I just received 5 Lancer mags from Brownells.
They are going back!
The insert says the polymer is sensitive to DEET and may craze or otherwise be compromised by DEET (bug repellent).
I don’t know about you folks but during the prime shooting months of the summer, I use DEET daily.
I do not want to destroy my mags because I defend my person against bugs.
I use DEET and I’m not worried about it. Do you use your mags daily and do you rub DEET on them? I’ll take your Lancers off of you. How many ya got?
I pulled this straight from Lancer’s faq’s:
If DEET is sprayed or directly applied to the plastic around, or covering the feed lips it will crack and become unusable. If DEET is accidentally
applied directly to these areas, clean immediately and inspect for damage. DEET will not affect the rest of the body and other components of the
magazine.
Secondary exposure, getting it on your hands and then touching the feed lip area, will have no effect to the magazine.
So basically just don’t spray your mags down with DEET and you’ll be fine. And I do believe this information is included with every magazine.
Are you using DEET to lube your rifle?
I personally use DEET to lube ALL of my magazine feedlips. I’ve been doing it for years and it seems to work great! 
It’s not an issue, they’re just warning you that DEET can damage the magazines. Other things can damage them too…things like tanks running them over, smashing them with a sledge hammer, crushing them in a vise etc.
I’ve used Lancer L5 mags and Magpul PMAGs for competitive shooting since both have been available. I use 100% DEET round my socks and shoes during the summer months to keep the redbugs, mosquitos, flies and ticks away. I use regular Deep Woods Off on the rest of my body since the stronger DEET burns my skin. I’ve yet to have a problem with either magazines using DEET.
Im a squito magnet to the point that they will land and eat me thru the puddles of repelant on my skin and im not worried about it and I did T&E on the Lancers.
I think the idea behind asking how DEET might effect the magazines is over the long term - of which we know absolutley nothing regarding the new generation of polymer magazines.
So a better question might be: in a military application where magazines may be exposed to a certain level of DEET over a long period, does the chance of magazine degradation increase?
I think this is a legit question that quite frankly we don’t know the answer to yet because we don’t have sufficient data yet.
At least in my little brain the above scenario applies much more than “I’ve been using these for three months and I use DEET and they’re flawless…”
Glad to know I am not the only one who has this problem! My wife can stand next to me and remain unbitten while I, wearing enough repellent for both of us, slap my self silly.
Buckaroo
Inappropriate post deleted - check your pm.
~The_Katar
I’ll be using my 48 round Lancer L5 mag this year for 3gun.
I’ll be using DEET and bug spray in the warm weather as always…for some reason I don’t think I’ll have anything to worry about.
sheesh… What’s wrong with good ol’ fashuned GI spec aluminum mags?
They don’t hold 48 rounds…
Nothing wrong with USGI aluminum mags, PMAGs or Lancer mags as long as they work. Mags that don’t work are trash regardless of manufacturer.
susceptability to impact damage for starters.
seems like every mag is suceptible to that. Ive seem dented HK mags and cracked and broken Pmags.
every mag has it’s trade offs.
You will likely see a USGI mag as a pancake before you see a PMAG taking significant damage. Likely the same for the Lancers.
The HK mags appear to be little better than the GI mags in this regard. Anything man made can be broken. The question is how easily.
I have two Lancer mags, one that I got free from Bravo Company in an EAG class and one that I got at SHOT.
I’m going to see what the strongest DEET concentration I can find is and hose one of them down to see if it has an effect. I don’t want to just spray it with Off (all we have around here) since the concentration of DEET is pretty low in that.
Stay tuned.
WOW, this is the funniest thing I’ve ever heard.I don’t remember the last time I lubed up my mags with DEET.I love my lancer mags and I am glad that through the 2 years of research and development that it took to produce these magazines, that they even took the time to expose them to chemical hazards, and then warn there customers about them.They’re like a magazine with an OSHA approved MSDS attached.
I’m going to see what the strongest DEET concentration I can find is and hose one of them down to see if it has an effect.
We already know applying DEET directly to the magazine is bad for it, Lancer tells us that in the packaging.
:rolleyes:
and I want to see what happens.
Eating pizza is “bad for me”, but it doesn’t make me spontaneously combust.