Greetings,
Are polymer mags like Pmag or Thermold better than GI aluminum or stainless steel when using steel-cased ammo?
Cheers
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Greetings,
Are polymer mags like Pmag or Thermold better than GI aluminum or stainless steel when using steel-cased ammo?
Cheers
I've never heard of it making a difference and can't think of why it would. What made you come up with that question?
I have gone through about 6000 rounds of wolf in the past two years. All through Pmags. No issues.
I shoot TulAmmo with Pmags no problems here.
Personally, I think its an excellent question. I can easily see where one could imagine it to be one way or the other.
While I've never had problems firing Wolf/Barnaul from either PMags or GI mags, I do find it much easier to hand-unload a PMag if it becomes necessary. The added friction of the aluminum mag can make that a chore. This may or may not matter to you.
Again, running rounds through the rifle, I've seen no difference.
I've ran steel case ammo in GI-mags to P-Mags it did not make a difference in my 16" DD or my 18" Mk12Mod1...but as others have said...loading a pmag is easier
I've ran steel cased ammo in the 10's of thousands of rounds fired through Pmags, D&H, and NHMTG mags. All work just fine, however...IMO, the Pmags seem to have the less drag on feeding non-lacquered steel cased ammo. If you get quality, well known mags, you should be just fine. I'd stay away from Thermolds unless that's all you have.
Thanks for the replies, all.
Happy Shooting!
I've never seen a difference between stainless steel mags, aluminum mags, and PMags. Then again, I only unload with the trigger. :D
Shouldn't be any issues with pmags or other plastic mags, I have put thousands through different gen pmags and never an issue.
Have had issue with Lancer L5AWM mags hanging up on me though.
I have a Surefire 60 round mag that runs any and all brass cased ammo but won't run steel AT ALL.
I would not run Thermamolds with brass, steel or even imaginary ammo. I run 100% steel through my gun in pmags, aluminum mags, Steel Mako's and Lancers. The steel Mako's have way too much friction and sometimes fail to strip off a round when I press the bolt release. I only use them at the range but do prefer pmags.
No problems running steel cased ammo in any of my Troy battle mags, pmags, or 20 round colt mags.
I've been getting a lot of failures with Troy Battlemags and steel-case (polycoated) Wolf / Tula ammo.
(This was in .223/5.56 30 round magazines).
The Troy Battlemags internally are kinda "sticky" with the steel cases, and when full (>20 rounds) the spring can't overcome the internal friction and the rounds won't push-up at the top.
When I got my first Troy Battlemag I thought it was a fluke, bought another to try and it appears to be a problem across the entire line: wolf /Tula ammo sticks to the insides of the mag and won't feed.
I've even seen the problem happen with some Brass cased ammo when absolutely full (30 rounds). Troy magazines are a no-go for me.
I'm glad I started this thread. Maybe it'll help people.
I definitely agree with earlier posters regarding ease of unloading. the steel cased ammo is more of a pain to remove from GI mags. It seems to bind and scrape against the feed lips when it is being removed. The PMAG makes this process easier and the rounds slide out the same as brass. If you never need to unload mags then there really is nothing to note between the two. Feeding rounds from PMAGs or GI mags has not resulted in any failures of me to this point in time. It may be worth looking in to the long term effects of the ammo on GI mags compared to PMAGs. The extra friction may cause more stress, but I haven't seen anything definitive to support this at this time.
It's a good thread.
I'll say that when loading mags with steel-cased ammo, I've noticed PMags load more smoothly (that goes for brass-cased too). Haven't seen a difference between SS mags and aluminum.
Also, lacquered steel cases seem smoother than zinc and polymer. Zinc and polymer feel gritty, especially Wolf polymer, which always has a coat of black dust. Whether that has an impact on unloading, whichever way it's done, I couldn't say.
I've shot thousands of rounds thru various mags and haven't seen a difference. It is easier to load/unload in polymer mags though.
I shoot steel and brass, sometimes mixed, in both. I haven't noticed a difference. But, in full disclosure Ive never used thermold mags. USGI and pmags are what I use.
Surefire magazines definitely don't do steel. I have a couple 60's that I vetted with M193, and come match time I loaded them with Hornady Steel Match which I use unless there's crazy long and small targets. Malfunctioned about ten rounds in...when I went back to pick it up, the rounds had stopped way beneath the feedlips.
They're perfect with brass ammo, before and after "the incident"...but steel cased is a no-go. It makes sense, there's a LOT of drag happening in there, and while the springs are very strong, steel cases seem to make it a hair too sketchy.
PMAGs definitely seem to be a better answer for steel cases. As for brass; PMAGs, NHMTG, and Surefire have all been fantastic.