How do you rate AR Magazines & Followers?

[DustyGmt]

Just curious if there was a general consensus.

I have Pmags and a whole whack of assorted USGI mags with Tan, Black, Green, Orange and Grey followers and perhaps ive forgotten a color, if you want to rate magazine manufacturers in general, have at it, but I'd bet a good number of them are made by D&H and get a (your logo here) end plate. Just wondering why some followers get hate, I haven't run my mags as extensively as some but certainly enough that if there was a widespread issue I think I would have encountered a problem of some sort. Only problem I seem to ever have with mags points to a ProMag.

I have a bunch of the Brownells magazines with tan followers and they've been utterly reliable even though I notice there is a large contingent on arfcom that say "junk". I think what I have the most of is Pmags with dark grey followers but for metal magazines by far the most common color follower I have is green follower D&H mags. They too have been utterly reliable.

I actually don't have any issues with any of them except for the ProMag 10-20rd mags. I believe they all have anti tilt followers. I've got everything from D&H, Brownells, OKay Ind, C products, Stag, Colt, DuraMags, Pmags, Amend2, Hex and Troy. I've never had an issue with any of em, some of the tan follower Brownells ones I got stay loaded for years and I'll go through them every blue moon with no issues.

For 5 and 10 rounders I think the DuraMags are great. I think Everybody should have a few kicking around, they fit nicely into jacket pockets (esp if youre a guy who keeps an AR handy as a truck gun) and they don't interfere when shooting off a bag, I've always liked the look of a flush mag even though it may look odd on an AR).

I'm just curious because there seems to be a pecking order, wonder if any on THR know what that order is and why it came about.

 

[DustyGmt]

I'm gonna guess that the Grey Magpul follower is #1 since the magpul is the most popular mag in the world and it has a nice shiny slick feel. That and retailers tend to list magpul followers as a selling point as opposed to a standard spec.

 

[Robert]

I run nothing but PMags. They have never failed or let me down. Even with my slightly long 77gr loads.

 

[Lo-Profile]

I buy what my LGS sells for AR's
They have P-mags, Lancer and USGI
So those are what I have
Not a huge fan of P-mags, don't like the size of the base pad, screws with my 6 mag bandolier

 

[45/30-06OKIE]

Okay USGI is top teir in my book. You can get Magpul followers for USGI mags and they feed like melted butter! Followed by other USGI mags (Brownells, D&H,NHTMG, Center Industries) and PMAGS. Do not buy mission first tactical, promag (Please Remember Our Mags Are Garbage), or 2A mags. They are junk.

 

[BreechFace]

I run PMags, D&H, Okay and Lancers.

The lancers are only for 300BLK.

 

[bfoosh006]

The issue I have seen , is lack consistency from some manufacturers.
Brownell's as an example, some batches were great.. some weren't... Some flat out sucked.

Okay's ( you just missed a great sale at RRA's ) are wonderful, Magpul' are as well, and Lancers function great for me.
A anti tilt follower helps a bunch, provided the mag body and spring are GTG. ( Cough... ProMag )

The USGI light green follower was an improvement over the older follower... and the improved Magpul follower was even better / far more reliable.

Another example is the "current" USGI Enhance Performance Magazine (EPM) 30-round AR15/M4 curved aluminum magazine...
It has a reputation as less than reliable... IMHO mainly because of poor QC on the mag body.

This might help
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77rEnx-ehu8

 

[DustyGmt]

Okay USGI is top teir in my book. You can get Magpul followers for USGI mags and they feed like melted butter! Followed by other USGI mags (Brownells, D&H,NHTMG, Center Industries) and PMAGS. Do not buy mission first tactical, promag (Please Remember Our Mags Are Garbage), or 2A mags. They are junk.

Love the promag acronym, I wish I thought of it because those have been my go to magazine for practicing dealing with FTF's. Most reliable unreliable mags money can buy.

 

[DustyGmt]

I run nothing but PMags. They have never failed or let me down. Even with my slightly long 77gr loads.

Same here, 9 out of 10 of my Pmags are Gen2's I picked up for 8.99 while the M3's were like $14/ea. I can't really see why anybody would pay 30% more for the M3's, but I did just to be able to compare. M2's are good to go with everything I shoot

.............or 2A mags. They are junk.

The 2A mags screamed "junk" to me as well but I picked up half a dozen or so at about $6.99/ea and use them as range mags and I have to say, they have been 100% and can take a lil bit of abuse. The ones I have are red followers, they feel inferior and cheap, like the MFT's but they run, run, run...... wouldn't be my go to mag for anything serious regardless though. They have a cheap brittle toy plastic feel to them compared to quality like a Magpul or Troy.

 

[small town life]

Depending on the cartridge and lower depends on which mag I use. Magpul (gen3 m118 giving 2.830ish length) mostly due to being cheaper is what I use. Hexmag, lancer, metal/aluminum type (not sure of the brand), LaRue (due to 2.870" coal lengths), few other brands I can't think of and asc (2 865-2.875" coal lengths). ASC doesn't work with some lowers due to mag catch height (about 1/80"or .0125" lower at the top of catch hole) on AR10 mags. They work in ghost tactical lowers, but not AP lowers. The followers in the asc mags are finicky with some lowers for some reason as it might be due to bcg's? I had issues with some magpul gen2 followers in AR10's. I've had issues with lancer only using 300bo's feeding reliably.

 

[gconang]

Lancer Systems L5 AWM Advanced Warfighter Mag AR-15 223 Remington,

The Lancer Systems L5 AWM Magazine is a polymer and steel hybrid that combines the best features of each material. The one-piece steel feed lip unit is...

www.midwayusa.com

 

[lysanderxiii]

How do you rate AR Magazines & Followers?

PASS

-or-

FAIL

 

[AlexanderA]

The progression of followers, for GI 30-round magazines, was black, light green, and tan. The black ones were supposed to be replaced, and the green ones were relegated to training use.

The earliest 30-round GI followers were dark green, with embossed white lettering. These Vietnam-era mags are rare and valuable. They obviously don't function as well as the later ones. But don't throw them out!

20-round GI magazines had pot metal followers. Don't use these in 30-round magazines.

 

[Creaky_Old_Cop]

I rate P-Mags, regardless of generation, as 10/10. I have never had a mag related failure in the entire time I have been using them in training, teaching, patrol, and in 3 Gun. The only other magazine I will use are MilSpec with no-tilt followers though I don't buy them anymore...I just keep using the ones I have as range mags.

 

[45/30-06OKIE]

Same here, 9 out of 10 of my Pmags are Gen2's I picked up for 8.99 while the M3's were like $14/ea. I can't really see why anybody would pay 30% more for the M3's, but I did just to be able to compare. M2's are good to go with everything I shoot

The 2A mags screamed "junk" to me as well but I picked up half a dozen or so at about $6.99/ea and use them as range mags and I have to say, they have been 100% and can take a lil bit of abuse. The ones I have are red followers, they feel inferior and cheap, like the MFT's but they run, run, run...... wouldn't be my go to mag for anything serious regardless though. They have a cheap brittle toy plastic feel to them compared to quality like a Magpul or Troy.

Yeah dad and I had one 2A ar15 mag and it was dog water quality. Now I did try a couple HexMag ones and they were OK... be good for going to the range and stuff, but I'd use USGI for zombies lol.

 

[Hartkopf]

Pmag and Lancer only. With these two brands making such high quality mags, I don’t care to test any others. If I wanted to start a business right now, the absolute last two items I would make would be shoes and AR magazines.

 

[Mk-211]

Like most, I've used all of the above and tossed the junk ones.

Another company that I've used also is PRI, their AR waffle mags are great. They use Pmag followers and springs for internals.

 

[CapnMac]

As above, Pass/Fail is my test.

Now, there are plenty of those out there willing to flamewar through online fora on this color or that color of follower, all while ignoring the springs, body dents, etc. on a given magazine. probably worth remembering the adage about those who talk most often having the least actual experience.

There's even a bit of a cottage industry taking junk mags and putting the "correct color" followers in, an making them "great mags."

YMMV

 

[small town life]

Troy Industries is the other mags I use and have been working fine. Also have those metal 60 round mags that work without any issues.

 

[cougar1717]

Just curious if there was a general consensus.

There can be no consensus - this is the internet.

That said - I have bought all kinds of AR-15 mags over the years - used Colt mags with light green followers, K-mags "Extreme Duty" from CDNN, Thermold (or melt-haha) "Law enforcement use only" marked mags, C-Products, and of course various generations of Magpul pmags.

I've filled and emptied these many times and they all still function. I have replaced a few followers with Magpul ones as something to make me feel good as I press down on the front of the follower and nothing tilts. However, those magazines didn't malfunction before the follower change.

Sure, the Thermold mags feel like garbage - lightweight, thin plastic, slightly deformed feed lips when fully loaded - however I have left them loaded for significant time and they still function.

The vast majority of people are using an item created for full-auto use in semi-auto function. It should be no surprise that the vast majority function well, with the caveats of low cost manufacturers and out of spec issues making the lion's share of malfunctions.

Not trying to pile on, but I would suspect that more AR-15's malfunction due to a gas block issue, a loose castle nut, or a backwards hammer spring (building/upgrading problems) than an actual mag issue from a quality manufacturer.

 

[wesmonster]

I'll agree, it's not hard to find a reliable AR mag.
I started with PMAG gen 2 windowed mags and PMAG straight 20s. They worked fine but were a tight fit in both of my Rock River Arms lowers, took a lot of filing and they were never drop free. Today I mostly use transparent Lancers so I can spot 5.56 from .300bo. Gen 3 PMAGs fit fine but the overtravel lip doesn't work with all lowers,
D&H are best bang for the buck.
Duramags are great for variant calibers and their teflon coating works well with steel case,
Love the older OKAYs but heard a few complaints about their revamped mags just before they went under.
My Brownell straight 20s are wonderful and wish I'd bough a bunch more.
Also had good luck with Elanders, they're heavy steel bodies and super strong springs.

 

[armoredman]

Pmags are my biggest bunch, and I have some Hexmags and MFT that seems to work OK, but they are usually just for range use. D&H works great. ProMag, (love that acronym, completely accurate), have been absolute trash for years, and I have No idea how they stay in business.

 

[valnar]

I standardized on Lancer mags for a silly reason, but they work great.

I was thinking of buying a .223 Vz.58 (which I never did) and they recommend the Lancer's for use with their Mag well adapter. Since Lancer's work fine in my PWS MK116, I just stuck with them.

 

[Riomouse911]

I have lots of generations of OKay, Brownells, C Products, MagPul, Center Industries, etc. A few have the MagPul “Ranger plates” or rubber basepads and I don’t know who made them unless the sides are marked.

I really can’t recall many mag related stoppages with and of them. (Random sample pulled from the magazine storage cans.)



I will say I added the latest generation anti-tilt followers to my older magazines, so those may have been improved with the updated follower addition.

The only magazines I will not use are early generation MagPul 30-rounders. Our office had 16 of them for our four full-auto M-4 rifles, and at least six or seven of them begin splitting on the seam within a year or two. We dumped them all and went to Brownells 30-round magazines for those guns.

Stay safe.

 

[Old Dog]

they've been utterly reliable even though I notice there is a large contingent on arfcom that say "junk".

I quit that particular forum long ago when I realized two things: (2) there's mostly groupthink going on there and anyone with a differing opinion is shouted down or subject to public humiliation (2) some of the "gospel" spouted there is just totally wrong.

I have lots of generations of OKay, Brownells, C Products, MagPul, Center Industries, etc.

Same here, but I do have some Lancers, Troy and Hexmags that have been flawless. Gave up on anything labeled "ProMag" years ago. The mags that I did toss as junk (my department was given a batch for T&E) were "2nd Amendment" -- wanted to like them, but they didn't work in our M4s at all.

I've got 30-year old GI mags with the old green followers that still run great. But for work (and defensive purposes) I've standardized on gen 3 PMags. All the rest are for the range.