Got my mags 4-1-13. Order # was 16556. Great looking mags, in an out real easy. Haven't had a chance to use them yet.:)
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Got my mags 4-1-13. Order # was 16556. Great looking mags, in an out real easy. Haven't had a chance to use them yet.:)
The 2 E-landers I ordered in January finally came in, yay.
They sure do look pretty.
They survived the boxer test when my 10 month old boxer grabbed one still in the wrapper, carried it into the back yard and shredded the wrapper leaving the mag in a pile of dirt and slobber.
They slide in and drop out of my mag well easily unloaded.
Fully loaded on a closed bolt take a little bump to lock in.
Trying to chamber a round with 30 loaded took 2 try's, very tight in the mag fully loaded.
Hope to make it to the range soon and see how they actually perform.
Order #1726X (ordered 15 Jan) received on 05 April. Agree with others, they sure do look pretty and nicely finished. It will be awhile before I get a chance to try them though.
Ordered 13 Jan with #14795. Received 24 March or so. Had 15 in order with varying manufacture dates of 2/13 and 3/13. Found the 3/13 mags tended to work a lot better than the 2/13 mags. All were loaded to capacity without trouble. One had an issue with a slightly bent feed lip which was fixed in less than two seconds after I took it apart and grabbed it with a pair of pliers. All were unloaded using a Lula without trouble. The last round fit in fairly tight in all and ended up not giving a lot of space left over at the feed lips.
Tried them out loaded in three different carbines. Before doing so, I ran a control group of two Pmags (Gen 2 MOE), Lancer L5AWM, D&H USGI Al recent production w/ Magpul follower and an NHMTG USGI Al 2012 production w/ Magpul follower. All control group mags locked into place on all three carbines with little more than a gentle or medium push. Results on the E-Landers:
Adcor BEAR Elite: Most 2/13 mags took a medium slap to seat. 3/13 mags took nothing more than a medium push.
Daniel Defense M4V3: Most 2/13 mags took either a medium push or a slight tap. 3/13 mags took a gentle to medium push. The DD seemed to like these.
BCM carbine: Hated these for the most part. 2/13 mags were going from a medium to hard slap, 3/13 mags were medium push to medium slap.
With the exception of one magazine that had issues, the remaining 14 dropped free both unloaded and loaded, locked the bolt to the rear empty and worked as advertised. All seated with no problems on an open bolt. Only one mag had significant problems seating and dropping free. It was marked and identified.
One thing that was observed was if left loaded overnight per the industry rep's suggestion, these started seating a lot easier. Not sure what the deal is, but it seemed to work on eight mags I left loaded overnight. The Adcor and DD seated no different than most of my aluminum mags. The BCM was still a little hateful, but didn't appear as hard as before. I didn't try downloading them to 28 to check if that would help as I believe a 30 round magazine should have no issues being loaded to 30 rounds.
Took two to the range, one 2/13 and a 3/13 production, and ran two loads apiece through them. Charging from a closed bolt produced no malfunctions and the round chambered without any issues. While I wasn't doing any heavy firing and I was prohibited from any mag dumps, they worked as advertised and had zero issues with either the Mk 311 frang rounds or PPU 55 grain .223. Weapon used was the Daniel Defense. While not a completely sufficient test and I plan on doing more in the future to include some steel case and additional brass case, so far what I'm seeing is they work no better or worse than most other mags except for initial seating. And these probably will get better over time in that department if they continue to "loosen up" for lack of a better term after sitting loaded for a few days.
Overall fit and finish was excellent although the external coating is really slick and shiny. Nothing deal breaking, but they probably could use some grip tape if you are working them with sweaty hands. Plus the nice shiny exterior...maybe a pass or two with your favorite rattle can color to help with the glare. The white followers were nice as it was easy to identify an empty magazine in the receiver once firing was complete and are almost identical to the USGI Magpul replacement followers. They were starting to get a bit dirty after two cycles, but I don't feel this is going to be an issue for a while. And again, no feeding issues noticed so far. Weight was expected to be more than polymer or aluminum but it's not overly horrid. It seemed to help balance out my carbine a little more since I have a light mounted and brings the center back towards the mag well. Mags feel sturdy without any flex. Disassembling them was easy and is more or less like an AK mag.
I don't feel like I made a bad decision in purchasing these. I'm not overly fond of the seating on the 2/13 production magazines, but the 3/13 works fine so far with the exception of the BCM. Maybe over time and the springs get worked in, the BCM will get easier to seat, not sure, but it seemed to dislike them for the most part right out of the wrapper. I don't care for having magazines that one weapon "likes" and another doesn't, so until I run some further tests with the BCM and these mags, they won't be a primary use just yet and I'll stick to the Pmags and Aluminum (have yet to sufficiently test the Lancers either). I won't pass judgment entirely yet, just saying I need additional testing and breaking in before I can make a qualified determination and feel comfortable relegating them to the range mag drawer or as something I can depend on.
Bought 10 in January, received in mid-March, all were Mod 3.
In my LMT, I experienced no issues when loading to 28. Mags seated fine on closed bolt. No feed issues, period. Mags drop free without issue as well.
All in all, they performed extremely well throughout: closed-bolt loading, seating, firing, and speed reloads.
I did have an issue at 30 rds seating on a closed bolt, which I totally expected and it was my own fault. That's why you push-pull when seating a mag, which I didn't do. When I tried it again, push-pull, it seated fine.
Heck, even when inducing FTE and double-feed malfunctions, those drills went off without a hitch. So, maybe it's because I received all Mod 3's, but I can tell you I'm plenty satisfied with my mags in terms of quality manufacturing and smooth operation.
Currently shipping 19,xxx range, and shipping faster than the conservative estimates we are giving. Getting better and smoother at getting these things shipped out. Still having delays with USPS with some pallets sitting for up to a week at the sort facility in NY before all of the boxes move.
Meh, works now at least appears to. It almost looked like a big spot of the coating you guys put on, but don't think that was it. Just enough of a slight bend to push the cartridge into the front of the mag.
But curious, any reason why I saw a considerable difference in the 2/13 mags and the 3/13 mags?
Grand58742, thank you for taking the time to post a useful and helpful review.
Also, I shippedy original order of E-landers back for replacement on this past Saturday and got a notification today that they are shipping me the new version (mags en route).
I have some made back in December, needed about ten thousandths shaved off using my mini-mill along the upper edge of the mag catch slot. All now work fine in my M16 ( Colt) and my 6920. I gather the new ones are better. I like em. I never drank the Magpul Koolaid, most of my mags are Usgi, relatively few plastic ones.