View Full Version : Mags that will reliably feed M855A1
Reliably meaning without damage to the barrel extension. So far I have these:
EPM mags (FDE with blue followers)
Magpul Gen 3
Okay SureFeed E2
Any I'm missing?
Diamondback
10-12-20, 22:59
There's an implied question in there... who has M855A1 outside mil channels?
Leonidas24
10-13-20, 00:00
There's an implied question in there... who has M855A1 outside mil channels?
It's around if you're willing to pay $2-3 per round.
M855A1 causing damage to feed ramps was basically fake news. You can find the thread on lightfighter still but basically someone took some photos way out of context and it blew up into something completely false.
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Diamondback
10-13-20, 01:05
It's around if you're willing to pay $2-3 per round.
Shit, I blew Dr Pepper out my nose when one site (NOT CheaperThanDirt) was asking over a buck a round for greentips and a buck-fifty for Mk 262...
I don’t have numbers and data to support this, but USGI with green follower, Surefeed gen 1, USGI w Magpul follower, PMag gen 1,2,3, all work in my experience, at similar reliability to M855.
MikhailBarracuda91
10-13-20, 07:16
There's an implied question in there... who has M855A1 outside mil channels?+1
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Since the Okay Surefeed E2 has been mentioned, I obtained some of these, new in the wrapper, but haven't used them. From the pictures I have seen, they angle the round higher up, seemingly to avoid contact with the lower area of the feed ramp. I don't see this as a problem, but how would they work for XM193 or even normal M855?
It's around if you're willing to pay $2-3 per round.
Yep. That said, like just about anything else now it's largely unobtanium at any price.
Since the Okay Surefeed E2 has been mentioned, I obtained some of these, new in the wrapper, but haven't used them. From the pictures I have seen, they angle the round higher up, seemingly to avoid contact with the lower area of the feed ramp. I don't see this as a problem, but how would they work for XM193 or even normal M855?
That should enhance feeding of just about any 5.56 round.
Depends. If you are using rifles without the "M4 style feed ramps" you can have issues, which I have witnessed. To the point some of the courses I've been to specify you should only be using the new EPM or Gen3 Gen3 PMAGs, with a serious emphasis on the latter choice, in any rifle that lacks the extended ramps.
M855A1 causing damage to feed ramps was basically fake news. You can find the thread on lightfighter still but basically someone took some photos way out of context and it blew up into something completely false.
Yeah the feed ramps but also the barrel extension, right before the round enters the chamber itself. Granted, if memory serves the chewed-up extension pic I saw was from a USMC M27 (HK).
I’ve personally seen damage on an upper receiver for an M16a4 that looked like it could have been caused by the tips of ammo impacting It. The unit had beat to shit mags, and I was not impressed by their rifle maintenance. I have no way of verifying that the damage was caused by a1 ammo, but it IS what they were shooting. I kinda wonder if someone was having some sort of stoppage or something. It had no stoppages that day. This was a few years ago. Its been a non-issue in any other weapon that I’ve seen since, including other M16a4’s.
It's around if you're willing to pay $2-3 per round.
Ammo requiring a specific mag is worth dog balls to me.
MikhailBarracuda91
10-13-20, 08:28
It's also widely known that the port pressure is much higher on this round. It's extremely hard on the 416/m27.
Considering the port pressure on an M4 is 17,000 psi and on an M16 it's 10,000 PSI (M855 not A1)
it sounds like this round is hard on everything, the original m855 ammo already wore an M4 faster than an M16
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Ammo requiring a specific mag is worth dog balls to me. See above. I shoot a fair bit of this stuff, and I’m not convinced it REQUIRES a specific mag.
It's also widely known that the port pressure is much higher on this round. It's extremely hard on the 416/m27.
Considering the port pressure on an M4 is 17,000 psi and on an M16 it's 10,000 PSI (M855 not A1)
it sounds like this round is hard on everything, the original m855 ammo already wore an M4 faster than an M16
Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk I measured an 88fps delta in 16”. 5 rnd each sample. Strangely, I haven’t seen a broken bolt in a while.
Since the Okay Surefeed E2 has been mentioned, I obtained some of these, new in the wrapper, but haven't used them. From the pictures I have seen, they angle the round higher up, seemingly to avoid contact with the lower area of the feed ramp. I don't see this as a problem, but how would they work for XM193 or even normal M855?
I bought 10 of the Surefeed E2 magazines and I have shot XM193 just fine. I like the texture of magazines as well. I also have shot 60 rounds of Gold Dot JSP which also shoot fine. That was before the quarantine. I did go to the indoor range a few times and I shoot M193 rounds now since Gold Dot JSP are hard to come by now.
MikhailBarracuda91
10-13-20, 09:56
See above. I shoot a fair bit of this stuff, and I’m not convinced it REQUIRES a specific mag.
I measured an 88fps delta in 16”. 5 rnd each sample. Strangely, I haven’t seen a broken bolt in a while.I know it's very accurate ammo! Made to a very high standard in terms of the quantity it's manufactured in. I do recall hearing that it's meant to give similar ballistics to a 20" barrel while shooting it from a 14.5"
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See above. I shoot a fair bit of this stuff, and I’m not convinced it REQUIRES a specific mag.
I measured an 88fps delta in 16”. 5 rnd each sample. Strangely, I haven’t seen a broken bolt in a while.
IIRC didn't later lots of A1 get throttled back a tad to reduce some of the pressure?
IIRC didn't later lots of A1 get throttled back a tad to reduce some of the pressure?
Yup.
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vicious_cb
10-13-20, 15:11
I’ve personally seen damage on an upper receiver for an M16a4 that looked like it could have been caused by the tips of ammo impacting It. The unit had beat to shit mags, and I was not impressed by their rifle maintenance. I have no way of verifying that the damage was caused by a1 ammo, but it IS what they were shooting. I kinda wonder if someone was having some sort of stoppage or something. It had no stoppages that day. This was a few years ago. Its been a non-issue in any other weapon that I’ve seen since, including other M16a4’s.
M16A4 receivers dont have M4 feed ramps, having garbage mags with any ammo is eventually going to damage the receiver given enough rounds.
IIRC didn't later lots of A1 get throttled back a tad to reduce some of the pressure? seems to have been. Unfortunately the barrels I chronoed the older lots through are different from the barrels I chronoed the newer lots from. Also, different chronos. But the recoil seemed higher with the older stuff, too.
RevM/MOE Pmags feed it just fine. Feed geometry is the same as the GenM3.
Reliably meaning without damage to the barrel extension. So far I have these:
EPM mags (FDE with blue followers)
Magpul Gen 3
Okay SureFeed E2
Any I'm missing?
EPMs were specifically designed to feed M855A1 in the M4. There were changes to the feed lips to change the presented angle.
The USMC has adopted PMAGs as they feel these work well with the M855A1 and the M27.
Totally learned something new today and also paniced a bit as I have a CRAP TON of the original 855 and have yet to shoot any of it.
Totally learned something new today and also paniced a bit as I have a CRAP TON of the original 855 and have yet to shoot any of it.
Its fine.
Its fine.
Yep that's one of the things I learned today! It was just a little bit of google-fu to get me off the ledge and I also learned why so much of it was so cheap back in the day when the Army was dumping it. Glad I bought it when I did!!
EPMs were specifically designed to feed M855A1 in the M4. There were changes to the feed lips to change the presented angle.
The USMC has adopted PMAGs as they feel these work well with the M855A1 and the M27.
And the failure rate when using them was higher than with Magpul M3s.
I will let the US military worry about m855a1, not my problem.
Again, nobody even needs to worry about M855A1.
MikhailBarracuda91
10-18-20, 04:11
I'd like it to be my problem. By the case!
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M16A4 receivers dont have M4 feed ramps, having garbage mags with any ammo is eventually going to damage the receiver given enough rounds.
I think thats what I was implying. Its a non-issue, IMO.
I don’t have numbers and data to support this, but USGI with green follower, Surefeed gen 1, USGI w Magpul follower, PMag gen 1,2,3, all work in my experience, at similar reliability to M855.
I can vouch for the same results. 👍
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