Hi,
I loaded 30 rounds into a PMAG 30 and when inserting it found that it didn’t want to seat in the magwell. When pulling it out and looking at it, it looks like not the top round, but the round beneath it had its tip pushed somewhat upward. If I push down on it, it seats properly and then I can seat the magazine easily. Has anyone else experienced this?
Thanks,
Alan
Has this happened more than once? With only one mag?
Sounds like maybe you just didn’t get that second to last round seated in all the way when loading the mag.
this happens with all my STANAG mags if i dont push the round all the way to the back of the magazine. 
took me a couple minutes t figure out why my troubles happened.
Hi,
Ok, did some more testing.
The problem is that on the pmag 30, you can pull up the tip of the 2nd round in the magazine very easily with only a fingernail under it. There is very little force needed to pull it up or push it back down. Back of cartridge is fully seated against the back of the mag. When inserting the mag, even with it starting correctly (2nd round in the correct position), I’ve had it pop up during the insert and then it is much harder to seat. It does seem to do this more often when I am trying to put the mag in while the rifle is aiming downward (while slung). I opened up a 2nd new pmag 30 and it does the same thing, pressure to move that 2nd round upward, still very light.
The pmag 20 is considerably harder to pull up the second round. It is an older gen black follower. Can’t do it with the finger nail easily. If I use a small flat blade screw driver, I can do it, but it doesn’t want to and is held down by the spring tension. It will snap up and then snap back down.
I’m not at a range where I can seat it roughly with the second round tip upward and see if it will still load the first round, but I’ll test that this weekend.
EDIT - I should add that I am inserting these mags with a closed bolt. I got a feeling this wouldn’t be a problem with an open both…
Thanks,
Alan
All of my 30rnd pmags do that with the second from top round. Just a side effect of the plastic giving a little. But It has never caused a hard to seat problem unless I loaded one too many rounds by accident. Are the rounds hard to press down when the mag is loaded?
What lower/upper is this in? Perhaps it’s just a tight fit between parts at the far ends of tolerance.
This is why most people only load 28rds in a mag. A mag loaded to 30rds is hard to seat on a closed bolt.
Shouldn’t be a problem to seat with the bolt locked back.
A little tap on the bottom should seat it. Otherwise you could download a couple roads, or alernately, load on a open bolt.
I’ev never downloaded my mags personally, as I always out the mag in and gave a secondary tap on the battom just out of habit.
I usually load one less than what the max. allows…9 instead of 10, etc.
Seems to work that way.
Hmmmm…kinda weird, just today I had loaded [two] fully loaded 30rounder PMAGs into mine with a closed bolt and it’s a bit tight but no issues. Also I looked at two of my PMAGs [fully loaded] at the second round down and it doesn’t appear to have the “loose” problem you are describing. Seems kinda odd.
Hi,
Follow up, I went to the range and attempted to see if the problem (pull the second round upwards) would affect anything. Other than having to push quite hard to seat the mag, everything else worked fine. I seated it on a closed bolt with some pressure, then pulled on the charging handle it loaded just fine. Shot fine too.
Thanks,
Alan
Out of curiousity. Are you seating a full magazine on a closed bolt all the time or often? If so, why?
Hi,
Well, rifle sits in the safe and it won’t fit easily with a 30 round mag inserted so I was thinking if I needed it I would seat the mag quickly. At the same time bolt is left forward and would need to be cycled after the mag was inserted. Not a big deal, a 20 round mag will fit…
Thanks,
Alan
Generally speaking in my experience it hasn’t been difficult inserting a 30 round PMAG into any of my AR’s with a closed bolt. However, it can happen just as it did with aluminum GI mags. I would simply download the mag to 28 rounds and problem solved.
Is this only on one 30 round mag? Seems like the best idea would be to replace it with new mags or, regardless of the number, call Magpul and they’ll fix you up.
Sorry to bring this back, but i have also noticed this recently. Even with the mag downloaded to 25 rounds, the second round will pop up and make it difficult to seat on a closed bolt.
I noticed it only happens on my lighter colored mags (UDE and FDE), not on my black or OD ones. If i seat it slow and easy without the top round slapping the bolt it seats fine, but if it slaps the bolt first it doubles up the rounds. This also happens on my 20 round c products mags.(only $5 each, cant complain)
So maybe it is just an issue with the light color pmags?
It’s possible to put 31 rd’s in a P-Mag and cause a problem. I only load 28 in all 30rd mag’s. Count 28 like your life depends on it.
I haven’t noticed the loose 2nd round in my P Mags but all 12 of my black 30 round mags can be hard to load on a closed bolt. They go in easier when loaded to 28. The weird part is that if I leave a mag in the rifle on a closed bolt or leave the covers on I have an easier time inserting the mag. If I leave the cover off for a few hours, especially all day you really have to slam that mag in there. I haven’t loaded 31 rounds by mistake. Every time I’ve loaded my mags I put aside 3 piles of 10 rounds to insure no more than 30 are put in there.
Hint: when loading a full mag, closed bolt or locked bolt, 30 rounds or 28, you should give the bottom of the magazine a firm push/pull.
Regardless of magazine type, brand, color, etc.
Its interesting to see this issue gaining traction. It happens to me with black pmags and there have been a few other posts about it. I can’t reproduce the issue with any consistency but when it does happen, a firm push or a slap will still seat the magazine.
A picture I posted in another thread:
http://m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=104701
I work for an agency that fields these magazines and we have seen issues with the generation 2 mags. We field both the generation 1 and 2 magazines for different loadouts and the generation 2 black mags have an issue of the second round falling forward or completely out of the magazine when stowed inside a tac vest or inside the weapon. When in the weapon it results in stoppages from time to time and often we have that second round either partially strip from the magazine or fall out completely when removing the mag at the end of the day.
Here is my take on the issue.
The 1st generation magazine has a v rib inside the front of the magazine that runs from the bottom all the way to the top. We have no problem with these magazines. This design was changed in the 2nd generation magazine because of an issue loading 1st gen mags with stripper clips. The v rib running all the way to the top doesnt always allow the tip of the bullet to “stack” inside the mag correctly. The result is two bullet tips caught on the same side of the v rib causing a malfunction.
2nd generation magazines corrected the stripper loading problem by removing the top 1/2 inch of this v rib, however, it created the loose 2nd round issue.
Our agency has tested different style bullets, new springs, different loading configs, ie 25-28-30, still has the problem. The problem isnt as noticeable with brand new 2nd gen mags with “clean” rounds, but still occurs. Our second gen mags have been in the field for 2 years and we clean and reload them every three months, but we are in a desert climate and grit does build up.
You can replicate this issue by holding a loaded 2nd gen mag parallel to the floor, rounds facing down. Put a small amount of pressure on the first round (like it would have being seated in the weapon), shake the magazine and watch the second round work free and fall out. I can replicate this in 90% of the 2nd gen mags we have.
I’ve got an email into Magpul to see if they fixed this issue in the gen 3 mag, but haven’t heard anything yet.