Pros & Cons of a Metal Magazine and Polymer?

[WolfgangKrause]

Hello all. Yesterday my father and I were discussing what the Pos and Cons of metal and polymer magazine are for the AR platform. What do you all think about this?

 

[TxStetson]

It depends on the gun. I have a Remington R-15, and a Remington R-25 that hate metal magazines, but have never hiccuped with Pmags. Others in the stable could care less what magazines get fed to them.

 

[candcallen]

Like anything it depends on the brand and thus quality.

I prefer USGI mags with magpul followers.
That includes mags made by USGI suppliers for others to sell as their mags like PSAs D&H branded, made by Labelle, or Brownells and a few others who use C Products mags. C Products was sold a decade or so ago and had a period where QC slipped and had mags with welding alignment issues get out, that said those issues are no more. Regardless they are easy to spot obviously.

Polymer mags are Magpul and Lancer only. I wont buy Lancers but I dont turn them down in trades or trash them.

All other brands of metal mags or polymer mags are verboten as far as I'm concerned. No need to try to save a buck or two on stuff you will likely trash anyways sooner or later.

I would also use HK steel mags if I came across them but wont pay the stupid high price for no real benefit over USGI as far as reliability goes.

There are other brands people use but again why pay more or chance feed ou issues when USGI and magpul are cheap plentiful and reliable.

Oh and all mags I buy hat arent new get a new magpul follower and spring. It's cheap and ensures reliability in the system. Without quality mags an ar is effectively a single shot rifle.

 

[oldag]

Polymer won't rust. But it will deform over time. How much and how soon is the question. Certainly not a short term concern.

Metal (blued steel) will rust in some environments if not protected. Aluminum to a much lesser degree.

 

[V-Tach]

DGAS as long as it works......

 

[Texasjack]

A small dent in a metal magazine can cause it to malfunction. Plastic doesn't dent - it's either in one piece or broken. Magpul's PMAGS have proven to be about as strong and reliable as any mag could possibly be. Military guys bought and used them until they finally convinced the Pentagon to evaluate them. They did and now buy them for our troops. They don't rust, they handle heat and cold, and they are extremely reliable.

 

[Mills]

Go old school or go home.

 

[mad88minute]

Polymer mags have thicker walls, so they are a little more restricted on loading longer over all lengths.

I worked up a load for an AR with a nice Lilja barrel. Loaded the 69smk projectiles a little longer. They grouped wonderfully. Then I signed up for a long range class/ competition at my local gun club and decided to bring my new polymer magazine instead of the steel ones I'd been using.

I ended up having to single load rounds all day.

Sent from my moto e6 using Tapatalk

 

[TexMex247]

Last month a buddy of mine managed to have a failure with a pmag. I've had nothing but success with them but I think he somehow loaded them akwardly and the magazine bulged and jammed up. A loose non feeding bullet on top and 2 bullets SxS below.

As far as steel mags or aluminum. No failures I can recount except with 7.62x39 mags. I have to agree with other posts about the ability to load an over length round. Big advantage to the reloader to have even ten thousandths of extra length to work with.

I've done fine with other poly mags like Troy, MFT and hex. Although if I'm betting my life on them I'm using pmags, hexmags, or quality aluminum ones. The Lancers are also high quality and possibly the best of both worlds. The one advantage of metal magazines I can recall is that I usually have better luck getting them to lock on a closed bolt. In that sense the polymers are finiky .

 

[candcallen]

Shotgun news did a mag test in Nov of 09. Some interesting results. Again this was 09 so take that into consideration. The shit plastic mags are still shit though.

I cant find the actual test but did find these 2 recaps.

Redirect Notice

AR15 Magazine Torture Test in Shotgun News « Daily Bulletin

Writer David Fortier recently conducted an extensive torture test of AR15 magazines -- both polymer and metal-bodied. Fortier's test results, some of which may surprise you, are found in David's article Feeding Your AR, published in the latest (November 20, 2009) edition of <a href=http://shotgun...

bulletin.accurateshooter.com

 

[HKaltwasser]

Steel and aluminum will stack in a surplus bandolier, aluminum are lighter. I usually use Okay Industries when going aluminum.

Cons- aluminum will ding up if doing drop free mag loads and are generally dainty at best.

I've had good luck with Pmgs Gen3's, Hera, HK RAL800 HK416, and MFT Gen 2's mags but they're thicker and can deform when kept loaded or just over time in use.

Steel HK416 are almost bomb proof but are heavy, especially if you're packing them on a plate carrier or battle belt.

 

[candcallen]

Steel and aluminum will stack in a surplus bandolier, aluminum are lighter. I usually use Okay Industries when going aluminum.

Cons- aluminum will ding up if doing drop free mag loads and are generally dainty at best.

I've had good luck with Pmgs Gen3's, Hera, HK RAL800 HK416, and MFT Gen 2's mags but they're thicker and can deform when kept loaded or just over time in use.

Steel HK416 are almost bomb proof but are heavy, especially if you're packing them on a plate carrier or battle belt.

Plus one on the HK steel maritime mags as being bomb proof. Absolute top of any line. That said I could never justify the price and weight unless your making a living with your weapon in that environment.

The Israeli made steel Elander mags appear to be carbon copies of the HK maritime mags but I've seen 2 that weren't properly aligned when welded making one feed lip slightly higher than the other. They still worked flawlessly but I got rid of those as I could never sleep if I had them loaded and stored wondering if they would work when needed. Forever.

 

[Coop45]

Like anything it depends on the brand and thus quality.

I prefer USGI mags with magpul followers.
That includes mags made by USGI suppliers for others to sell as their mags like PSAs D&H branded, made by Labelle, or Brownells and a few others who use C Products mags. C Products was sold a decade or so ago and had a period where QC slipped and had mags with welding alignment issues get out, that said those issues are no more. Regardless they are easy to spot obviously.

Polymer mags are Magpul and Lancer only. I wont buy Lancers but I dont turn them down in trades or trash them.

All other brands of metal mags or polymer mags are verboten as far as I'm concerned. No need to try to save a buck or two on stuff you will likely trash anyways sooner or later.

I would also use HK steel mags if I came across them but wont pay the stupid high price for no real benefit over USGI as far as reliability goes.

There are other brands people use but again why pay more or chance feed ou issues when USGI and magpul are cheap plentiful and reliable.

Oh and all mags I buy hat arent new get a new magpul follower and spring. It's cheap and ensures reliability in the system. Without quality mags an ar is effectively a single shot rifle.

You should have seem the XM16E1's. LOL! On a good day they were single shots.

 

[HKaltwasser]

Plus one on the HK steel maritime mags as being bomb proof. Absolute top of any line. That said I could never justify the price and weight unless your making a living with your weapon in that environment.

The Israeli made steel Elander mags appear to be carbon copies of the HK maritime mags but I've seen 2 that weren't properly aligned when welded making one feed lip slightly higher than the other. They still worked flawlessly but I got rid of those as I could never sleep if I had them loaded and stored wondering if they would work when needed. Forever.

Yeah, unfortunately my roller locking steel mags are just as much as the Maritime mags. They're pretty indestructible too, I just look out for the occasional decent deal.

 

[zackmars]

Plus one on the HK steel maritime mags as being bomb proof. Absolute top of any line. That said I could never justify the price and weight unless your making a living with your weapon in that environment.

The Israeli made steel Elander mags appear to be carbon copies of the HK maritime mags but I've seen 2 that weren't properly aligned when welded making one feed lip slightly higher than the other. They still worked flawlessly but I got rid of those as I could never sleep if I had them loaded and stored wondering if they would work when needed. Forever.

My experience with HK maritime mags are the complete opposite, heavy, poor spring tension, easy to damage.

Magpul, lancer, Okay ind. Are far superior IMO

 

[Greywarrant]

Pmags for me!

 

[AdioSS]

Not AR mags, but I bought several clear plastic 40rd AK mags around 2010. It took 10 years of them being used & reloaded before I had problems with them. They had plastic feedlips that cracked & ejected the rounds everywhere. They were cheap enough that I think I got my money’s worth out of them.

 

[bfm0072]

Polymer won't rust. But it will deform over time. How much and how soon is the question. Certainly not a short term concern.

Metal (blued steel) will rust in some environments if not protected. Aluminum to a much lesser degree.

Is this deformation in general or when exposed to extreme elements? I ask because I noticed one of my mags was a little hard to seat and have never experienced this with other mags.

 

[perfor8]

P-Mags are quieter; steel and aluminum mags can scrape/rattle/bang around. Of course, that only matters up the point you start sending rounds...

 

[Lonesome Dove]

People been running metal mags from the day they were introduced. Pmags and others not so much. They both work fine. Try them all before you put your trust in them. Just like everything else in life.