The straight, then curved shape of the AR-15 30 rounder has been a problem from the beginning. I met Gene Stoner at an event where he was a keynote speaker and both in his speech and afterward as myself and a few others got to spend some time with him discussing things, he just plain HATED that 30 round magazine�just went on and on.
The first pass at a 30 rounder was a constant curve magazine but it proved to not have enough curve, so they went to the straight then curved design. The PMAG has the straight then curved shape on the outside, but internally it�s a steady curve. While it�s still a bit of a compromise design, the PMAG gets it as close to right as it�s ever likely to get. The PMAG is an excellent magazine. If you intend to use 30 rounders you�re doing yourself a disservice to use anything else.
Wow, what an opportunity to meet the man himself and 'talk tech' with him...
Good info above...ya learn something new everyday (or at least you should!!)
Yeah, I felt like a teenage girl meeting the Beatles. I was in my early 20�s when I met him, and although I knew my stuff, I didn�t know a fraction of what I know now. I did get in some good questions, and he answered several of my questions before I even asked them. There�s so much I�d like to ask now, but sadly he has departed. Some things I really remember was his disgust with the 30 round magazine, disgust with the Army in general and their complete lack of competence in anything and everything related to the M16. He felt people should have gone to jail over the fiasco with the first issued M16�s and the bad ammo. He spoke of the arrogance of the Army just �knowing better� than this half assed engineer who invented the thing. I asked him if he was working on anything else in the firearms world and he said he was, but he couldn�t talk about it. I found out about 2 years later it was the ACR (Advanced Combat Rifle) that he was working on, and predictably his design was pure genius. Although his design was eliminated very early on, I did notice that the Steyr ACR was functionally damn near identical.
At the time I saw Stoner�s presentation, I wasn�t aware that he had designed the 25mm Bushmaster gun that we see on the M2 Bradley�s. He also spoke of the AR-16 & AR-18 designs which I was all ears because at the time I was present for the presentation, I had a Howa made AR-180 in my closet at home and I absolutely LOVED that rifle (Love to have another one). The most interesting thing was Stoner�s presentation on the M63 weapon system, something that was WAY ahead of its time and the small arms industry is just now getting around to recognizing the concept (but still not quite the whole concept). Had the US military continued development of the M63 system, we would have a BAD ARSED weapon system today�a missed opportunity.
Stoner made mention of Melvin Johnson (the inventor of the Johnson 1941 rifle and LMG) and talked about the genius of his inventions. Stoner was quick to give props to Johnson as an innovator and Stoner sought to emulate Johnson�s visionary approach to weapons design. The bolt and recoil system of the Johnson LMG can be found in the AR-10/AR-15 designs.
I could go on and on, it was such a great opportunity to meet and talk with him.
