Many individuals erroneously think that any old magazines will work in their firearms, so that they decide to purchase whatever is least expensive, stupidly thinking that all magazines are made equal. I still remember, just before the 1994 assault weapons and hi-cap magazine ban happening, when there were a series of fly-by-night firms turning out magazines which held over ten rds as quickly as they could. They had been ashamed of their very own products that they did not even stamp their names on the magazines. I fell victim a few times too many of those no name magazines.
I purchased a few dozen Ruger Mini-14, 30-rd magazines, through mail order. To be sure, they weren’t made by Ruger or any other company that I could identify. The magazines had been crudely assembled, plus they weren’t heat treated. Should you dropped one of those magazines on the feed lips, the lips will bend. Additionally, I fell prey to another following market magazine scam. Just before the 1994 assault weapons and hi-cap mag ban happening, I found an outfit which had right, GLOCK 19 15-rd magazines for only $5 per. I must have known better. The individual assured me on the other end of the telephone that these were real GLOCK magazines.
When they, several dozens of them, arrived, they had been straightforward plastic magazines which resembled GLOCK magazines. There was not any metal liner, also to be sure they were crap. Not a one would function. I used them for many years in some of my handgun courses to educate malfunction drills. As a rule, it is just painful to beat factory- Original Equipment Manufactured – magazines. Nevertheless, there are exceptions to this rule, and that’s purchasing magazines from makers that provide factory mags to gun manufacturers, like MecGar and Metal Form magazines, to name a few. These two companies produce outstanding aftermarket, magazines, and which I have had no problems with. A Number of the magazines for my 1911 are from MecGar and Metal Form. They make mags for a lot of the big name 1911 manufacturers.
With regards to AR-15 magazines, I cannot start to tell you how numerous different manufacturers there are of those particular types of magazines. A few AR-15 mags are better than others like it’s with all things. Some are advertised as being mil-spec, which doesn’t just tickle my fancy. It merely means these mags are constructed to the open military specifications demanded by the army. There are also aluminum, stainless steel, and aluminum AR-15 magazines. I steer clear of a few of the polymer AR mags, like ProMag, because I have found they are not reliable in my testing. To be sure, if a name is not found in the magazine, then you should avoid this period! Soon after the Sandy Hook shooting a couple of years back, one particular mail order company was benefiting from individuals who were seeking 30-rd AR-15 magazines.
They were advertising real, Colt 30-rd AR-15 magazines to get a mere $99.97 each. Firstly, there is no way of knowing if these were real Colt. Only since the floor plates had the Colt name and emblem on them doesn’t indicate that the remainder of the magazine was Colt. They weren’t in any original packaging. Floor plates are easy enough to change. Be advised. Also, be aware of factory reconstructed original, mil-spec mags which you will find at gun shows, packed in plastic, with a few sorts of NSN printed on a sheet of paper in the plastic bag with the mag.
To my knowledge, the army does NOT reconstruct magazines. They discard them when they begin committing feeding problems. With regards to AR-15 magazines, I prefer, over all others, these polymer mags out of MagPul. I have found them to be of the best quality, and I have yet to get them fail on me. I enjoy the double feed design which permits rounds to feed easily in M4 feed ramped ARs. I like that you could store MagPul 30-rd mags, completely loaded, with the cap for storage on the grilles, so there’s no pressure on the feed lips. Plus, through the years, Magpul has made several improvements on their AR-15 mags, making every generation slightly better than the preceding one.
This brand new mag out of MagPul is made mainly out of plastic. Also, it seems to be the same sturdy stuff their regular polymer mags are made of. We have the alloy spring and some other minor parts which are made of metal.
Also, without having to force it locks in place, that, even when the magazine is full. Some AR-15 magazines must be forcefully driven home when they’re entirely loaded and on a closed bolt. That is not so much with the Magpul D60 magazine.
There’s a little, clear the viewing window on the rear of the magazine to give you a notion of how many rounds are at the mag. There’s also a ratcheting loading lever that you need to utilize to load the roads into the D60. Without using this lever, you will never get the magazine loaded. Even with the lever, the magazine is somewhat hard to load. It is not a magazine that you can pack in a hurry. This is the mag that you load and maintain on your AR, ready for action, and 60 rds on faucet should be enough to keep the lousy man’s heads down so that you can find cover then reload with a number of your 30-rd mags.
Once more, this mag takes some time to load-up, but it’s well worthwhile. I tested Magpul D60 mag magnet in four distinct ARs- one from Ruger, Bushmaster AR with a polymer lower and upper, Windham Weaponry, also one from a regional Oregon company called Rogue Defense. Because of the time, it took to load-up the D60 mag, I only conducted one magazine complete – 60 rds- through each one of the above ARs. But, I’d a Terrific assortment of ammo out of Black Hills Ammunition mix in a magazine. Back in 223, I’d their 50-gr Hornady V Max, 52-gr Match Hollow Point, 55-gr FMJ, 55-gr Soft Point, 60-gr Soft Point, and 68-gr Heavy Match Hollow Point.
I had their 5.56mm 69-gr OTM and their 77-gr OTM. I blended the ammo in each magazine. I just dumped the ammunition from their factory boxes into one huge box, and loaded the magazine. I did this four times from this mixture of different types and weight of ammunition out of Black Hills Ammunition. I figured this could be a fantastic test for the D60 to run through. I’d zero malfunctions, with any one of the ARs I was using and all of the ammo, regardless of what sort it was, fed smoothly. You may readily notice this Magpul D60 drum feeds ultra effortlessly on your AR.
It was tiring to load-up the D60 four distinct times, however, following a while, I got some rhythm to my loading, and it moved a little faster as time went by. This is not a magazine designed to be quickly reloaded, nor was it supposed to be. This is the magazine you keep on your AR for first combat participation, and 60 rds ought to be sufficient to keep the hard men heads down, which means you can seek pay to reload and re-engage if need be. This is the magazine that I maintain in my bedroom AR- the first gun I will reach for when things go wrong.
It is somewhat difficult to beat 60 rds of ammunition on the tap to your initial involvement, eh?