Am I the only one who prefers mil-spec AR mags?

[pbwalker]

I see it all the time..."you have to buy PMags, you must buy welded mags."

I'm sorry, but give me my $5 mil-spec AR mag. It served me well in the service. I've never had any FT* issues with them. If I ding or scuff them, big whoop.

I just don't see the need for a $30 AR mag.

What am I missing?

[The Annoyed Man]

I see it all the time..."you have to buy PMags, you must buy welded mags."

I'm sorry, but give me my $5 mil-spec AR mag. It served me well in the service. I've never had any FT* issues with them. If I ding or scuff them, big whoop.

I just don't see the need for a $30 AR mag.

What am I missing?

Back your truck over 3 of your mil-spec mags ($15 worth), then back your truck over one PMAG ($15 worth) three times. Then take all 4 mags to the range. You won't be using the mil-specs because they'll be flat and you can't put cartridges in them. But you'll be using that PMag for the next 10 years. By then, you could have spent $500 on mil-spec mags.

The mil-spec mags that came with my Bushmaster literally fell apart after a few trips to the range and some hard time holding down the carpeting on the shelf of my safe. So did the mil-spec mags I bought to replace them. The welding at the seams came apart. PMAGs have corrosion resistant stainless steel springs and anti-tilt, self-lubricating followers. They are rugged. They have dust covers to keep the ammo in them clean until you pop them off to use them.

Yes, they cost more. Three times as much, in fact. But they will last for years and years and years. Self-destructing $5 mags are fine if you have the U.S government's magazine budget. But for those of us who don't, a few PMAGS that will likely never need to be replaced really are the better solution.

That's my justification. It might not work for everyone, but it works for me. I have 14 of them, but I didn't pay for all of them. Some were gifts from my son.

[flintknapper]

No pmags here (not because they are not good though).

I use C-Products Stainless Steel. Very rugged and reliable.

[jgedmond]

+1 on the C-Products SS mags. I use mil-spec also. No problems with either, but I never ran them over with my truck (accidentally or on purpose ).

[jeeperbryan]

To take it even further.....buy one Eastern Bloc AK Mag, buy any AR mag. Open two bottles of beer with the feed lips of of each mag. Throw the broken AR mag down range and shoot it up with the AK. Then have a seat, drink your beer, ask yourself why AR mags are so cheaply made.

[Weg]

To take it even further.....buy one Eastern Bloc AK Mag, buy any AR mag. Open two bottles of beer with the feed lips of of each mag. Throw the broken AR mag down range and shoot it up with the AK. Then have a seat, drink your beer, ask yourself why AR mags are so cheaply made.

Ditto to that...... on the AR mag issue, i've never used P-mags, just plain old USGI. Can't say i've never had a problem with them, but then again i'm just not willing to spend the money on P-mags. If my life depended on it I might think differently, but it doesn't.

[dicion]

My Rifle is a TEOTWAWKI Rifle. So I got Mags that should last until then, and maybe afterwords. Pmags

Also, I have this really annoying habit to 'go big or go home' or 'why buy mediocre when you can get the best' attitude towards everything.
My first handgun that I bought myself was a $1200 1911... skipped the entire Revolver/Glock/Other Cheaper handgun and went straight to the best

Dunno why, but that's just how I am. Mediocre doesn't cut it around me, for anything.

Granted, the counter arguement for my arguement would be that you can purchase 3x as many GI mags as pmags, load em up once, use em, and then discard em, because in a real TEOTWAWKI scenario, are you really going to go back and pick up your mags? I guess it depends on how the world was ending... Zombies... probably not. Defending your home after a natural disaster, probably.

[jeeperbryan]

My Rifle is a TEOTWAWKI Rifle. So I got Mags that should last until then, and maybe afterwords. Pmags

Also, I have this really annoying habit to 'go big or go home' or 'why buy mediocre when you can get the best' attitude towards everything.
My first handgun that I bought myself was a $1200 1911... skipped the entire Revolver/Glock/Other Cheaper handgun and went straight to the best

Dunno why, but that's just how I am. Mediocre doesn't cut it around me, for anything.

Granted, the counter arguement for my arguement would be that you can purchase 3x as many GI mags as pmags, load em up once, use em, and then discard em, because in a real TEOTWAWKI scenario, are you really going to go back and pick up your mags? I guess it depends on how the world was ending... Zombies... probably not. Defending your home after a natural disaster, probably.

Well, I wouldn't classify anything AR15/M16 or 1911 related as TEOTWAWKI. If it was truly the end of the world, those with the AK47s and Glocks would survive.

And this is coming from a guy that has a super expensive 1911 and a few high-end AR15s. I'll still go with my $400 AKs and Glocks :)

[Mando'a]

The AR-15 is new to me, I've had mine about 6 months now.

I think I prefer the Pmag's to USGI mags, simply because I'm an AR Newb.

The Pmag torture tests I viewed on YouTube also helped convince me to go with the Pmags.


...and I'm sure owning a plastic gun (Glock 22) pushed me to buy plastic mags...

[The Annoyed Man]

My Rifle is a TEOTWAWKI Rifle. So I got Mags that should last until then, and maybe afterwords. Pmags

That's exactly my reasoning. I can't always afford the "go big or go home" thing, but sometimes success or failure boil down to the small details - like high quality magazines and good optics.

[jgedmond]

My Rifle is a TEOTWAWKI Rifle. So I got Mags that should last until then, and maybe afterwords. Pmags

Also, I have this really annoying habit to 'go big or go home' or 'why buy mediocre when you can get the best' attitude towards everything.
My first handgun that I bought myself was a $1200 1911... skipped the entire Revolver/Glock/Other Cheaper handgun and went straight to the best

Dunno why, but that's just how I am. Mediocre doesn't cut it around me, for anything.

Granted, the counter arguement for my arguement would be that you can purchase 3x as many GI mags as pmags, load em up once, use em, and then discard em, because in a real TEOTWAWKI scenario, are you really going to go back and pick up your mags? I guess it depends on how the world was ending... Zombies... probably not. Defending your home after a natural disaster, probably.

I think that you spent a few hundred too much on the handgun, my HK's and a pump action shotgun (in addition to the AR's) will do me just fine

[gigag04]

My Rifle is a TEOTWAWKI Rifle. So I got Mags that should last until then, and maybe afterwords. Pmags

That's exactly my reasoning. I can't always afford the "go big or go home" thing, but sometimes success or failure boil down to the small details - like high quality magazines and good optics.

You and your logic.....

:)

[bigred90gt]

I've never used a Mil Spec magazine, or any magazine other than a P-mag in my AR, but not because I am opposed to anything else. When I bought my AR, it came with a P-mag. When I bought my AR, I didnt know much about them, so I asked my buddy which magazines were best to buy, and he said the P-mag, so I bought 3 extras. When the gun show rolls back around, I'll probably buy 5 or 10 more. Magazines are like ammo, you just cant have too many. They were $12 at the gun show.

[Bily Lovec]

children,
Pmags ARE mil-spec.

[O6nop]

children,
Pmags ARE mil-spec.

Are they really? Or are they just AR15/M16 compatible? Are they actually GI issue? Or is this a "clip vs. magazine" discussion?
This would be interesting to know for sure.