The NEW USGI Mag and "The Rest of the Story" Review

[hotrodder636]

Nice post. I am impressed with the fact that you took the time to do as much as you did rather than load them both up and compare to the OKAY....nice!

[BufordTJustice]

Outstanding post, sir.

However, it was a really shitty move for the fedgov to deliberately design a lack of compatibility into the follower design with the MP gen3 follower. Especially considering that the fedgov basically copied the MP design and then worked off of that when making their own.

Despite the shitty move, I'm glad our soldiers are getting a better spring and follower in their mags.

[ucrt]

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Thanks for the compliments.

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ucrt,

Could you post a photo(s) of the new-spring trying to be inserted into a current MgaPul-Follower so we can see what you are discribing (?).

Regards, RichardS in MI.
US Army, Retired

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Well, I tried a little harder, to make the MagPul Follower work…to no avail. It was like I would take one-step forward and two-steps backward. Here’s what I came up with…

In both the green and MagPul Followers, the inside gap between the legs, where the New Spring fits, is a little narrow but considerably more with the MagPul Follower. The MagPul Follower has more meat on the leg nearest the connecting hole. This does not allow the New Spring to move to the right (in the pics) to allow the hook in the Spring to go into the Follower’s hole.

Below you can see how short the New Spring is on the MagPul Follower.




I pulled and pushed and managed to get the hook in the MagPul Follower’s hole…it wasn’t easy and I couldn’t do it without a screwdriver to stretch the Spring. The New Spring is a tight fit on the old green Follower but I could do it with just my fingers. If you notice (in the pic) that the left side of the Spring is riding on top of a “ledge” on both the old green Follower and the MagPul Follower but look at the difference on the right side.

Notice how much more the New Spring is stretched on the right-side of the MagPul Follower vs. the right-side of the green Follower.




The gap between the legs is less on both Followers, the right side of the Spring has to be raised a little to get it to fit. The MagPul Follower’s gap is less from the hole to the leg than the green Follower, so the Spring has to ride higher. I got a rough measurement and the right-side Spring gap is about .34” on the green Follower and .65” on the MagPul Follower. This increased distance, stresses the Spring and is what makes fitting the hook into the hole so much harder.

So, now I was ready to put the MagPul Follower in the mag. I did so but it was a force the whole way. I finally managed to get the Follower to the lips and when I pushed down on the Follower, it stayed where I stopped pushing.I had to stretch the Spring about a foot to pull the Follower out of the mag.

I took the Follower off the New Spring and dropped it into the mag. It slid, unforced, under its own weight to the feed lips and back out. So the MagPul Follower would not function in the mag when connected to the Spring, so I started looking for the cause.

I noticed the Follower was not running true to the Spring. In the pic below, you can see how the MagPul Follower appears to be “torqued” to one side and the Follower is rigid in this position. I attributed this to the force that Spring must be exerting to stretch it to reach the hole. This may be a contributing factor to the Follower not moving freely in the mag body but I think the main culprit is what I found next.





As hard as the Spring was to get connected to the Follower, I thought maybe the force was deforming the Follower. So, I used a pair of calipers to get a parallel reference and held the Follower against one side to check the how parallel the sides were.
With the Follower off of the Spring, the end of the leg appeared to be slightly closer together than at the base. Makes sense, probably to help the Follower make it around the curve in the mag. I checked another new MagPul Follower to make sure they were similar and they were.

Then, I put the MagPul Follower back on the Spring and held the same side against one side of the caliper. The gap changed. Now the Follower’s leg tips were spread apart. I could easily see the gap had changed. The legs measured to be about .040” wider now. The gap change is easily seen in the pics. I am pretty certain this is the main cause of the MagPul Follower not working on the New Spring.




I think you could maybe “modify” the MagPul follower to work but in time, I’m sure MagPul will come up with a new Generation to fit the New Springs (and the old Springs), it doesn’t look like it would be that difficult.

In the last picture, you can see this problem fit area on the right side of both Followers. The green Follower has a tapered curved place that allows that end of the Spring fit against the small leg and wedge itself down.
The MagPul Follower has corners that just don’t allow the Spring to move any to the right, which would let the hook reach the hole easier. These corners could probably be rounded off bit…




I hope I covered the questions.

I just find it frustrating that the New Spring does not work with MagPul Followers. I probably have a 100+ yellow MagPul Followers, so I guess I’ll just keep stocking up on the Old-Style Springs to keep my Followers going until the Old-Style Springs aren't available.

But maybe it’s just me…

.

[wolf_walker]

It's frustrating and "duh" enough that I wonder if there isn't a story behind it.

[ucrt]

It's frustrating and "duh" enough that I wonder if there isn't a story behind it.

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Looks like if the "hook" would have been extended an 1/8"
OR
the Spring's width was 1.75" instead of 1.93"
OR
...
I'm sure there are lots of ways to have made the MagPul Follower work...

OR
(playing the devil's advocate) maybe MagPul was in on the whole deal and just had "planned obsolescense" built into the new Spring, so they could come out with a new "one size fits all" Follower...?

I agree, there seems to be a "story" behind the scenes as to why the MagPul Follower just so happened to not fit.

But maybe it's just me...

.

[RogerinTPA]

Excellent review...thanks for the work.

[ALCOAR]

I must say that this is a really impressive thread. Great job ucrt...it's threads like these that set M4C apart from all the other sites imo

[BufordTJustice]

I must say that this is a really impressive thread. Great job ucrt...it's threads like these that set M4C apart from all the other sites imo

Agreed. We have a TON of first-hand pix and measurements from the OP in this thread, as opposed to bullshit and posturing on the kiddie site.

I'll say it again, PHENOMENAL thread ucrt.

[skullworks]

Good job!

[warpigM-4]

I think this should be added to the sticky in Mags Awesome write up and Pictures thank you