Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles What's best mag recommendation?

Well, I never thought I'd own one but, bought a AR in .223 off a friend. Just wondered what's everybody's favorite .223 mags? Thanks

I find it hard to go wrong with Magpul's products.....

Pmags are #1, okay, center, colt, bushmaster, to name some of what I have.

Colt
Pmag M3
ASC
Troy Battle Mags

PMag for plastic. Prefer 10 or 20 rounders.

ASC stainless for metal although I think they make some other brands for other companies.

Pmags for the WIN! Have used Troy mags also, both are 100% in my MP Sport2.

ASC SS 20s

I have a bunch of their aluminum 20s too and they’re okay but don’t allow the OAL the SS mags do. I buy them when they have cosmetic blems.

ASC steel if you want max COAL

I get along fine with pmags, though

ASC Stainless is all I use for 5.56.

I do use an ASC Aluminum for Blackout.

Magpul PMags are scientifically proven to be the most reliable for 5.56/.223. Patented feed angle and poly slickness. Fact.

That said a well setup AR will eat from most any decent mag.

If you have lots of any decent mag be happy, if your buying then PMags are the big boy smart choice.

Gotta have some 30 rounders, cause...well just gotta.

What do you see yourself doing with the thing?
Weapon, tool, toy?

Don't like 30s.
20s are about on the same plan as the grip,
so they don't really protrude. Haven't tried 10s, cant imagine any drawbacks.


Not a bullet hose fan, 30 rounds are too much for my attention span to
handle if hitting something is the goal. 20 rounds are a lot of shooting.




Pmags, okay, Colt, center have been used in our 3 guns.
Don't shoot them much, but can't remember any issues
shooting fmj or handloaded 55-69gr rounds.

What DB said. Need to know how they'll be used. The plastic fantastics better tolerate being run over by tanks, or being dropped out of perfectly good airplanes. Not same level of use/abuse as sitting in a trunk or stashed around the farm.

Not major negatives but rounds sometimes pop out of my Pmags (you know there's a reason for the covers, right?) when dropped fully loaded. Also, find them less than 100% with respect to bolt hold open after last round with a couple reg receivers and also the K2. Neither of the foregoing happens with my finish-worn VN-era to brand spanking new USGI mags.

Think people make mountains out of molehills with respect to mag preferences. Like arguing .300 Win vs .300 WBY. .30-30 vs .32 Special. They all work, just recognize relative strengths and weaknesses before deciding.

Or buy all types.

I use 20 round USGI mags with the alloy follower but all my USGI 30 rounders get Magpul followers and they work just fine.

I mostly use Magpul Gen 3 20’s and 30’s. Even have a couple of the 40’s to use as a monopod when shooting prone. Never had a problem with or without the dust covers.

The Okay Surefeeds are being closed out and are an extremely good mag. I’d suggest getting some of these while you can.

No mention of Lancer mag's ?

I was just getting ready to put in a plug for Lancers. I have them and Magpuls. I like them both.

I have ASC, Pmag, Lancer, Hexmag and Amend. The least issues are with the Pmag, Lancer and ASC.

"Surefeed" magazines made by Okay Industries, if you can find them.

I don't think I've ever had a failure to feed from a PMag and they are my first choice, although there are plenty of other acceptable magazines available.

+1

Brownells has 20 round and 30 round magazines. I have not had a bad one yet.

kwg

Like my Lancers.

I find my recommendations to be the best.

That's cool, John.

Do you have a link to that data? Would help end a lot of squabbles over which to buy.

Thanks.

Here's one

Stainless ASC's are also on my fave list.

I like 20 round pmags. 30s work fine but hang lower so when I'm bench shooting, I have to raise the gun further above the table top .. less steady, less accurate. The 20s are almost exactly the same height as the grip. On the other hand, there is a plus to the 30s .. working up loads shooting 5 shot groups I can start with the hottest at the bottom of the mag, then the next lightest, etc with the lightest at the top. 5 shots, change dots, 5 shots, change dots, etc 'til it is empty. Can test a lot of things in a real hurry if you set up 5 dots per target sheet, it's just a touch trickier to get equally steady.

I was not an AR fan either. Always leaned toward mini-14 but I didn't have one of those either. Finally got tired of one of my lefty / anti-gun friends blabbing her so called expertise so I went out 'n' bought one just to see what the truth was. I got a Ruger MPR. F'ing thing shoots very well, as good per $$ spent as any bolt gun on average. Now I can't really seeing NOT having one. Thanks, loud mouthed lefty friend. Ironies abound!

Tom

PMags and more PMags.
I find HK to be the smoothest feeding magazine. Expensive, as everything HK.

Nothing but good experiences with PMag, Lancer, and Daniel Defense.

Look for this thread to go on for 10 more pages saying the same schit over and over.

Well played.

Thank you.

And this bit from Henderson Defense,

“ USGI mags have outlasted all of the other brands. We use UGSI (Brownell's with tan follower) and on a mag for mag basis, they have outlasted Pmags and a few of the other mags that we get from mfg'ers with new weapons. We don't have to worry about various generations with different weapons like the MR556, SCAR, F2000, Tavor or a couple of others that use AR15/M4 magazines.”

Science believes in evolution and global warming. I believe in rounds fired.

Henderson only worries and tracks round counts.

PMags are proven to be the most reliable magazines for combat use.

If one is supplying mags for tourists to burn out barrels then metal mags might last longer and save you a few dollars over millions of rounds.

If the US Army or Marine Corps is buying magazines for combat reliability they choose PMags due to the proven better reliability.

“Studies” can be found to support any side of the situation you want. I shoot both.

Feel free to post a link to any studies that show Pmags are not the most reliable.

Thanks.

I just did above

Do you think he’s gonna rent a gun with mags that aren’t reliable?

Post any quote from the ARFcom Henderson thread that quantifiably addresses feeding reliability.

Thanks.


As has been said many times in this thread other mags can work fine for tourists and others not interested in the best reliability.

If you want the best combat reliability PMags are proven to offer such.

Beyond round count. Another deal are drop tests. The Gen3 PMag gets little cracks, so it fails, although still functional. The aluminum one bends all to chit, binds up and fails to function, although it doesn't crack and passes the test. Sounds very sciency. LOL



This, copied and pasted may be of interest... From a pretty good discussion. https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?193786-Why-PMAGs-are-better-than-aluminum-USGI

"To add a few points...yes, you can drop an M3 and break it after a few drops if it hits right. Your USGI Mag would be non functional at the same point, however, and the cracked PMAG will still feed fine.

Yeah, there were some tweaks required to the 2007 PMAG for some guns. A decade ago. The M3 stop is there for a good reason, and if you want the other benefits of the mag, yes lowers that deviate from normal dimensions require alteration to the stop...but if you don't have a weird lower, it's a complete non-issue. Certainly not for anything built to TDP.

M3's were not redesigned. A tiny rib was added to deal with ammunition on the smaller end of SAAMI spec that could exhibit the transposition issue. Never was an issue with function, and apart from a few outliers, only on the early M3 20 did it prevent insertion when combined with the right rifle and ammunition. We made the change anyway. We have test data both before and after the change, and it doesn't affect anything else. Sinlesssorrow, why didn't you swap those out? You still can. If you're seeing the issue with mags you have, just swap them for new ones. We'll gladly do so, as has always been our policy.

We've long ago covered the whole long term storage thing on this very forum. There are plenty of guys in service right now who have PMAGS that have been on 3, 4, or more deployments. So that part should not be in question.

Lots of folks want to give USGI mags a pass, "Oh it was old" or "it was past service life" or "you just didn't take care of them". I'll agree that the USGI is not a "bad" mag with many ammunition types in certain iterations, although every change picatinny has made has seemingly made it worse. What cannot be said, however, in the face of the body of test data that now exists, is that the USGI is "as good as" the PMAG M3 and certainly not better by any stretch or interpretation of data. Not clean, not dirty, not with multiple types of currently issued ammo. Maybe extreme long term longevity in protected environments without rough handling, like non-maneuvering range use.

It's fine if someone "prefers" USGI, or any other mag, for form factor, fit in pouches, familiarity, or whatever. There's just not much of an argument that can be made based on feeding performance to support any choice other than PMAG GEN M3, especially with currently issued ammunition types.

Duane Liptak, Jr.
Executive Vice President
Magpul... "

S/S ASC's for me. Hint..............

In my experience the GI and green followers are every bit as good as a Magpul but Magpuls tend to damage when dropped on the hard deck more often. Yes they'll still function when cracked but cracked is cracked and you now have a mag relegated to range use only.

H&K or similar tend to do the worst on concrete pads for obvious reasons.

I use plenty of both USGI and Magpul and have never seen any real world difference. The only thing that would influence my decision one way or another would be price and only if buying in large quantity.

Butt Fugk Burns,

My son is OCONUS right now and all 210 rounds are in USGI mags.

And he don’t drive a truck or boil potatoes either. LOL

What do the tater boilers carry?

Nodak Spud?

Now that I have led you to water why not take a drink?

Hie yourself down to the local gun emporium and purchase your son the best mags for combat to replace the old stock EPMs his unit issues.

Grab him a few 40 rnd PMAGS as they work great when prone and wearing armour.

You can thank me later or just keep being a lil bitch while your son carries sub par mags.

What your plan?

PMAG is Best Mag

I have some Vietnam era 20 round aluminum mags that work perfectly though some have been re springed and followers replaced. But if the test of time matters they are good enough. I like aluminum better than plastic but have plenty of both. As for steel I have a couple and they appear to be OK. I like 20 round magazines the best for reasons already mentioned but 30's are ok also.

LMFAO.

So I'm wrong?

Just STFU you overweight sack of schit.

You're a fraud and nothing more.

As of year, and half ago the good ol US Army was still issuing these in good ol 4th BDE, 25th Infantry Division. They are now 2D Brigade of the 11th Airborne Division. I Remember years gone by getting issued the old black follower USGI mags. They made the improvement to the anti-tilt green follower. Then they improved it with tan anti-tilt follower. Even during Iraq black follower were still out there. U.S Army came out with an order that those magazines be thrown away.

Potato guns?

Sooo, are D&H mags with the Teflon inside and out some of the good enough aluminum chit?

So you choose lil bitch.

Can't say it suprises me.

That right there shows just how full of fugking schit you truly are.

LOL

Stick to bullschitting those hicks in Wyoming. It ain't gonna work in real world.

You're a fugking fraud and nothing more.

I bet your gin blossoms were really glowing when you hammered out this little gem.

LOL

Enjoy that shop that isn't making any money.

I have some of those, they seem to be pretty decent

Agreed. Well-reviewed... Good enough for BCM.

The attic inside a *real* business, can't hardly be called a "shop".