View Full Version : opinions on Magpul Ranger floor plate
thegoat273
02-04-10, 11:22
I am looking for feedback on the Magpul Ranger floor plate. Good or Bad. I am considering these. I run the original magpuls on my Pmags now, but that does not allow me to fit two pmags in my Eagle double mag pouch on my Ciras. So I am considering a switch. Let me know your experiences fellas. Thanks.
Thegoat273
If you pull reloads from a 1st line belt doing a beer-can grip, I've found them to have no impact beyond providing a bumper for the mag when it's inevitabley dropped. A peripheral benefit, not a telling one, I think.
However, if I'm reloading from my vest, I'm grabbing mags the same way I do pistol mags: palm on bottom, booger-picking finger indexed along the frontstrap (correct term?) of the mag. My palm, on flat baseplate mags, tends to be cupped over the baseplate, with no contact. The extra material of the Pmag Ranger plates fills that void nearly perfectly, meaning I have more meat in contact with magazine, and creates what I feel to be more positive control.
I've never worried about using my fingertips on theat plate to pull the mag, but I've seen some yokels alter their manual of arms because "that's what it was made for," and you could time their reloads with carbon-dating.
Evil Colt 6920
02-04-10, 11:54
I just put ranger floor plates on my pmags. I havent done much reloading with them yet but the biggest benefit ive seen so far is removing them from the side pouches on my tactical case. The pouches completely enclose the mags so before I was having to squeeze two fingers in there to get a grip on a mag to pull it out, I was even using my other hand to push a bit on the lower side of the pouch to help push them out. Now with the ranger floor plates installed, its a MUCH simpler one finger pull from the pouches, much faster. Not to mention they look cooler:D
Failure2Stop
02-04-10, 19:23
I like the Ranger plates on Alum GI mags, as they give a better grip on the mag, especially if you can't get a perfect grip on the mag immediately.
I do not like them on PMags as they are redundant (the PMag is easy to grip and the flared floor-plate provides superb grip) and don't work well with most double thickness pouches with flaps, and they make the overall height of the gun noticeably taller. I might stick mine on some 20s, but that would be about it.
I like the Ranger plates on Alum GI mags, as they give a better grip on the mag, especially if you can't get a perfect grip on the mag immediately.
I do not like them on PMags as they are redundant (the PMag is easy to grip and the flared floor-plate provides superb grip) and don't work well with most double thickness pouches with flaps, and they make the overall height of the gun noticeably taller. I might stick mine on some 20s, but that would be about it.
I concur exactly. All of my GI magazines (other than those I've put back) wear Ranger plates. None of my Pmags do.
I was considering putting ranger floor plates on my PMAGS solely for the reason of protecting the mag upon impact with the ground...Your thoughts on it for that reason alone?
Has anyone ever broken a PMAG by dropping it?
thanks
shane
Iraq Ninja
02-05-10, 07:57
I was considering putting ranger floor plates on my PMAGS solely for the reason of protecting the mag upon impact with the ground...Your thoughts on it for that reason alone?
Has anyone ever broken a PMAG by dropping it?
thanks
shane
The Pmag bottoms are tough and the ranger plate is not needed for protection.
I used to run Pmags with Rangers but they got in the way on my vest, especially inside a vehicle.
The only time I would use them on Pmags is if they are stashed in a deep Go Bag or any situation where you can't grab the sides.
They are handy for those who rest the mag on the ground when shooting. But I carry mags more than I use them and need to be comfortable. That is why I prefer 20 rounders too.
I like them because I beer can grip the magazine towards the bottom and it just gives it a little more room to grip. I am a little biased though. :D
skd_tactical
02-05-10, 12:21
I use the Ranger pulls, although in my opinion they do not really aid in loading or unloading. I like to have the extra material to grab on, in the off chance that I miss during a reload. They don't really add much weight and I keep the space above my mags on my plate carrier slick anyways. This way I never have to worry about my mags being caught on some weird admin pouch that barely gets used.
Also the lazy man in me - I hang my mags on my D-ring all the time when at the clearing barrels.
SOS
Has anyone ever broken a PMAG by dropping it?
To add to what IN said, if you use search, you'll find unusual instances in which Pmags have cracked for whatever reason. IF it occurs, and you contact Magpul, I'll wager $20 to your $5 that they'll send you a new mag to replace it in exchange for you sending the busted one back for them to pick apart and study for the purposes of continued product improvement.
I use them. Some of the pouches on my soft case are deep and the ranger plates stick up enough to grab, but I guess a magpul would do the same thing. I like them when shooting with the mag on the ground or a bench, it is easy to rock the gun on the ranger plate.
Goat, I don't use them for the plain fact that they don't help in anyway. Maybe if I only shot at the range on concrete would they stop the bottom of my mags getting beat up a little. To me they are just another trinket that guys buy because they want to accessorize. If you are properly pulling and seating your mags you won't touch the bottom of the mag. Just look and see if any of the top shooters/former operators are using them, and by operators I mean with a tier 1 background.
Goat, I don't use them for the plain fact that they don't help in anyway. Maybe if I only shot at the range on concrete would they stop the bottom of my mags getting beat up a little. To me they are just another trinket that guys buy because they want to accessorize. If you are properly pulling and seating your mags you won't touch the bottom of the mag. Just look and see if any of the top shooters/former operators are using them, and by operators I mean with a tier 1 background.
Now that's kind of silly.
Now that's kind of silly.
Please explain.
To me they are just another trinket that guys buy because they want to accessorize. If you are properly pulling and seating your mags you won't touch the bottom of the mag. Just look and see if any of the top shooters/former operators are using them, and by operators I mean with a tier 1 background.
Let me.
That's bolded is just chest-thumping, based on the idea that everybody goes beer-can, all the time, and is therefore flawed in it's basis. In a word, it's horse puckey. If you're going to make absolutist statements, they should be based on fact. An example would be, after the word "mags," stating "your reloads will be faster." That's factual; what you put down is your narrowly-defined truth, which isn't the same thing at all
The second, wrong again. Otherwise I guess I'm gonna have to tell gents from MARSOC, Reconnaissance Bn's, Asymmetric Warfare Group, and some other such call-sign groups I train with and around, that they need to stop using ranger plates and their variants because b6b don' like 'em. Or do such entities not pass muster for your narrowly-defined thoughts on what rates the term "top shooter?"
You don't like the things, cool, sweet, say so. Your first sentence did that for you, but don't paint with such a broad brush for the rest unless you're gonna use paint, not bullshit.
It is easy to see why people pay $10 for a box of $2 wine. No wait, it isn't. I thought you guys still carried muskets on those boats.
You can get a the same output from a S.I mag without the cool guy price tag. They are nice to have if you are a range hand, but when you are out and about in Indian country, they don't make a marked difference to validate the amount of money you will spend.
Let me.
That's bolded is just chest-thumping, based on the idea that everybody goes beer-can, all the time, and is therefore flawed in it's basis. In a word, it's horse puckey. If you're going to make absolutist statements, they should be based on fact. An example would be, after the word "mags," stating "your reloads will be faster." That's factual; what you put down is your narrowly-defined truth, which isn't the same thing at all
The second, wrong again. Otherwise I guess I'm gonna have to tell gents from MARSOC, Reconnaissance Bn's, Asymmetric Warfare Group, and some other such call-sign groups I train with and around, that they need to stop using ranger plates and their variants because b6b don' like 'em. Or do such entities not pass muster for your narrowly-defined thoughts on what rates the term "top shooter?"
You don't like the things, cool, sweet, say so. Your first sentence did that for you, but don't paint with such a broad brush for the rest unless you're gonna use paint, not bullshit.
Ouch! I knew I would catch hell from the magpul mafia.:D Just my opinion of course. I will not list all units, schools and so forth that don't use them as that is counter productive. I do work with several former marsoc guys and they don't use them for the same reason. As for top shooters, I should of explained myself a little better as I meant, those that make a living shooting professionally. I do mod my mags a little with a 1 inch strip of grip tap around the base of the mags. And yes I beer can seat mags as my thumb is right there to release the slide. It cuts out a movement, moving your hand from the bottom of the mag to the bolt release then to the rail adds a very small amount of time, but it is time. I was shown this on a pro timer. I like to base things on fact and would try them out with a pro timer but since I wouldn't even touch them on a reload it would be a waste. If they make your reloads faster, good, but keep you hands on that GAU if possible.
kenpstok151
02-09-10, 11:04
man times have changed. I don't use ranger plates. It seems I have an abundance of first gen Pmags where when you put the dust cover on the floor plate it doesn't wuit fit so in a way serves as a jerry rigged ranger plate. dont know if thats a good thing or not!
Please explain.
We're only supposed to use or do what the "Tier 1 shooter" use or do? C'mon, that's just silly.
Many people posted that they found that the Range Plates made it easier for them to pull the magazines out of pouches, seat the magazine on the deck when shooting prone, etc. But their experiences are to be discounted because "Tier 1" guys don't use them?
Silly.
thegoat273
02-09-10, 15:48
Thanks to all who replied, I appreciate the feedback
man times have changed. I don't use ranger plates. It seems I have an abundance of first gen Pmags where when you put the dust cover on the floor plate it doesn't wuit fit so in a way serves as a jerry rigged ranger plate. dont know if thats a good thing or not!
That sounds like a good thing to me. I think the first gen Pmags must have been before my time as I'm just getting into this stuff as a hobbyist and anything I used before this year was what was issued to me by my agency. But being able to snap the dust covers onto the bottom sounds handy so they don't get lost. I wonder why newer versions were changed to a degree that they don't do that too.
I also wonder why they're so expensive. I can buy a whole MagPul magazine for $1 less than a MagPul Ranger Plate, yet the latter is a fraction of the material and has less moving parts.
I still like the L plates on USGI mags. But even that little (1/2" or so) addition makes the mag really tall. I already shoot mostly 20 round mags for prone.
Holy 12 year necropost! They do give a little bit more purchase on the mags. I use them, but not on every mag
BrigandTwoFour
04-23-22, 09:15
Wow, what a necro!
FWIW, I've been experimenting with different mag carriage options. One configuration was using a large GP/SAW/Canteen pouch with 4-5 mags stuffed in it. It's a throw back to MACV-SOG. With 4-5 mags stuffed in a pouch not necessarily designed for mags, there's not a lot of "purchase" to get a mag out, so having one in the middle with the ranger plate helps get the whole thing going. It's easier to get the rest of them out after that. I've found the same with enclosed triple mag pouches from Velocity Systems- but the ranger plate adds too much height, so I'm looking at old school 100 mph tape and paracord loops.
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