30 round G3 and FAL mags?

[Father Knows Best]

Does anyone have any experience with 30 rounds mags for FAL's or G3's (HK 91, CETME, etc.)? I have a DSA SA58 (metric FAL) and a PTR-91 (HK 91 clone), and a bunch of 20 round mags for each. Recently, I've seen a couple of places advertising 30 round mags for them.

I'm not sure that I really have a use for them, but I'm curious. If you have experience with them, let me know how they worked for you.

Thanks

 

[DMK]

Not sure about the G3, but the Israeli's used 30 round mags with their heavy barrel FALs (they used them for suppressive fire, like a BAR). I picked up two that were in real bad shape and had trouble with them, but I don't think it was because of the design. I'll bet if you got real Israeli mags in good shape, they'd work fine.

Where have you seen them for sale BTW?

I'll tell ya what though. 30 rounds of 7.62x51 is pretty darn heavy in an already heavy rifle.

 

[Jay Kominek]

DSArms has carried 30 rounders for at least the last few years:
http://www.dsarms.com/item-detail.cfm?ID=11730MU&storeid=1&image=magfal11730m.gif
$35 for one. $30 ea for two or more.

I'd be interested in knowing of anywhere else carrying them.

 

[SoonerGunner]

I heard that loaded they are heavy as all get out but other than that they are good. I just got a JLD PTR 91K so I'll soon find out myself.

 

[Murphster]

Here's a thread from the HK Weapons Systems Forum that deals with G3 30 rounders:

http://www.hkweaponsystems.com/cgi-bin/forums/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=1&t=002051

I remembered seeing this one. There may be additional threads dealing with them if you run a search.

 

[iamkris]

They always struck me as overly big, heavy, too long for prone, bench or bipod use, attaching themselves to rifles already pretty big and heavy for lugging around for miles through the brush.

 

[Risasi]

Yeah, a 30 seems silly. Personally I'd never buy over 20 round mags. A couple years about I got a dozen 20 round mags for my HK's and CETME for something like $40, from Tapco. I haven't checked lately, but I'd shop around a bit if I were you.

 

[BruceB]

When the Canadian Army transitioned to the FAL rifle (C1/C1A1) from the #4 Enfield, they also dropped the .303 Bren LMG in favor of the heavy-barrel-with-bipod C2/C2A1 as the squad automatic weapon.

The C2 used a 30-round mag, and it was DEFINITELY an awkward SOB to use, even on the bipod, and use of the bipod is not always possible. Since every rifleman carried at least four 20-rounders, we generally carried a 20-round mag in the C2 until the weapon was set up to deliver supporting fire. At that point, the 30-round mag was sometimes useful, but when firing with the bipod folded, the 20-round mag was often better.

For an owner of an FAL rifle, the 30-mag is a neat accessory, but the 20-round mag is far more practical....'specially when we can buy five or six 20s for the price of one thirty-rounder!

 

[Father Knows Best]

Oh, I have plenty of 20 round mags. I bought several dozen alloy G3 mags (standard 20 round config) for $1.97 each. FAL mags are little more expensive ($5-10 each), so I don't have quite as many.

I was really just curious. I'd seen the 30 rounders advertised, but never seen one in person, and wondered where they came from and how well they worked. I guess if I had a real selective fire FAL or G3, I might see the use for 30 round mags. On the "rock 'n roll" setting, a 30 round mag is far superior to a 20 (but of course not as good as a belt-fed!). For semi-auto, though, 20 rounds is plenty. If anything, I'd like some smaller capacity mags for use when shooting off the bench.

 

[greg531mi]

Where did you get those HK mags for $1.97 each?

 

[Father Knows Best]

Where did you get those HK mags for $1.97 each?

I don't recall exactly where, but that's pretty much the going rate used alloy HK mags. For example, I just looked at Interordnance and they have 10 packs of HK 91 alloy mags for $19.50 ($1.95 each): http://www.interordnance.com/Mercha...ode=INTERORDNANCE.com&Product_Code=G3M-10PACK

 

[jobu07]

I was just looking at that Interordance ad, and, well...

Same as G3M-EXC but in very good used condition. 11-100 @ 1.70 EA. 101-1000 @ $1.50 EA. 1001-9999 @ 1.30 EA. 10,000 OR MORE @ $1.00 EA.

I wonder just how big of a shipment they ordered to begin with to be able to offer these prices?

 

[sigman4rt]

Got a couple for my L1A1 from DSA. They work great, though when loaded and installed, they make the weapon quite heavy. They were $30. ea. I can get 20 rd. mags for about $8. so they are not really cost efficient. Still there is nothing quite like the looks of one of those puppies hooked up to the L1A1.

 

[MachIVshooter]

I bought a couple of 30 rounders for the G-3 at a gun show. I don't know who made them, but they were $25/ea and have run just fine. I modified one of them to use in my AR-10. Other than no last shot hold open (I didn't swap the followers) they work fine in the AR too. It was about a 10 minute modification. As others have said, the 30 rounders are not conducive to prone or BR shooting, but they sure are fun! As weight goes, the extra 2" and 10 rounds is a very negligible difference