View Full Version : H&K ar-15 magazine fit?
So I bought two new HK ar-15 magazines and they look and feel great. However, it seems to whobble a little in the magwell. It does not seem to fit as tight and snug as a USGI mag. Is this normal?
Do they feed properly etc.?
Have not fired them yet. Hope so.
As these are made of steel, is there any wear issue on inside of the mag well?
I have 10 Hk mags. The wobble never caused any kind of issues for me and I've never had any reliability issues with them except I bent the feed lips on one mag. That one won't feed right and is great for feed ramp stoppage drills. :rolleyes:
Thanks. I am confident they will perform well. I love the fact that they are made of steel. They feel more durable than the aluminum mags. They remind me of an ak mag.
HK mags for AR are notoriously problematic. Steel AR mags are excessively heavy... thus, if you drop them you can end up with the above mentioned damage to the feed lips.
If you already own them, I'd use them for range mags, and get some good USGI or Pmags for serious use.
Also.. I have some of those Brit Steel mags..... Put three of those in a mag pouch and compare it to 3 USGI mags. WOW! The weight difference is very noticeable.
Mark is right. They dont work as well as USGI magazines for 5x the cost. We had a whole box full of them in our office downrange that no one used.
Brought a few home just to run more rounds through them and I only have one that functions anywhere close to 100% of the time.
Rick
Atmosphere
01-16-11, 12:37
Huh. Good timing on this thread - I was thinking about ordering a couple of these mags. The price put me on the fence. I think I'll stick with my pmags.
My unit bought those prior to a deployment and we canned them all, nothing but one big disapointmnet. just do not feed well at all.
I have a few HK mags that had problems. I replaced the spring and follower no problems since
I bought two. For 80 bucks, they BETTER fuction!
I bought two. For 80 bucks, they BETTER fuction!
Maybe they will, maybe they won't. I picked up four of them individually over time years ago and eventually they all quit locking the bolt back. I just wish the problems I had would have surfaced before I got into them at a count of four.
I don't use anything but P mags now and the occasional USGI that I still have some ammo cans full of. For $80 bucks you could get several P mags or USGI.
For what it is worth, several years ago I had a bunch of the HK mags for use with my first AR. I thought they must be the best mag possible at the time and purchased ten of them.
Bolt would not lock back on last round/empty chamber. Happened consistently, but only with the HK mags. USGI and PMags (just appearing on the scene) were fine. Then heard from a couple very good sources (one is a highly respected trainer and member of this forum) that this was a known issue with the mag. Though it did not happen with every gun, when it did happen it was consistent.
Sold all the HK mags for close to what I paid for them (way too much $$$ for a mag IMHO), and purchased PMags from that point. No mag issues since.
Thomas M-4
01-16-11, 13:45
Yea I bought one brand new its beautifully made but it has never successfully locked the bolt back on the last round. What a wast :( maybe it works good on a SA80 but the AR-15 platform not so. And has others have pointed out they are heavy.
I loaded both of them with 30 rounds and they fit alot tighter with bullets in the gun. I will shoot both of them tom and report back...
brushy bill
01-16-11, 14:54
I love the fact that they are made of steel. They feel more durable than the aluminum mags.
If you want a steel mag I'd recommend fusil over the HK and they come at a fraction of the price.
Funny story. When my unit issued these in 06, they were supposedly 45 round magazines. Although they didnt know better, they guys that got them first bragged about their new 45 rounder's.
Soon as I laid eyes on them I broke down laughing, much to my 1SG'd dismay, as he had just handed "his" 45 rounder to me to show off.....
As for the mag never had any luck with them, and way to heavy for me. I still have 2 that i throw to people when they talk about buying them.
Conversely, my Brit steel mags run really good. :confused:
They're too heavy and only for range use, but I haven't had any reason to rotate them out of the range tote.
I have one and it's beautiful, as usual fine German engineering, even over designed. But the same problems others discribed above. I won't be buying another!
I have 4 of these (plus one 10 shot) for use with my HK MR223. Never had problem with them (used also in other AR15s) in last 4 years. However they are big and heavy. They were first successful attempt to improve STANAG mag during SA80 enhancement program or even 6 years ago when HKM4 started, but in P/E-Mag era they are past. Even HK turns toward polymer mags.
Ran my mags today....Flawless.
Most of mine worked when brand new. After about 1000 rounds the feed lips began to spread out and they went downhill.
Rick
As with BooneGA mine all ran well to begin with too. It's a degradation that comes with time and use.
I am glad they've worked out so far for you. But it's an item to keep an eye on in the future. Especially if they are work mags or home defense mags.
I did notice the last time I ran them one of them failed to hold the bolt open on the last shot...oh well.
I have 4 of those for 5 years. They work in class/rental rifles (HK, Stag, PAR MK1). Look quite worn out already but never skipped a bit. However since E-mags become available I prefer those. But still use HK mags to run courses or rental shoots, to save my E-mags.
The Dumb Gun Collector
02-02-11, 06:34
My experience is the basically the same as Montrala's. I had mine for years and years and they ran fine semi and full auto. Two of my friends who bought theirs at the exact same time (Shooters back when they had a sale 3-4 years ago) have the same experience. Very reliable and durable mags but they are heavy. I played with polymer mags for a while but decided they didn't bring anything to the table either. Now I just run GI mags. The only mags I have really ever seen problems with are extremely worn GI mags and occasional issues with Magpuls. I don't count crap like Ramline mags which I would have never expected to run.
I was issued 7 of them in 2006 (and got a couple of spares). People thought they were 45 round mags because they say 5.56mm X 45 on the side instead of 5.56 X 45mm and they are about 1/2" longer. I used them for about 2 years after that. The only problems I ever had with them was when I first got them trying to fire blanks. The mag springs were very strong and the gun couldn't strip the first round from the magazine. With live rounds I never had a malfunction and the mag springs did loosen up some. This is probably the cause of the problem for other people but I never had a failure to lock the bolt back on the last round. They are nice mags but they are a little heavy and I wouldn't pay retail prices for them.
Dustin
The problem here, is that people automatically just assume that steel is stronger/harder than aluminum, and nothing could be further from the truth.
Correct hardness aluminum will maintain dimensional stability better than mild steel, under normal mag-related wear and tear.
The Dumb Gun Collector
02-05-11, 21:02
The impression probably comes from years of throwing out dented GI mags mixed with the image of rusty AK steel mags lasting for aeons.
RAM Engineer
02-06-11, 01:28
HK AR mags = snake oil.
The impression probably comes from years of throwing out dented GI mags mixed with the image of rusty AK steel mags lasting for aeons.
One look at AK mag design and it is obvious why they last longer: It ain't the steel; it's the massive milled feed lips, and the generous amount of strengthening/stiffening ribs stamped into the body.
I have a few HK mags that had problems. I replaced the spring and follower no problems since
Where did you manage to find these? HK declines to supply them separately.
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