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Posted: 12/18/2016 11:35:37 AM EDT
Mil vet and active duty question.
I have both. I've never had problems with either. I have a a couple of cans of 20-rounders to go with my VN era slick side look-alike. However, metal will dent and poly won't. What are your thoughts? |
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Obvious answer is obvious;
GET BOTH Especially at current prices. |
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I broke my first magazine yesterday. It was a pmag. I dropped it and it split down the spine.
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Sit some plastic out in the sun for a few years and see how brittle it becomes.
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Quoted:
I broke my first magazine yesterday. It was a pmag. I dropped it and it split down the spine. View Quote Anything can break. I've had broken polymer mags and broken metal ones. Do enough shooting from positions that aren't at a bench, and it happens. I've had more failures out of metal mags (still not many. 2 total), due primarily to denting which keeps the follower from operating correctly. |
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I have way more metal ones then plastic ones and the only issues I have had with the metal ones were from cheap ban era mags.
Plus metal ones fit and drop free with ease in every gun I own and I don't have to worry about what gen plastic mag I may grab if it will drop free on my gun. While I like both I'm not going to get rid of something that works. One thing I've noticed is I am becoming a 20rnd mag whore lol. Out of the 400 or so 20 rounders I have 99% are metal |
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Get both.
Lots of threads on this. Nothing wrong with quality GI mags. Nothing wrong at all. Personally, Lancer's are my favorite. You get the best of both worlds, but the Smoke ones are expensive. |
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I finding I prefer good metal mags over polymer mags.
Mainly because they drop free easily from any lower I put them in & seem to be just a reliable. I have a 20 round p mag that can't get past the 5th round without having a feed issue (I know this is not true for all mags just my experience) |
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While I know plenty of people love pmags, I get malfunctions from time to time with them.
My most bomb proof, feeds everytime magazine are a batch of 10 Teflon coated BCM mags. Just my experience. |
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Start shooting competitively and you'll realize that there is no perfect magazine.
All magazines if used on a regular basis will require some sort of maintenance at some point. This would include but not limited to cleaning, reshaping, sanding, spring replacement (and or modification) etc. And then when you have the mags running well, after about a season or two of abuse, you'll replace them. With AR mags, being that they are so cheap; most likely you'll just junk the mag and replace. |
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Quoted:
Mil vet and active duty question. I have both. I've never had problems with either. I have a a couple of cans of 20-rounders to go with my VN era slick side look-alike. However, metal will dent and poly won't. What are your thoughts? View Quote Easier to pop a dent out then fix shattered plastic. |
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Easier to pop a dent out then fix shattered plastic. View Quote Harder to shatter plastic than dent aluminum. Grab a poly mag and a aluminum mag and give each a decent smack on the side with a hammer. Metal mag will in all likelihood be ruined or require repair. Poly will be just fine. |
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Buy whatever has a better sale on it.
People tend to forget that mags are disposable commodities. |
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Metal AR mags wull fit in all AR mag firearms, but some pmags will not. Advantage metal. I am selling all my pmags for metal.
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Loaded long term storage is where metal feed lips win. Other than that I like plastic ones.
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wish i got a stainless lower when they were out. don't care the weight.
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http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_3_118/677135_High-round-count-AR-M4-s--over-100-000-rounds--and-how-they-have-handled-on-our-range.html
- USGI mags have outlasted all of the other brands. We use UGSI (Brownell's with tan follower) and on a mag for mag basis, they have outlasted Pmags and a few of the other mags that we get from mfg'ers with new weapons. We don't have to worry about various generations with different weapons like the MR556, SCAR, F2000, Tavor or a couple of others that use AR15/M4 magazines. |
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we have so many classes where we have students and instructors dropping and throwing mags that I only teach with pmags now. The ones that did break were because of the tabs, my L-plates did protect the ones that had them on there.
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Quoted:
While I know plenty of people love pmags, I get malfunctions from time to time with them. My most bomb proof, feeds everytime magazine are a batch of 10 Teflon coated BCM mags. Just my experience. View Quote Same. D&H teflon coated from BCM or PSA (same mag, diff stamp) are what I keep loaded for 'the day'. I love my Pmags for range/vehicle. |
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I broke my first magazine yesterday. It was a pmag. I dropped it and it split down the spine. View Quote That's actually an advantage. You KNOW when a Pmag is bad and needs to be thrown away. As magazines are meant to be expendable. Where as a metal magazine, it can be far more subtle that the magazine is bad, until you try to use it. |
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Wonder why the main moving parts on vehicles are still made of metal?
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Drop and slam a metal mag home a few hundred times and see how long it lasts. The superior magazines are Lancers though. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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Sit some plastic out in the sun for a few years and see how brittle it becomes. Drop and slam a metal mag home a few hundred times and see how long it lasts. The superior magazines are Lancers though. I do like Lancer 20rnd. mags, but I don't think they're making those for 5.56 anymore. The first 30rnd. Lancer I had would release between 1 to 3 rounds EVERY TIME unless it was gingerly inserted. I posted something about it in a thread here and Lancer contacted me and replaced the magazine free of charge. The replacement magazine did the exact same thing, so I'm not a fan of Lancer 30rnd. mags. |
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I have USGI mags in my SHTF gear, Pmags to replenish them and Lancers in the ready to go weapons.
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mags are expendable items... almost disposable. I don't trust polymer long term. I have colt 20 round mags that are likely 30 years old... maybe 40 years old... still work perfectly... will polymer work when 40 years old? maybe. I have pmags as well.... I love them.
mags are disposable.... buy a bunch, cause all of them will eventually fail. |
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Some lowers I've purchased didn't like pmags.
I will keep USGI, PMAGS, and Lancers around for this exact reason. |
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Loaded long term storage is where metal feed lips win. Other than that I like plastic ones. View Quote I kept 2 loaded Pmags with my rifle for years, with no problem. Currently, I'm using ETS mags. with the moulded in coupler. So far, so good, though it's only been about 6 months. I do have an old Magpul E-mag (remember those) that's been loaded in the trunk of my car for about 9-1/2 years and it works fine. |
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There are pros and cons to both. With my metal GI mags and magpul anti tilt followers, I have never had a feeding issue with mine.
There is a downside to polymer mags. On our hot and humid summers when using them, they will not drop free from the magwell due to the temperature, moisture, and expansion. This applies to the Pmags, Lancer, and HK mags i've witnessed. |
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I prefers good ol' USGI mags.
Although I do prefer PMags using PMags in my NPAP. |
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I've got a decent pmag stash, so I find myself buying more USGI mags as of late. There's nothing wrong with either. I like variety.
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... polymers creep. Thermal cycles under load can deform over time. That's why you should use the covers provided by Magpul if keeping their mags loaded
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Sit some plastic out in the sun for a few years and see how brittle it becomes. View Quote Amen. Plastic will degrade over time. In the days when we were worrying about total mag bans, people stocked up on Pmags as if they were going to go NFA. Decades later, I'd rather have aluminum. |
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There are pros and cons to both. With my metal GI mags and magpul anti tilt followers, I have never had a feeding issue with mine. There is a downside to polymer mags. On our hot and humid summers when using them, they will not drop free from the magwell due to the temperature, moisture, and expansion. This applies to the Pmags, Lancer, and HK mags i've witnessed. View Quote This is my favorite combo also. |
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Someone load a Pmag, go outside where it's REALLY cold, and drop it on concrete,
While you're out there, check zero on your Eotech too! |
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Amen. Plastic will degrade over time. In the days when we were worrying about total mag bans, people stocked up on Pmags as if they were going to go NFA. Decades later, I'd rather have aluminum. View Quote Metal will last longer if they are stored loaded though.....so it's a question of use, is it not? |
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Really depends on how you look at it. I'm willing to bet that a Pmag will survive longer in a rifle that is used heavily....they will last better in a vest that's beat around.....and they will stand up to more abuse than metal. I've seen plenty of aluminum stanag mags that were busted because of being dropped on their baseplate too much. The metal fatigues and the baseplate becomes loose. Metal will last longer if they are stored loaded though.....so it's a question of use, is it not? View Quote My first post in this thread linked to a real world test of just that. Henderson Defense in LV has a number of threads about what lasts and what doesn't; USGI mags outlasts everything in high count use. |
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I like USGI since they are lighter and wont deform if stored loaded, which is how i store my mags. I guess if you are storing them empty, then polymers would be the way to go. In the end depends on the end user.
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The metal NHMTG 20-rounders were recommended to me years ago for high power competition, mine have been very reliable when brand new without any modifications. Too bad they aren't being manufactured anymore, from what I have read on vendor sites.
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I thought the plastic ones had issues in some rifles?
Also, I've heard they tend to slightly push up on the bottom of the bolt carrier? |
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Metal mags work better for scraping ice from your windshield, and a few other non-ammunition-feeding tasks.
I get both. |
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