MFT polymer magazines - good or bad?

[Sasquatch]

What's the consensus on MFT magazines? Are they trash, are they on-par with GI mags in terms of reliability? Are they as realiable as P-Mags?

 

[SQLGeek]

I’d pick GI mags from D&H or Okay Industries or PMags or Lancer over those.

If they’re all that’s left then I guess they’d work.

Edit: Having held some, they feel flimsy. They’re usually not on the top of any list for first picks for magazines.

 

[Sasquatch]

I’d pick GI mags from D&H or Okay Industries or PMags or Lanover those.

If they’re all that’s left then I guess they’d work.

Eh reason I ask - the last couple times I've been in to Academy, they had 10 round P-Mags, AK, AR-10 P-Mags but the only AR-15 mags in stock are MFT's. That, to me, was a sign they must be kind of shit. The price isn't great, but isn't bad - currently I think they're going for $12 / per for a 30 round mag. I'm not hurting for AR mags, but I can always use more AR mags.

 

[SQLGeek]

Mags are still popping up online, I’d just assume buy more of those before debasing yourself with MFT unless you have to.

Of course I’ve been accused of being an AR snob before so take that for what it is.

 

[cvgunman]

Eh reason I ask - the last couple times I've been in to Academy, they had 10 round P-Mags, AK, AR-10 P-Mags but the only AR-15 mags in stock are MFT's. That, to me, was a sign they must be kind of shit. The price isn't great, but isn't bad - currently I think they're going for $12 / per for a 30 round mag. I'm not hurting for AR mags, but I can always use more AR mags.

PM me your address and I'll drop one in the mail to you. I have several that I received as promo items from MFT. I have not used any as I have just used PMAGs.

 

[Sasquatch]

PM me your address and I'll drop one in the mail to you. I have several that I received as promo items from MFT. I have not used any as I have just used PMAGs.

I'm not one to turn down a free mag - thanks

 

[Pops1955]

Eh reason I ask - the last couple times I've been in to Academy, they had 10 round P-Mags, AK, AR-10 P-Mags but the only AR-15 mags in stock are MFT's. That, to me, was a sign they must be kind of shit. The price isn't great, but isn't bad - currently I think they're going for $12 / per for a 30 round mag. I'm not hurting for AR mags, but I can always use more AR mags.

I have 7 of them and they run just as good as any other I have. I have several Troy Battle Mags, a couple military aluminum mags and 10 or so Magpul mags.

 

[Sam7sf]

Harder to seat in some guns. I don’t own any anymore. All I have is magpul, surefeed, d&h, brownells, and lancer.

 

[TexMex247]

They feel thin and flimsy as a few others have stated but they've run fine for me. If I'm betting my life on the situation I'd go pmag, hex, Troy or lancer before mft.

 

[Sam7sf]

I’m not a fan of those troys...They seem questionable.

 

[baboon]

IMHO of an AR magazine has a cage code that are GTG.

 

[MTA]

I just bought two today since they were dirt cheap ($8). Ill see how they do and let you know

 

[cvgunman]

I'm not one to turn down a free mag - thanks

I'll send it out today USPS. Am just going to put it in a manilla type envelope with no padding, will be a test of how durable it is travelling through the postal system.

 

[MTA]

Well I just tried one out. Worked fine. They do feel a little cheaper than a magpul but it worked with out any issues. I tried out steel case ammo and my reloads which are loaded 0.10 behind the max magazine oal. I forget the value but they are longer than factory rounds

Definitely worth $8 but wondering how they will last over time

 

[Dust Ben]

I dont have much idea on MFT polymer magazines

 

[Sasquatch]

Thanks again to cvgunman for his generosity. The mag arrived in the mail yesterday. This morning I commenced a little torture testing. I don't have enough land to legally shoot on my property, so I can't pop rounds off to see how it feeds in live fire.

My initial impressions are it feels very similar to my P-Mags in weight and build quality.

It seats equally well / poorly in my gun as P-Mags do. I tested it head to head with a gen 2 windowed 30 round P-mag, and a 20 round Brownell's GI style aluminum mag as a control. Both the MFT and Magpul take a solid tap to seat on a closed bolt. Both types locked in equally well. empty.

I used my Cammenga Easyloader and loaded a full 30 rounds of XM197 ball into the MFT. The Cammenga loads upto 20 at a time, so I did 20, then 10.

Like P-Mags, the Cammenga loader is tight on this one. I think its just the norm with polymer mags. Both P-mags and the MFT take a bit of force to seat fully into the loader, and both P-Mags and the MFT take a bit more oomf to get started than the GI metal mags do.

Once they start moving, its pretty easy to fully load with either mag.

Interestingly enough, when I examined them closely together, the MFT does seem to be made of slightly thicker polymer than the Magpul, and the feed lips are definitely beefier. The polymer in the feed lips is thicker, and they are profiled like the GI mags.

I began a little torture testing of them, shouldering my gun and dropping the loaded mag from shoulder height. I'm 6'4", so the mags are falling from roughly 5'6 or 5'8 in height. In the first dozen drops, the top round popped free twice. This didn't surprise me, as my P-mags and GI mags would do the same.

My next test will be taking the gun and mag out onto the driveway - its crushed concrete, and doing the same type of drop test to see if the mag falls apart, spits rounds, or takes any damage.

 

[MTA]

Thanks again to cvgunman for his generosity. The mag arrived in the mail yesterday. This morning I commenced a little torture testing. I don't have enough land to legally shoot on my property, so I can't pop rounds off to see how it feeds in live fire.

My initial impressions are it feels very similar to my P-Mags in weight and build quality.

It seats equally well / poorly in my gun as P-Mags do. I tested it head to head with a gen 2 windowed 30 round P-mag, and a 20 round Brownell's GI style aluminum mag as a control. Both the MFT and Magpul take a solid tap to seat on a closed bolt. Both types locked in equally well. empty.

I used my Cammenga Easyloader and loaded a full 30 rounds of XM197 ball into the MFT. The Cammenga loads upto 20 at a time, so I did 20, then 10.

Like P-Mags, the Cammenga loader is tight on this one. I think its just the norm with polymer mags. Both P-mags and the MFT take a bit of force to seat fully into the loader, and both P-Mags and the MFT take a bit more oomf to get started than the GI metal mags do.

Once they start moving, its pretty easy to fully load with either mag.

Interestingly enough, when I examined them closely together, the MFT does seem to be made of slightly thicker polymer than the Magpul, and the feed lips are definitely beefier. The polymer in the feed lips is thicker, and they are profiled like the GI mags.

I began a little torture testing of them, shouldering my gun and dropping the loaded mag from shoulder height. I'm 6'4", so the mags are falling from roughly 5'6 or 5'8 in height. In the first dozen drops, the top round popped free twice. This didn't surprise me, as my P-mags and GI mags would do the same.

My next test will be taking the gun and mag out onto the driveway - its crushed concrete, and doing the same type of drop test to see if the mag falls apart, spits rounds, or takes any damage.

hell thats way more thorough than my test. Thanks for doing all that and sharing

 

[Sasquatch]

hell thats way more thorough than my test. Thanks for doing all that and sharing

I figure its a free mag, may as well abuse the crap out of it to see if its any good, and report my findings so that others may use it in aiding their decisions to get more or not. If nothing else, they'll make good range mags. I'm probably going to grab a couple more if Academy still has them - they had a good stock last time I was in, but that was 3 days ago.

 

[MTA]

I figure its a free mag, may as well abuse the crap out of it to see if its any good, and report my findings so that others may use it in aiding their decisions to get more or not. If nothing else, they'll make good range mags. I'm probably going to grab a couple more if Academy still has them - they had a good stock last time I was in, but that was 3 days ago.

IDK if they have atwoods stores near you but if they do, they typically sell these for 8-9$

 

[Sasquatch]

Alrighty - so I just got back in the house after conducting phase 2 of the testing on this mag.

My driveway is probably similar to most outdoor range decks around here - its crushed concrete with some sand mixed in. Lots of sharp little rocks and gritty particles.

Instead of just a dozen drops like I conducted on my office floor (typical home floor with carpet) I did 24 drops, again with the weapon shouldered, straight onto the ground.

These are the results

Aside from cosmetic damage on the floor plate, the magazine appears to be in good condition. I don't see any cracking or warping. About 1/3 of the time the magazine bounced and flipped onto the feed lips.

Out of 24 drops, I had 9 instances of the top round popping free, 8 times it left the magazine entirely (with enough force from the spring pressure to launch it 5-6 feet), and one time the base of the round was trapped between the 2nd round and the feed lip. Once again, I'm not terribly surprised because I think my GI mags and P-Mags would do the same thing, so I'm not seeing that as a fault or poor performance. Of course its only been loaded for a few hours, so time will tell if the pressure of remaining loaded with a full 30 rounds will deform or damage the feed lips, or if the spring gives out. Typically its cycling that wears springs out, not remaining compressed.

I do like that the follower on this mag is metal, vs plastic. It just feels better than a plastic follower. I can't give an honest opinion on performance till I run a few hundred rounds thru the mag though.

My thought of grabbing more of these as range mags or back ups is stronger yet than it was earlier. If I could get them for $8 I'd be thrilled. Academy was selling them for $12 last I knew. Still not bad, especially since they want $20 for a P-mag 10 rounder.