AR-15 Magpul magazines

[hso]

Put another way, do these magazines tend to have function issues in the long term? Any observations?

I have Gen 1 mags that are still working fine, but magazines are consumable items and should be updated from time to time. I only keep the few magazines loaded that are for emergency purposes. The rest that get loaded only when they are used for courses or range play.

 

[mcb]

I got to agree with @Varminterror @Nature Boy here. Storing a huge quantity of magazines full of ammo that never gets used seems less that useful to me. I have a couple 30rd 556 magazine loaded with appropriate ammo storied next to my 556 carbine for ready use if an unfortunate situation arises that needs that tool. But if those situation can't be dealt with in a magazine or two, one of two things will be true; I will be dead or I will have time to load more magazines. Those ready magazines/ammo get rotated frequently with any range trips that involve taking my carbine. Ready magazines get used frequently if I can manage it. I trust the magazine that was used in last weekend's range trip or 3-gun match over the one that has been sitting in an ammo can for the past 10 years (loaded or not).

Also most of my AR are not in 556 but some other cartridge that are mostly hunting/fun guns. Not sure what scenarios you are preparing for that is going to require 12 magazines of 30 Remington AR loaded when that only comprises 63 rounds... or a very similar ratio of 10 magazines and 64rds of 450 bushmaster.

The AR I use most in my 300 BO pistol. It goes with me nearly every time I go out to the hunting property. I have four 20rd magazines I primarily use with it. They all stay loaded and in a tool bag, and when out and about away from the truck, one is in the gun, one on the belt. I rotate each trip. The ammo never gets stale. Me and the unarmored opossums have been having an on going turf war for the past few years. You never know when those crafty critter will jump you while trying to check trail cams or cut shooting lanes for a deer stand. Got to be ready.

 

[armoredman]

Again, your paradigm is a logical paradox.

Keeping as many mags as can be used within the context of use makes sense. Keeping so many loaded mags on hand that you 1) forget how many you have, and 2) don’t have currency of use with the mag to know it functions properly is not utility, it’s just hoarding.

Call me a hoarder, then, as I lost count of how many AR mags I actually have. However, I remember the AWB years, and how good mags became very valuable. I saw a beat to death metal 30 round mag sell for $100. Also, mags are wear items and I have had a few mags for different guns wear out over the years.
Come to think of it, I haven't ordered any more recently, must have met my "needs". For now.

 

[Phaedrus/69]

AR mags are pretty cheap, and as @armoredman says, a wear item. I've got four rifles that use the same standard mag so there's no point not stocking up when I find a good deal.

 

[Varminterror]

I lost count of how many AR mags I actually have.

no point not stocking up when I find a good deal.

Both have missed the point - have as many mags as your heart desires, but having them all loaded long term isn’t sensible.

 

[DesertFox]

The majority here are loaded with 20/ea. Changed from keeping mags mostly empty to mostly full several years ago, just a sign of the times.

Assorted mix of Magpul and metal mags.

 

[TonyAngel]

I still have a bunch of 1st gen pmags. Of course I've tossed a few over the years because they gave me some trouble for one reason or another. I just don't play with a mag that gives me trouble. I just toss them or relegate them to play duty. Mags are consumables and no matter the make, sooner or later they quit working for one reason or another. I haven't noticed an excessive failure rate with pmags, regardless of generation.

I usually keep about 1000 rounds loaded up in mags. When I practice, I just grab the can of mags and cycle through them. I suppose they get cycled about twice a month and every once in a while, I toss one and replace it. I wouldn't even try to keep every mag that i own loaded. Too hard to keep track of and doubles or triples the bulk of the ammunition should the need to move or store it arise.

 

[herrwalther]

I have Gen 1 Pmags from 2008 or 9. If they are going to fail they haven't done so yet.

 

[wesmonster]

My first mags were gen2 PMAGs. Straight 20s and windowed 30s. I'd use the 'dust covers' when storing loaded to take stress off the feed lips,
Never had any issues but not my favorite mags. The gen 2s were spec'd a bit big and were such a tight fit in my Rock River and Palmetto State lowers I had to file em down, and they're still so tight a full mag won't drop on it's own when I hit the mag release.
If you like using your mag for support off a tabketop they're solid, but I've got a dozen other brands of mags I use more often, mostly Lancers with a mix of various aluminum & steel body mags.
PMAGs have great feed geometry. And I have a D60 drum that's great. But if you're worried about how your mags will hold up 30 years from now, I'd recommend aluminum or steel bodied mags, or hybrids like Lancers.
If you want polymer AR mags, I think Magpul is the smart bet.

 

[wesmonster]

Forgot to add, while I do have a few 'end of the world' steel bodied E-lander & SMG mags with CMMG stainless steel followers, I mostly treat AR mags as expendable. I can walk into over a dozen stores local to me and buy multiple brands of AR mags for cheap, so stock up.

 

[Charlie98]

The old 20 round straight PMags were by far the most unreliable magazines I've ever seen.
I know they redesigned them but I question how they came to market at all.

I've got one of the original 20rd PMags, it was my tester to see if they were All That and a bag of chips. It has never failed me, and it's one of my most used magazines. Granted, my sample size of exactly 1 isn't a huge endorsement, but I've never had an issue with it.

I don’t look at magazines as long term storage containers.

I keep my bulk 5.56 rounds on stripper clips in ammo cans.

+1

I've got a few loaded magazines on hand, just because, but by and large my mag box is full of empty magazines... and strippers full of ammo.

Simple fact is, an unloaded magazine is a useless magazine.

No, an unloaded magazine is just, well, an unloaded magazine... it's potential for 'usefulness' is still just as relevant as if it was already loaded. That's like saying an unloaded pistol is useless.

 

[Captains1911]

I have several pmags that have been loaded for many years, with the dust covers on, including some gen1s that have been loaded since 2008. All still function fine. I believe the dust covers greatly reduce the feed lip cracking issues that some experience otherwise. I’ve really grown more fond of the Lancers mags, maninly because of the steel feed lips.

 

[Captains1911]

I’ve never had any issues with any of my gen1 20 rounders either, I probably have 10 or so. I don’t leave those loaded but they’ve seen plenty of range use.

 

[Phaedrus/69]

This sounds a bit logically paradoxical. If they’ve been loaded for over 10 years without use, how useful have they really been?

Both have missed the point - have as many mags as your heart desires, but having them all loaded long term isn’t sensible.

I can't speak for anyone else but while I have a ton of mags I only have about 10 loaded up at any one time. Is that too many? I dunno, maybe, but I'll eventually cycle through them. There are a couple of gun cases that I leave mags in, and my main plate carrier has a few mags attached to it. In both situations I like having some "grab and go" rigs where I can snag one item and have the stuff I need.

Ultimately I've ended up throwing away every fire extinguisher I've ever had because they expired, yet I always buy a new one to replace the old. So by your measure maybe having fire extinguishers at all is a waste but as with the gun stuff, it's not the odds but the stakes.

 

[DeepSouth]

It there validity to claims that AR-15 Magpul magazines develop issues over time and time is their biggest enemy.? Put another way, do these magazines tend to have function issues in the long term? Any observations?

I would think heat would be their biggest enemy.

I know if you leave them loaded in a hot vehicle they will self eject 5-10 cartridges. I am talking about hot though, not merely 90° or something but Deep South hot.

 

[Varminterror]

I can't speak for anyone else but while I have a ton of mags I only have about 10 loaded up at any one time. Is that too many? I dunno, maybe, but I'll eventually cycle through them. There are a couple of gun cases that I leave mags in, and my main plate carrier has a few mags attached to it. In both situations I like having some "grab and go" rigs where I can snag one item and have the stuff I need.

Ultimately I've ended up throwing away every fire extinguisher I've ever had because they expired, yet I always buy a new one to replace the old. So by your measure maybe having fire extinguishers at all is a waste but as with the gun stuff, it's not the odds but the stakes.

congrats, you even read both posts and still don’t get the point.

Here’s a simple hint - you self identified with the wrong comment, which do not apply to you.

 

[shoobe01]

Now the old Thermold stuff that was junk NIB.

Good point. Plastic mags have been around sorta forever.

Many of the "bakelite" (it is not bakelite) AK mags still work. Some people get on well with Orlite mags for ARs or Galils. Like those, despite the bad reputation a few people have no issue with Thermolds. Canadians did poorly and managed to shatter some in deep cold, but I have used some back when it was hard to get mags and even did classes with them. My worst experiences were overheating them, so the feed lips got soft, then cartridges could fly out esp when you dump them for reloads. Cool down, even just empty in the shade on a 95° day: all good again, not actually damaged. I still have a half dozen.

At the same time, I used some other mags that no longer exist. Ram Line did a very pretty, smoky translucent AR mag. It cracked at the feed lips just enough to induce stoppages. You can do bad plastic, but you can also do good plastic. Anyone here heard of the rubber first gen mag-pul MagPuls getting all gooey? It happens to other rubber (a bit of electronics hardware I worked on in the early 2000s got black goo on me earlier this year) but not MagPul stuff. I have total faith in their QC.

Don't forget how long plastic mags aside from MagPul have been around. Glock's first mags were all plastic, no reinforcement. 1982 is 41 years ago. They got the reinforcement more because the sides bulged so the mags wouldn't drop free etc. They always worked AFAIK/IIRC.

The AUG has all plastic mags as well, and they are as far as I know perfectly reliable. They are indeed used as an example of an overall design that is overall vastly improved and more reliable than even the best AR-15 mag. The AUG is called the StGw-77 in Austrian service. Yeah, there are mags for that platform that (including developmental) 50 years old. They all work. Beat up, scratched, surplus mags are coveted and always work.

The SIG 550 switched from the steel mags of the previous guns to all plastic. They are entirely reliable as far as I know (I have a SIG rifle, the mags in the US are expensive and hard to find so we'd have heard if there were some you should not buy).

 

[Phaedrus/69]

congrats, you even read both posts and still don’t get the point.

I suppose your "point", if I can use the term charitably, is that the correct amount of loaded mags is however many you have?

 

[Varminterror]

I suppose your "point", if I can use the term charitably, is that the correct amount of loaded mags is however many you have?

You’ve continued to miss my point, but I assume purposefully, just to be snarky.

 

[Wireguided Marine]

I have used both metal and Pmags: metal in the Marines, Pmags in the security field.

It’s been my experience that it’s easier to see damage on a metal mag: dents in the body or bent feed lips or floor plates.

With a Pmag the damaged feed lips may look ok when unloaded, but when loaded the pressure will flex them and then you can see the small cracks that were invisible when unloaded. I saw this once in a while with PMags at work.

One time someone at work had a Pmag pop out of their rifle while standing. Hit the floor and cracked, not sure where on the magazine it failed. All the rounds were ejected across a wide area.

I understand the appeal of Pmags, a little lighter, easier to grip, and a window for counting rounds. And the GI magazines twenty years ago sucked with bad followers and poor QC; some I saw were thirty years old at that point whereas the Pmags were brand new from a new company.

They just seem a little more delicate than metal.

I bought ten of the metal Sure Feed E2 a few months ago when I heard that company was going to stop making the mags. Nearly identical to the original Okay mags with better texture on outside and the Magpul follower.

 

[FL-NC]

In my experience, I have never seen issues with 5.56 Magpul mags. We tended to keep them loaded and used them under some pretty demanding conditions. Sometimes they would be "unloaded" in the field, but would be reloaded after. I can't say the same for standard US mil metal mags. In my experience, the black HK mags were very reliable too, but they were heavy and didn't fit right in some of the pouches we used.

 

[Tinker-S]

This could be for another thread: How many mags do one man needs?
Back on topic: In my opinion, anything and everything deteriorates with time. Simple as that, but I believe that with proper care, things will last a while. Do not run them over with your truck, do not let the dog play with them, and do not leave them loaded for an extended period of time, and the mags will last you a lifetime!
And follow the manufacturer's instructions! (That is easier said than done.)

 

[Sgt_Mike1]

Big fan of Gov't issue metal magazine, especially 20 rounders. That said I do own Magpul 1st, 2nd, 3rd Gen in 20 to 30 round. Have left 2 or 3 of them loaded for around a month sometimes two months before rotating the rounds into another magazine. Never a problem.
.. Except ONE 20 rounder I don't know exactly how long this magazine had been exposed to the elements, year maybe, maybe longer. Anyway found it looked it over cob webs and dirt/dust emptied the rounds out wiped them off , wiped off the magazine reloaded the 20 rounds back in stuck it in the truck . Following day I went to the local range decided I'd check it out. Total failure on third round. Mag lip cracked and broke off. Lesson ?? really good magazine with a good track record just don't leave in the elements for a year or so.
While my metal magazines the lips would stayed intact I know for a fact that the spring would have taken a set and failed as well.

 

[C-grunt]

I was in rifle training at work a week or so back. Had a gen 1 Pmag in the rotation. That mag has been dropped and thrown (Im a big proponent of stripping empty mags) for over a decade now. Still running strong. Ive worn out a few over the years. That's okay. They are a consumable item.

 

[illinoisburt]

...do not leave them loaded for an extended period of time...

I do not believe this is correct. Barring other environmental factors which may induce corrosion, good springs are not affected by compression alone. It's the repeated compress/decompress cycle that is bad. I've used steel magazines which were stored loaded for decades with no issues.