I recently purchased a stripped Defender Lower and built it up as a pistol. I had tested the mag catch with a GI mag only to find out later Gen2 Pmags (circa 2011) won’t drop free. All my GI mags, Gen 3 Pmags, and Gen 2 window Pmags (except one) drop free. My two Colts work with everything.
I do remember a guy at a carbine class years ago that had the same issue with him LMT…which I had forgotten about.
Seems this may not be that uncommon with LMT based on a quick internet search. My question is, is this out of spec or the way LMT makes lowers? Should I contact them or live with it?
I have numerous Gen 2 Pmags that I tend to use and have keeped the others mostly in storage in case of a ban.
Ive run a Defender for about 12 years now. Ive got & used so many different mags there is no way to remember them all. Never once have had a mag problem of any kind. From the 5 Lancers that came with the gun, to steel & aluminum to ETS mags…just almost everything.
Only trouble Ive had was with the trigger…which was horribly heavy, and seemed to have a “catch” in it before release. Was over 10lbs on my gauge.
Put in a 4lb. Velocity many many years ago and been trouble free since.
Likely a tolerance stack issue, you get any two of the variables mag well, mag catch and mag on the edge of the spec in the right (wrong) direction and you can have issues. I can tell you that different lot number of PMAG’s are different, some might drop free in a particular rifle and others might not, Gen 3’s seem to be held to tighter specs.
I’ve heard this about Gen 3 but the ones I have are new and have never been used before. My Gen 2s are what I mostly use but never keep loaded. I’m wondering if it’s true they expand but I never noticed because the Colt magwells are definitely more forgiving.
BTW, I have an old Gen 1 and it also doesn’t drop free.
As for tolerance stacking, I did remove the mag catch to test and it’s absolutely the magwell that is tight.
I bought it from Toombstone Tact and if I was to buy another I would call and ask them to test the lower with a Gen 2 first. I kind of like Gen2s if only because you can store the dust cover on the bottom.
The fellow I remember from the class years ago was definitely the only guy there with an issue. He had to use GI mags. Most of the mags being used by everyone were Gen2s as they were relatively new at the time and people were testing them out.
My 2 LMT’s have had issues with 2 older (I think gen 2, maybe gen1, I’m not sure) PMags that would consistently not drop free from either gun. Other 3 mags I bought at the same time drop free just fine. I marked those 2 mags “NDF” but last time I used those mags, they dropped free, so I dunno. Never any issues with any USGI mags.
I have two LMT lowers and have no issues. I would call them and ask what can be done. Maybe they open it up IF ITS NOT your LPK. Sounds like it might be.
Did you mean they would say “if it’s not our LPK?”. I took the mag catch out and Gen2 Pmags still don’t drop free. They don’t drop free from the stripped lower.
This sucks but i don’t know if I have the energy to stripe the lower I just built and send it in…if they wanted to resolve it. People say LMT is on the tighter side of spec. I don’t get that. You either are or aren’t.
I’m thinking I may just crack into my Gen3 and USGI stash and retire my Gen2s or label them “no LMT”. Mags are cheap now so may just order more before the 2020 scare…
If I order another in the future I will ask them to test it out first.
What LPK did you use?
I had an issue with an LMT bolt catch not letting mags drop in a BCM and Aero lower. Switched the bolt catch out to BCM or something else and have never had a problem since.
I have 2 MARS lowers and 3 Def2k’s. None of them consistently drop G2 non-windowed PMAGS. All G2 windowed mags drop without issue. Never tried a G1.
All BCM & LMT GI mags drop free just fine. Never tried any G3’s.
I had a pretty exhausting back-and-forth with LMT when I discovered their lowers wouldn’t accept the most popular magazine in the USA. They stood their ground that their lowers are built to a spec which only requires a GI mag to drop free from the receiver. They wouldn’t even comp me ONE of their mags to make up for this issue when I had dozens of G2’s sitting around.
You win some you lose some. I’ll take the quality of their rifles over the ability to use 1 type out of 3 million mags out there.
I don’t classify magazines refusing to drop out of a lower as being a problem, so much as an annoyance.
I have an LMT Defender lower manufactured early 2017 that is on again, off again about older Pmags. But no issues with aluminum USGIs, Lancers, or GenM3s. It’s not the first lower I’ve had that issue with - and far more annoying to me are the lowers that don’t get along (at all) with GenM3 Pmags.
Sons Of Liberty. The mag release did have a very sharp bottom edge I had to soften with a diamond file…but the mags would not drop free even after I took the mag release out. Base on the feedback here and elsewhere on the on the internet, I’m thinking this is an LMT issue.
That sucks. I’m interested in using a MARS lower for a build. I always assumed Colt was the defacto spec and I have two made 8 years apart that drop Gen2s no problem. Hundreds of thousands of others do as well one would assume…
Interestingly I layed the lower on the heating vent for a few mins and two more mags would drop…but barely. One is very tight.
***Something I just noticed… and I don’t know if it’s relevant…my Gen2s that won’t drop were made in ‘09. The window Gen2s that drop were made in ‘11
