I recently added a new scope to my AR rifle. While sighting in, I used the Magpul 20 round magazines I purchased quite a while back because they are short and the rifle can fit on the stand. Both the Gen 1 and 2 had multiple stoppages. Yesterday, I read that this is because they are straight magazines without anti-tilt followers. I see that Midway sells the Gen 3 -20 round magazines and they are curved now. Are the Gen 1 and 2 -20 round magazines worth anything other than book markers or training magazines? Is there a fix for the Gen1 and 2 -20 round magazines?
Anti tilt is not needed for reliability. The most reliable AR mag you can possibly get, the original 20 rounder, is a follower tilting mofo.
I’d try some NHTMG/Okay brand 20s. If they run fine, then toss the old Pmags aside. If the NHMTGs give you problems, then the gun is the issue.
How have you isolated the malfunction to a magazine issue?
The Magpul 20’s are not known for being as UN-reliable as you are saying yours are.
Yeah… Isolate the issue with a totally different mag. The Magpul 20s were noted for not locking back if I remember correctly. But we’ve never had issues with them.
Usually both 20 rounds mags are not picking up the 1st or 2nd round. Not every single time, but enough to be frustrating. I shooting three shot groups to Zero the gun. I insert the mag with 3 rounds, pull back the charging handle and let it go, I take my time and aim at the target and all I hear is the “click” of the firing pin on an empty chamber. It does not consistently do this, but it never does this with the 30 round magazines.
how old are the mags? sounds like the spring has lost it spring!
The mag body would likely fail before the spring would. If the spring is the issue, it was likely a bad one from the get go.
I wouldn’t waste any time worrying about it, and just buy some NHMTGs/Colts/Okays and rock on.
If you are tossing the “bad” mags, I’ll pay shipping if you would send them to me. I could use a couple more range and coyote hunting mags and I like the look of the straight pmags better than the curved 20s.
I called magpul and mailed them back to them yesterday for them to look at and fix. I like the look of the straight mags and these were practically new. Both the Gen1 and the Gen 2 mags gave me problems from day one. I see no sense in keeping magazines that are not as reliable as the 30 round magazine. I betting there is a good reason the Gen 3 mags are much changed from the Gen 1 and 2 mags.
They come up with changes and improvements here and there over time. I still have a handful of Gen 1 2007 30s and old straight 20s that never give me any problems.
I mostly use the Gen2 20’s for zeroing on bench or using bipod since it gives a little more clearance than a 30. Never had a FTF or failure to lock back.
I got a G3 20 round pmag just to try out. It doesn’t like to seat on a closed bolt often. (several rifles) Downloading two doesn’t help. (Must be smacked HARD and sometimes still refuses to seat) I think it’s the 2nd-round-pops-over-the-top-round-issue. I looked it up and found the pmag 20’s don’t have as positive a rep as the pmag 30’s. I can only vouch for my sample of one.
I decided just to use quality aluminum mags for 20 rounders. (No issues in several rifles)
I’ve got both versions of Magpuls 20 rounders and have never had a problem with either in two different ars.
I’ve never had issues with any gen PMags. That’s all I use in my 5.56’s and 308’s.
The only mags I’ve ever run into feeding issues with have been two of my Gen 2 20 round PMAGs. Could it just be coincidence? Sure.
All my Gen 1 and Gen 3 20 round PMAGs have run flawlessly.