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Posted: 1/4/2010 11:30:38 PM EDT
| Are they really any better than the neon green followers that come standard on USGI aluminum 30 rounders? |
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I dunno. Never had problems with the green followers.
OTOH, I clean the innards and spring on every GI mag I buy. LOTS of them have springs that are worn out. This can be seen either by significant wear marks/metal removal on sides of springs where they rub against inside of mag body, and/or the spring being permanently compressed–– "spring set"–– more than 1-1/2 coils (some say 2 coils) shorter than a brand new, unused spring. In my experience, you are much more likely to have problems with a worn/damaged spring and/or damaged feed lips than you are likely to have problems with a good condition green follower on top of a good spring. I'd be willing to bet that there a LOT more bad springs out there than bad Green GI followers. I compare the springs against a known, good unit, and replace those not up to snuff with new springs kept on hand for this purpose. With a good cleaning, a light film of oil on the spring, and a good green follower, you should be GTG. You can also re-coat the inside/outside of the mag body for a like-new look––Details in AR mag forum. I also compare the cleaned, used follower against a new one, and followers showing signs of damage/wear–– very few, actually–– are replaced. I use the replaced but still decent (showing no significant side wear) 30-rd springs as donors for 20-rd mags that need new springs. Just cut old 30-rd spring same length as new 20-rd spring–– or maybe 1/2 coil less, and install. Test to confirm no spring binding. One thing's for sure, those that use the Magpul followers had to buy them first. Now, the buyer probably was convinced that they were better before buying them, but if they were unsure about it, they will probably be confirmed in their opinion after paying for them. Having paid for something gives the buyer a stake in thinking the purchase a wise one. Not saying the magpul followers aren't better than green followers, just that I've had no probs with green followers as long as everything else about the mag was GTG. FWIW, a Magpul follower atop a worn out spring might prove to be problematic despite your having bought and installed the gizmo. Since you will have to dismantle the mags no matter what you do, buy some new springs and have a look at the old ones first. Inspect and clean everything, and lube as appropriate. By all means, buy some magpul followers as test subjects if you like, just make sure that the only diff between the std and magpul-follower mags is the follower only. One thing about mags that few people do, but which is much more important than most folks would believe, is to uniquely ID each and every magazine. A Sharpie or Magic Marker will do, but you should easily and quickly be able to tell them apart from each other, so as to be able to ID and cull out problem mags for servicing. If you go to the range, and find one mag that's always a problem child, how will you tell it apart from all the others days later at home? You probably won't, unless you mark each one, that is. If mag 106 is giving problems, and is so marked, you can easily find it later back at the ranch. |
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they have what i would call an extra leg so that you can't tilt them unlike the standarg GI where the front can be forced down and create a feed issue...which has happened to me before.
in the last few usgi mags i still run I have the magpul enhanced followers in each one so I'm sure they're worth it. |
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Quoted:
One thing's for sure, those that use the Magpul followers had to buy them first. Now, the buyer probably was convinced that they were better before buying them, but if they were unsure about it, they will probably be confirmed in their opinion after paying for them. Having paid for something gives the buyer a stake in thinking the purchase a wise one. I understand where you are coming from, and agree to an extent, but... Once I buy something, I also feel that I have a right and/or obligation to tell others if it didn't work as advertised. Just because I bought it doesn't guarantee a positive report. With that said, I won't even put a magazine into service unless it has a Magpul follower. They offer enough of an improvement that I would feel negligent for not installing them. |
| Years back when I was instructing the Enhanced Marksmanship Program for a Marine unit, they had brand new A4s and M4s that came with new Center industry mags. Many of those mags would not feed off of one side's feed lip reliable (cannot remember if it was left or right, but it was always that one sides on all the guns). What myself and the assistant instructor determined was the green follower was causing a little tilting so those mags didn't work. Several of the those followers were replaced with the Magpuls gen one followers and they worked fine. So they can make a difference in some cases. |
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As I run out of new GI Green followers, I'll buy Magpuls. That seems logical. I still maintain that most mag probs are not follower probs, but either spring probs and/or feed lip probs. One cannot ignore damaged followers, but in my experience,seriously damaged GI followers are rare.
Strikes me that I should mention a trick here. With most plastic followers, the down-side of the leg(s) of the follower is square-cut. Well, a second or so with a file /sand-paper disc Dremel will allow the user to bevel all the lower edges of the legs of the follower. I figure a square-cut leg on ANY follower is more likely to get hung up than one that has a slight bevel on the lower edge of its' legs. Didn't occor to me before, but I bevel/round off all the lower, sharp edges of all my followers prior to installation. My apologies for omitting this. It probably makes a great deal of difference. Just asking a question, but does the Magpul have a relatively lower anchor point for the mag spring, compared to the GI follower? Another question: How many iterations has this follower had, and how to tell the difference, if any? |
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Quoted:
Just asking a question, but does the Magpul have a relatively lower anchor point for the mag spring, compared to the GI follower? The anchor point appears to be fairly consistent but Magpul has shortened the protrusion below the anchor point. It's just a nub that's long enough to attach the spring. Another question: How many iterations has this follower had, and how to tell the difference, if any?
As far as I know, Gen III is the latest and they are available in foliage green and yellow (according to the Magpul web site). Most reputable retailers denote which generation they are selling. The anti-tilt feature appears to be provided mainly by the enlarged front and rear legs (don't know if that's the proper terminology). Once installed in a good magazine, the benefits/improvements are evident as soon as you push down on the follower and try to get it to tilt/jam. It's a very smooth operation that can't be overlooked or ignored. raf, go ahead and buy a half dozen and try them out. If you feel that they aren't worth a crap, I'll pay for them. I'm not implying that they are the answer to every magazine related problem but they are definitely a worthy enhancement. 
Disclaimer: No affiliation with Magpul... blah blah blah... satisfied customer... blah blah blah... no compensation... blah blah blah. |
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