ICYMI: Magpul Gen 3 AK mags (steel reinforced)

[Uprange41]

Actually, it it has been a LONG time since I've had to buy AK mags, so after doing some research I will admit I may be a little off in my initial impressions. Damn, I don't think I've ever spent for than $12 for an AK mag (except ((10)) mags) and now I see that is pretty much a steal! So, OK, these do fill a void. At $27, if these do perform well, I guess that is a decent deal and a weight savings.

As for 922r benefits, that is going to be different for each individual. I have some pre-89 guns that it doesn't effect at all and my post-89 guns are already compliant regardless of mag.

The biggest "deal" about them is that your dollars are going to an American company, our government can't shut down imports and leave us with just Tapcos and ProMags, and they're actual competition for the best AK mags out there (Circle-10's... or at least, I expect them to perform as well... testing will feel that out).

Steel mags are about $10/piece now when you buy from SG... I've bought a few of their 10-mag deals, and they're great. But steel is heavy, steel dents, steel rusts... Circle 10's don't dent near as easy, there's a whole lot less on them to rust, and they're lighter. Bonus points for not leaving me bloody after a day of mag changes. The Magpul's should fill the same void, but at half the price, and exponentially higher availability.

922r stuff wasn't even on my radar, but that's a nice side deal.

[Moose-Knuckle]

Steel front strap and rear tab but no steel reinforced feed lips . . .

[Uprange41]

Steel front strap and rear tab but no steel reinforced feed lips . . .

They've covered why they didn't do steel feed lips.


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[m4brian]

And they cave in the head of the Circle Ten monopoly - all good.

[Moose-Knuckle]

They've covered why they didn't do steel feed lips.

Correct, TOS has a great video up of Duane going over the mags and he goes into the reason.

As a guy who has been into Kalashnikovs for fifteen years now, I'm not going to be replacing any of my E Bloc steel, Bakelite, or Circle 10 mags with a non steel lipped magazine for serious use. I have their all polymer mags as well as my fair share of US Palms. Great for training/competition but that's about it for me. YMMV.

[SPQR476]

This is why:

I've seen and heard the doubt about reinforced vs unreinforced feed lips, and I don't want there to be any misconception that we're trying to half measure the reinforced magazine. Believe me, we've tested this. We'll have more videos and such on the way for the Gen M3, but here are two that illustrate what I'm talking about. This is a Bulgy circle 10 on the left, which is, as I've said, a very good mag. Anti-tilt follower, steel on the lock ups, good geometry, etc. on the right is the PMAG AK MOE unreinforced magazine. Both mags are fully loaded with Wolf ammo. The MOE mag was dropped twice from six feet onto concrete to get the crack you see in the photo, only slightly visible from the rear where it's at, and only really noticeable when you pull it apart. Mag holds rounds and feeds 100% like this. The circle 10 mag on the left was dropped once from six feet. The left feed lip is bent to the point that it will not allow a round to be fully inserted to the rear on that side. This mag causes a stoppage every other round...the right side still feeds, the left, not so much. This is pretty consistently what you see. Yes, if the insert hasn't delaminated and raised an edge, and if the supporting polymer isn't cracked, you may be able to bend the reinforced mag back and get it to function to some degree. It will never be as good as it was new. If you're in the middle of it, and you drop your mag from 6 feet somewhow, (twice in the case of the MOE mag) which mag would you rather be faced with putting in your rifle to continue immediately?

[Moose-Knuckle]

Duane thanks for sharing those pics and the story behind them.

IIRC when Magpul first debuted the PMAG (5.56) it was said that the Impact/Dust Cover would aid in protecting the feed lips from possibly creeping while stored loaded for long periods. I notice in the video you did at SHOT for the other site where you discussed the Sand M3 mags and the material you guys developed for them is the most durable to date. With the material you guys make your AK mags from have you experienced any feed lip creep in mags loaded for long periods?

I appreciate your responses.

[Hizzie]

You can't have too many mags. I'll buy a few and maybe a bunch.

[SPQR476]

Duane thanks for sharing those pics and the story behind them.

IIRC when Magpul first debuted the PMAG (5.56) it was said that the Impact/Dust Cover would aid in protecting the feed lips from possibly creeping while stored loaded for long periods. I notice in the video you did at SHOT for the other site where you discussed the Sand M3 mags and the material you guys developed for them is the most durable to date. With the material you guys make your AK mags from have you experienced any feed lip creep in mags loaded for long periods?

I appreciate your responses.

There were several reasons for the initial inclusion of the dust cover, one was the possible impression or fear of long term creep. It was considered conventional wisdom that it would occur, and it does occur with some polymer formulations sill on the market...just not with what we use, even in the early days, so the concern was unfounded. It was found as the mags were left loaded that after a few thousandths within a few hours, nothing further happened, even over time and with heat cycles. The new materials are extremely dimensionally stable, and there is no reason to store any PMAG with the dust cover if creep is the concern.

The other reasons for the dust cover are to keep junk out of the mag during transport and storage and to take impact pressure off the feed lips in the case of a significant drop or abuse, like speedball delivery of loaded mags, bouncing around in an ammo can in a GMV, etc., and those reasons are why they still exist.

Long term creep tests in high temp and heat cycled environments are still something we test for and look closely at, and none of our magazines suffer any ill effects related to this, with or without dust covers.

The sand material is proving to be impressive in testing, with results that were initially hard to believe. The regular GEN M3 material, as shown in our test videos, is quite stout, but the Sand material is a significant increase over even that performance.

[halmbarte]

There were several reasons for the initial inclusion of the dust cover, one was the possible impression or fear of long term creep. It was considered conventional wisdom that it would occur, and it does occur with some polymer formulations sill on the market...just not with what we use, even in the early days, so the concern was unfounded. It was found as the mags were left loaded that after a few thousandths within a few hours, nothing further happened, even over time and with heat cycles. The new materials are extremely dimensionally stable, and there is no reason to store any PMAG with the dust cover if creep is the concern.

The other reasons for the dust cover are to keep junk out of the mag during transport and storage and to take impact pressure off the feed lips in the case of a significant drop or abuse, like speedball delivery of loaded mags, bouncing around in an ammo can in a GMV, etc., and those reasons are why they still exist.

Long term creep tests in high temp and heat cycled environments are still something we test for and look closely at, and none of our magazines suffer any ill effects related to this, with or without dust covers.

The sand material is proving to be impressive in testing, with results that were initially hard to believe. The regular GEN M3 material, as shown in our test videos, is quite stout, but the Sand material is a significant increase over even that performance.

Sorry if I missed this somewhere but are the new steel AK mags going to be made out of the sand polymer?

H