USGI mags outlast all others

[Iraqgunz]

That's not an EPM unless my terminology is messed up.

http://soldiersystems.net/2016/08/16...zine-for-m4a1/

The performance of the new EPMs are supposed to be very impressive.

[sinlessorrow]

That's not an EPM unless my terminology is messed up.

http://soldiersystems.net/2016/08/16...zine-for-m4a1/

Sorry, I was meaning compared to the tan follower mags the EPMS AR supposed to be a major improvement from the studies I've seen.

I haven't had a chance to actually personally test any myself though.

[lysander]

The EPM is a specific solution to a specific problem 99.9% of the civilian shooting world will never have to deal with, unless large quantities of M855A1 ammunition become available.

The lip geometry, as I understand it, keeps the point of the steel penetrator off the feed ramps, and centers the point more to prevent the tip from contacting the chamber chamfer.


The orange is the original geometry, grey the EPM geometry.

[lysander]

The image on the left is after a few thousand rounds of M855A1 with a standard tan-follower magazine. On the right is after a few thousand rounds of M855A1 with the EPM. Note the improvement on the feed ramps.

[sinlessorrow]

The image on the left is after a few thousand rounds of M855A1 with a standard tan-follower magazine. On the right is after a few thousand rounds of M855A1 with the EPM. Note the improvement on the feed ramps.

That's a significant difference. The right looks pretty much like any other round.

[3ACR_Scout]

Most of my USGI mags have ranger plates so I cannot always see the manufacturer.

Look for the cage code stamped on the side of the metal magazine body (sometimes on the inside in older pre-ban/1994 magazines). That's how you can tell the manufacturer:

33710: Okay/NHMTG/Colt
6P199: Center Industries
12238: Brownells
431U5: Noveske (I think)

As far as I know, the lack of a cage code is an indicator that the magazine isn't a true USGI, in that it likely was never produced under military contract.

If you want to read more than you ever wanted to know about USGI magazines, take a look at this monster thread:

https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread...ines-a-journey

I'd read the first couple pages but then skip to the end and read backwards to see the most recent comments about different brands.

One advantage of PMAGs that seems to have come out of Magpul's extensive testing is that even when their feed lips start to crack, the magazines will continue to feed reliably, to the point that they didn't realize some of them were cracked in testing until they were inspected later.

A question about Brownells magazines: I have one that I bought at a show, and it was sealed in the plain plastic wrapper with white GI bar code label, just like other new Army-issue tan-follower magazines I've seen. Is that how they come from Brownells? Just wondering if the ones I've seen at shows are the same, or were excess off a government order or something. I replaced the tan follower and spring in mine with a Magpul follower and extra "standard" spring. The tan follower functioned fine, but I wanted to standardize it. FWIW, Brownells also lists their magazine with Magpul follower.

[RobertTheTexan]

Look for the cage code stamped on the side of the metal magazine body (sometimes on the inside in older pre-ban/1994 magazines). That's how you can tell the manufacturer:

33710: Okay/NHMTG/Colt
6P199: Center Industries
12238: Brownells
431U5: Noveske (I think)

As far as I know, the lack of a cage code is an indicator that the magazine isn't a true USGI, in that it likely was never produced under military contract.

If you want to read more than you ever wanted to know about USGI magazines, take a look at this monster thread:

https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread...ines-a-journey

I'd read the first couple pages but then skip to the end and read backwards to see the most recent comments about different brands.

One advantage of PMAGs that seems to have come out of Magpul's extensive testing is that even when their feed lips start to crack, the magazines will continue to feed reliably, to the point that they didn't realize some of them were cracked in testing until they were inspected later.

A question about Brownells magazines: I have one that I bought at a show, and it was sealed in the plain plastic wrapper with white GI bar code label, just like other new Army-issue tan-follower magazines I've seen. Is that how they come from Brownells? Just wondering if the ones I've seen at shows are the same, or were excess off a government order or something. I replaced the tan follower and spring in mine with a Magpul follower and extra "standard" spring. The tan follower functioned fine, but I wanted to standardize it. FWIW, Brownells also lists their magazine with Magpul follower.

This is a ton of good info.I will definitely read up on the links. Some of my really old mags that have slipped through the crack have worn springs and crappy black followers. The mags are WORN the outside finish is all but worn off. It's only a few so I just use them for my mag release check when I'm building a lower. Thanks again for the links and info.
I'll need to check when I get home. My Brownell's have bright yellow followers. They are AT I'm fairly certain, but fugly and rather bright. All my newer Brownell's and DSG Mags have the gray Magpul followers and I prefer them if I have a choice. Most of the mags I have that could use a rebuild just get remarked as a training mag. Might be worthwhile thought to rebuild a couple. They are metal and although won't. Still functional. Thanks brother for that good Intel.
BR


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[sinlessorrow]

I don't care about the data but the usgi mags I had in Iraq were crap. Would get miss feeds and everything. A month into my 12 month deployment I had family send me gen 2 pmags and I didn't have anymore miss feeds. So the usgi mags can last longer all they want but I would rather have a mag that feeds every round till its time to shit can them


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How old were those mags? Did you open them fresh out of the wrapper? Or had they already been through 10 deployments and 40,000 rounds?

Once Pmags get in the system and have seen 10+ deployments without any maintenance we'll look back and say "man Pmags suck ass, I with we had new GI mags"

[Averageman]

How old were those mags? Did you open them fresh out of the wrapper? Or had they already been through 10 deployments and 40,000 rounds?

Once Pmags get in the system and have seen 10+ deployments without any maintenance we'll look back and say "man Pmags suck ass, I with we had new GI mags"

Very valid point.
A lot of USGI Mags were beat to crap with all of the worst PM and best of intentions. How many people were bashing the living crap out of feed lips using stripper clips and a table or worse?

[lysander]

My second deployment we got issued brand new colt m4 and brand new mags. Everyone got 7 mags for the deployment and we had extras at the company talk for replacements and lost mags. So to answer the question they were brand new and after 2 weeks all ammo was unloaded from them and mags were taken apart and cleaned and new clp added and springs stretched back out. They proved to have the same issues as the mags that were old and beat up on my first deployment. Pmags well gen 2 pmags were very reliable might of had one or two miss feeds the remainder of the deployment


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Well there you go...if the spring were compressed after 2 weeks you got a bad batch of springs.

Stretching out springs, just make matters worse. If a spring becomes shorter, it means the material has been bent into the yield range and was not of the proper temper. Bending it back to its original shape does not change the temper, but just adds another bit of fatigue to the material, further shortening its life. And, stretching a otherwise good spring doesn't do it any good either.

If a spring becomes short, it should be replaced.