazine and connect them together with the coupler, using the 30-coil magazine spring included with the coupler.  You can use two 30-round magazines (which would be bloody long), or you can use a 30-round magazine and a 20-round magazine.

Although a little on the expensive side, it would definately make for a fun outing with an AR, and it would probably be good for 3-Gun matches.

EDIT, 7/20/2010: I've just remembered that 11 round magazines aren't legal in California, much less 50 or 60 round mags.  I wonder how they do their engineering and T&E.  Drive to Nevada?

also edittedd for speelng

CDNN Glock Mag Sale and Free Shipping

CDNN Investments is running a sale on Glock mags. Most of the normal, "hi-cap," mags are going for $19.99, which a price I really haven't seen since at least October. The 33 round, 9mm mags, are $33.33.

Free shipping on orders over $200 if you use the coupon code "fs200." $5 shipping for any internet order this weekend, plus a little "Swiss Army" type knife, Colt keychain screwdriver, and tinted mirrored shooting glasses for free.

I'd avoid all the Target Sports stuff and all the optics (cheap Asian junk), but there are some other good deals on the site if you look around.

I should be pretty well stocked up on Glock mags for the rest of my life now, plus some to give away to family, as needed.


10/20 EDIT: Okay, the free shipping offer is over, but they are now offering $7.99 shipping for all internet orders, along with 2 free gifts (cheap pair of safety glasses and 16-Function "Swiss-style" knife. The Glock mag prices have not changed, still $19.99, and $33.33 for the 33-round mags. Hmm, maybe I should order some more 33-round magazines for when Lone Wolf gets more Glock mag AR-15 lowers in.

Natchez has the 33 round magazines a little cheaper, but the regular mags are a couple dollars more. No more 3 for $15 each.

AR-15 Magazines

Troy's AR Mag FAQ
No relation to Troy Industries.  It hasn’t been updated in many years, but there’s still some useful information

Anarchangel’s Blog – How To Feed Your Poodle Shooter
Lots of good information on magazines, like what company is currently using the tooling once used by Okay Industries, and how to spot fake G.I. magazines.

Generally, you can’t go too wrong with a USGI or Colt magazine, though there is an occasional lemon, and Colt-branded mags are often greatly overpriced. Oh, wait a minute, an important note - it’s possible that you may find junk magazines with USGI floor plates slipped on, or, possibly, magazines that failed quality inspection. If you are buying USGI mags, be sure that the guy/shop you are buying from is reputable. If you have the chance to handle them before you buy, [carefully] run your finger along the feedlips to check for burrs.   UPDATE 11/20/11:  Except for a singular feed jam with one of my grey mags, my D&H teflon-coated aluminum magazines have all run well in several rifles, including the ACR.  That one jam may have been either a fluke, or due to insufficient lubrication.  I haven't gotten back around to retest this magazine yet.  The D&H 20-round curved magazines work well too.  UPDATE, 2/19/12:  Yup, definitely a problem with that mag.  Problem was similar to the problems that I had with the 5.45mm AR-15 magazines, but the problem was the left-side feed lip.  I bent the lip, and it seems to be good now.  UPDATE, 10/21/12:  I've run 4 full loads through the grey mag that was giving me problems, and it now seems to be running fine.

Brownells magazines are similar to USGI magazines, and are growing in popularity. Actually, Brownells recently got a gubmint contract to sell their mags to the military.

For what it's worth, my M4gery won't always strip the first round or two from fresh, fully-loaded, G.I.-type magazines. If I load the 30 rounders to 28, and the 20 round mags to 18, they feed fine. Doesn't matter what follower is in the magazine.  UPDATE 11/20/11:  They seem to be fine after they break-in after a few uses.

For magazine followers, I really don’t know what to tell you. Magpul anti-tilt followers seem to be a good idea, and I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone complain about them.  They are certainly easier to remove from the magazine tubes than G.I. followers.  Some places are selling USGI mags with Magpul followers already installed for just a tiny amount more than mags with GI followers.

AR-15 No-Tilt magazine followers

The C-Products anti-tilt follower is really very similar to the Magpul Gen. II follower.  I seem to remember reading that Magpul sued C-Products over the follower, but lost.  I guess I would have sued too, in this particular case.

The USGI black and green followers often work fine for many rifles and magazines, and you may never really have a problem with one. It bothers me how easy it is to tilt and jam the G.I. followers though.  I have no experience with the new anti-tilt tan G.I. magazine followers.

m4carbine.net forum thread on tan-follower G.I. mags: How are the Enhanced Tan Follower USGI 30rd magazines working in the field?  Sort of a mixed bag of reports, but "a waste of range time and ammo ameliorated only by Going (sic) to the other mags, that we don't have enough of any more and can't get," does not sound very good.  I'm not exactly eager to buy some to try these out myself.

C-Products magazines are USGI-type magazines in either stainless steel or aluminum, and have Magpul or Magpul-type C-Products produced anti-tilt followers. I haven’t used any of these (yet), but reviews are generally good, and they do allegedly stand behind their product. There are some reports of really bad mags made during the mad rush after the ’08 elections. Check their website, linked at the beginning of this paragraph, before you buy their mags from someone else, the prices aren't bad.  UPDATE 11/20/11:  I have tested one stainless steel C-Products magazine.  Although they actually feel a little bit more flimsy than an aluminum G.I. magazine, the one that I've tested works fine.  C-Products is no more, if you get a bad one you may be able to return it to where you bought it, but there is no C-Products company to return them to.  ASC magazines are essentially the same as C-Products magazines, and MidwayUSA sells the same mags calling them AR-Stoner magazines.

Magpul PMag, an M-Rev model to be specific

Magpul polymer magazines, of the PMag and Maglevel varieties, are very popular right now. They are a lot easier to take apart for cleaning than most metal magazines, with no prying the baseplate off or having to work the spring out one coil at a time. They come with anti-tilt followers. A ridge inside, along the front of the magazine, keeps the ammunition in two separate columns. It seems to me that the polymer feedlips make these mags significantly easier to load and unload, and you won’t scratch up the brass. The baseplate is flat, without any sharp edges, which is nice to have when slapping a loaded magazine into a rifle with the bolt closed. One of the downsides of the Magpul mags is that they are thicker, with wider baseplates, and there are magazine pouch fitment issues sometimes.  The PMags fit fine into the 3-mag G.I. pouches with the two grenade pouches on the sides.

The 20-round PMags work well too.  Basically the same thing, but smaller.  I used one a lot while shooting off a bench working up loads.  I think it's good to at least have a few good 20-round mags handy, and I like these.

The M4gery that won't always feed from fully-loaded G.I. mags runs fine with fully-loaded PMags.

At least one carbine class instructor reports that Magpul PMags ran much better in a high round count class where students (and instructors) spent much of the time in mud.

Survival Podcast Forum: 224,000 Rounds in 12 Days

All of the AR-15 magazines had issues with mud but the MagPul “P-Mags” did the best job overall, by a wide margin, during the 12 days.

The PMag Maglevel magazines have small windows in each side. The Magpul EMag is similar, but has only one window, and no reinforcing ribs. Coupled with a spring that has some orange paint on it, the windows allow you to estimate how many rounds are left in the magazine. With all the Revision I Maglevels that I have, the orange paint is very faint and difficult to see. The newest version of the Maglevel has round count markings, a bright orange coil on the spring, and is a little slimmer than the older version.

It may be important to note that my AR-15s don't always lock back after the last round with the new Maglevels with the round-count numbers next to the windows.  They run fine in my ACR though.  UPDATE, 2/19/12:  Bad news, they no longer lock back the bolt of my ACR.  Good news, I bought some new ones, and the follower comes up higher, and locks the bolt back in both my AR-15s and ACR.  The problem seems to be just with the early 2nd Generation M-Rev Maglevel magazines.  I'm going to try e-mailing the tech at Magpul and see if I can exchange the older ones.

My go-to mags are the older generation Maglevel magazines. I also have a 20-round PMag ready to go, if there's a need.

Magpul also makes baseplates for USGI type magazines. The L-Plate had a rubber pad, and a lock-plate. The Ranger plate is similar, but has a rubber loop to help you pull it out mag pouches. Both of these base plates are much easier to remove for cleaning. Push the locking plate in a little bit, and the L-Plate or Ranger plate slide right off, without any prying or bending, as you’d do to get the aluminum floorplate off.

I bought a pack of Ranger plates for PMags, though I’m not sure why, other than to look cool. The PMags don’t hardly benefit from them like the USGI mags do. I should have just bought the slip-on Magpul loops for the PMags.

The original Magpul magazine extraction device.

Lancer is making polymer mags that allow to you tell how many rounds are left in the magazine also. The Lancer mag is made of transparent polymer, with steel feedlip inserts, and a rubber-padded baseplate, like an L-Plate.   I’m hearing good reports about the Lancer magazines working well, although I’m not so impressed.  UPDATE 11/20/11:  Lancer has modified the design of their magazines, and the new ones are called Advanced Warfighter Magazines.  The feedlip inserts are larger, the magazine body is textured, and I believe they went to tool-less disassembly.

The CAA mags are polymer, and the Countdown mags actually have a round counter on the bottom rear of the magazine that displays the number of rounds remaining.  The CAA mags are very new, and I don’t know much about them yet.  The CAA mags are made in Israel.  The Israeli IDF is replacing their aluminum mags with the CAA Tactical MAG 17.   UPDATE, 11/20/11:  I have one of the CAA countdown mags.  The countdown widget is a pretty cheesy measuring tape type gizmo that runs from the baseplate to the follower.  Has worked fine so far, but I don't trust the spring in the tape measure widget.  It would be bad if the countdown mechanism jammed up, and wouldn't let the follower advance.  If I could get them as cheap as the Tapco mags without the countdown thingy, I'd probably buy a few more.

I bought 5 British SA80 steel magazines during the years of the 1994 “Assault Weapons Ban.” Three of them seem to work really well, and they feel really solid. Two of them would drag on the bottom of the bolt carrier, and would cause failure to feed problems. I filed the mag catch notch to try to fix this, but now they will still jam the rifle if I put a little upward pressure on the mag. They come with black followers, which are very similar to USGI green followers. They do feel noticeably heavier than aluminum magazines, and they will rust if you don't oil them.  UPDATE, 11/20/11:  I'm down to two of five that really work all the time, and magazine catches sometimes stick in the notch.  It would not suggest buying any, unless you really want a super-strong magazine, and/or you can pick them up really cheap.  I "benched" the one more, because rounds loaded near the SAAMI max length pretty much jammed the magazine solid.  The same ammo ran fine through various other magazines.  I even ran some ammo over the maximum length in Magpul PMags.  It's worth noting that you need to be careful when using magazine loaders that you're sure that the ammo and magazine will work together.

Fusil USA makes steel magazines with steel anti-tilt followers, witness holes along the spine, and floor plates that are easy to remove.  The floor plates work in a similar fashion to the Magpul baseplates, and the baseplates of most pistol magazines.  Although I haven't tried to fit aftermarket floorplates, I believe that they will fit.  The Fusil baseplate also has a loop for tying on a loop of parachute cord.  The two I've been using work fine in my ARs, but one of them falls out the ACR, no matter how hard that I slap it.  I believe that these magazines are now, officially, G.I. magazines.  My 50% failure rate in the ACR concerns me, but I like the witness holes and the floorplates.  I've also read some reports of cracking at the top rear of the magazines where the magazine is notched for the bolt to strip and feed rounds.

Troy Battlemag

Review: Troy Battlemag AR-15 Magazine

9mm AR Mags
As far at 9mm mags go, the Metalform Colt magazines are regarded by many as being the Holy Grail. Metalform mags with Colt baseplates sell for $60+, but you can still buy them from Metalform for a little over $40.  UPDATE, 11/20/11:  The Metalform mags with metal UZI-type followers seem to be 100%.  The ones with polymer followers feed fine, but may not lock the bolt open all the time, without fail.

C-Products makes the current-production Colt 9mm magazines.  I believe that they are all marked "SS" somewhere, to indicate that they are made of stainless steel.  I believe that the Metalform mags are made of carbon steel.

Many report having problems with them sitting too high when used with Rock River Arms mag blocks. Although they feed fine in my lower with Hahn bottom-loading magazine block, I did have to file down the feed lips and the welded seam on the back on a couple of the magazines, and they don't lock the bolt open all the time. They are a lot cheaper than Metalform magazines, at less than $20 each through their website. Some of the C-Products magazines that I bought factory direct have Colt baseplates, and some don't.  UPDATE, 11/20/11:  Sometimes the C-Products followers come up high enough to lock the bolt open after the last round, and sometimes they don't.  C-Products and the new ASC brand magazines are the same.  C-Products reorganized, and changed their name, but the magazines are essentially the same.  Perhaps also of note is that the finish on all the C-Products/ASC magazines will be scratched off down to bare metal after the first use.

Magazine Loaders
The LULA loaders kick ass. The 5.56mm AR magazines aren't that difficult to load, but the LULA loader is still really nice to have. I misplaced the first one that I bought (only to find it after my next range trip), and ended up buying a second one. Although they are expensive, for just two pieces of plastic and a wire ring, they are really nice to have when loading or unloading several magazines at a time.

The LULA for 9mm AR mags is almost essential, as those suckers are a real bitch to load.

If you are in the military and/or you get your ammo loaded into 10-round stripper clips, you'll want the StripLULA. Works similar to the stripper clip guides that come with G.I. bandoliers, but is easier to use.

I have a Cammenga loader that I picked up at a gun show. That thing's a piece of crap. I tried it with several different types of magazines, and the most I ever got loaded was one or two rounds into the magazine before the loader jammed up completely. Twenty-something dollars I wish I could get back.

The Pro-Mag AR-15 magazine loader is one of few things they got right.  Pro-Mag magazines are generally awful, but the Pro-Mag loader will load 5 rounds into a magazine in one movement.  It even works with 5.45x39mm ammo, which the LULA will not work with.

Lancer L5 AR-15 Mags. Thumbs Down.

I found some for about $16 each at the Valley Forge Gun Show, and bought three. When I got them home and took them apart for inspection, I realized that was a mistake.

The plastic body of the mag is rather thin, and can be bent inward in the middle noticeably.

The follower is a variation on the green G.I. follower, and it will tilt if you push on either the front or the back.

Green G.I. follower on left, Lancer follower on right.

Green G.I. follower on top, Lancer follower bottom

Getting them apart for cleaning is not particularly easy. The floor-plate (which has a rubber bumper) locks onto the mag body with three tabs. To remove it, you need to push in on one of the side tabs with a cartridge or a pen or a similar pointy tool, and pull the floor-plate, and hold it so that it doesn't reengage. Then you need to press in the tab on the other side. At this point the mag spring will probably push the floor-plate out, and you can disengage the rear tab. There is a tool, sold separately, that pushes in both side tabs at once.

For comparison, I'll explain how to disassemble a PMag. Press in the center of the lockplate with the locking tab of the magazine cover (or the tip of a bullet or a pen), and slide off the floor-plate. With the floor-plate off, you can easily pull the guts out of the mag body. It takes longer to explain it than it does to do it.


I'm going to get rid of these mags one way or another. I don't think they're as good as PMags or plain old metal mags. One will probably go with the OA-96 pistol when I get another pistol upper. Hopefully, I'll sell one or two more along with the Colt M-16 BCG that I need to sell.

A Lancer representative on the AR15.com forums has said that Magpul anti-tilt followers won't work well with the magazine body. They aren't compatible with any aftermarket floor plates with pull tabs either.

UPDATE, 1/16/11:  I've run one of my Lancer magazines through a couple of rifles, with no issues.  I haven't really heard anything bad about them from anyone else either.  Some of the guys that run carbine courses are recommending these.  I'm afraid I've got my foot in my mouth on this one.

Mini-14s with 20-Round Magazines

Click here to see the spec page for the NRA Mini-14 Rifle

I saw the announcements for these rifles in the NRA magazines. I was shocked. Ruger hasn't sold 20-Round Mini-14 magazines (directly) to civilians in more than a decade. For $205 over the retail price of base model (wood stock, blued finish) Mini-14, you get two 20-Round magazines, a Hogue Overmolded stock, a 16 1/8" barrel, and a limited edition serial number. A portion of the purchase price goes toward the NRA.

I'm not sure what the street price will be. Retail price on the standard Mini is $830, and I can get them locally for $614.

I was excited to see this at first, but I though the Minis were a lot cheaper. For just a little bit more than a standard Mini, I could build an AR-15 Carbine.

Still no sign of post-2004 Ruger Minis with factory folding stocks.