Just wanted to get a little info and some pics up on the PMags. These are truly outstanding mags. I never did care for the Orlite and Thermolds of old. Thankfully, these are NOT them. These mags are to me, every bit as stout, strong, and functional as a metal mag. I know Rich isnt saying these are meant to be a replacement for regular GI mags, etc., but they may very well end up doing just that.
For now, I have only done some dry runs and such, but I plan to get to the range ASAP for some live fire.
Everything about these are first class. Follower moves VERY smoothly inside the mag, is typical of standard Magpul anti tilt followers in that there is zero tilting front or rear. Hand cycling rounds though the mag by manually working the bolt produced no issues. Floor plates are easily removeable for disassembly and cleaning. Its also my understanding that floor plates with Ranger plates and Lumpy Plates (my favorite) are planned.
As seen at SHOT, repeatedly stomping on these on a concrete floor by grown and often overweight men, produced zero casualties for the mags, but maybe a few sore ankles among the stompers.
Feed lipsā¦ is has been raised by folks, pretty much any polymer will begin to give over time if a constant pressure is exerted on it in areas like the feed lips. Rich has an ingenius solution for this via a covering tab that goes over the top of the mag and is self locking. Not only does this effectively seal the mag from debris, but it also pushesthe rounds down in the mag so that they are not in contact with the feed lips, thus removing any pressure in that area (even with 30 rounds loaded). They could be fully loaded and with the covering tab in place, left that way indefinitely I think, and still be ready to go. The tab has a raised portion in the rear for removal. There are a number of ways to do this, such as using the tip of your thumb when holding the mag, catching it on a belt, or gear somewhere, or even on the bottom of the magazine well. It only takes a fraction of a second to do. I think that they might even be caught on the edge of a mag pouch when the magzine is being withdrawn and simultaneously come off as the mag is removed from the pouch. I am going to experiment with this and will pass on my results.
The mags lock very positively into the mag well with very little rattle/movement. They wont drop free from my LAR/Spikes lower, but do drop freely from my GTS lowers. Not a concern for me as I always plan and train to pull the mag from the mag well anyway. After repeated insertions and removals of one mag, it is not showing any noticeable wear on the mag catch area. Lastly, Lula loaders work perfectly with them.
My initial impressions are that I will own a LOT of these mags. Even if they do not turn out to have quite the same longevity of a metal mag, the price point allows for losses and affordable replacements very easily. Honestly, the price on these is almost too good to be true. Here are a few pics just to give you a little visual on them. Again, hopefully Rich and company will chime in with better and more detailed info once they are settled back in from SHOT.
30 rounds load very easily in the mag. Inserting the fully loaded 30 round mag on a closed bolt is darn near effortless. If you cant seat one of these mag fully loaded on a closed bolt, you have some things to be worried about.
Thatās interesting. Given your earlier post, that a full mag can easily be seated on a closed bolt, I would have expected them to be a tad longer. Can you venture a guess as to how they manage that? Followers ought to be the same and I canāt imagine any more internal room (in fact, Iād expect less internal volume since Iām guessing their polymer/plastic walls would be thicker tha a aluminum magās walls). If so, very interesting.
Maybe this will explain that. The body itself is a tad longer. The floor plate goes around the outside of the mag body thus hiding some of its true length. Look at this pic and notice where the bottom of each mag body ends.
Let me go ahead and say this before anyone has a hissy fit and gets their thong in a wad. I am not saying these are any BETTER than a metal GI mag, in regards to strength. All I am saying is that from what I have seen and tried myself so far of them, they are at least as strong as a metal GI mag. I have no way of knowing if they will be capable of the same longevity, etc. Only time will tell that.
I agree. I did however see some large human beings jumping on them, that would have crushed an Alum mag. The real question is going to be how they hold up to cold weather and being dropped on concrete and how the lips hold up.
How can you declare that when youāve never fired one? Lets not be silly.
:rolleyes:
Indeed. Time and more testing will tell. I wont be able to help much with the cold testing, but for some reason I dont think theyāll have any trouble finding some cool weather in CO. to try that aspect out.
Like I said elsewhere, please forgive my enthusiasm over these. There arent many things that truly excite me, and these have. YMMV
These mags are to me, every bit as stout, strong, and functional as a metal mag. I know Rich isnt saying these are meant to be a replacement for regular GI mags, etc., but they may very well end up doing just that.
