@hansblitz7770 true, I mainly ment AR mags I should've clarified that. all my formal and informal training is on ARs so I haven't used AK mags enough to form a personal opinion on them
@@hansblitz7770i know yugos (zastava) has NO issues with ANY mag type atleast not with anything ive come into contact or have heard about now good luck with furniture though☠️
I’ve seen videos from Ramadi when it all went to shit (around what, 2007 maybe?) and they were reloading stacks of pmags in what looked like a building they had just taken. Looked like marines but I’m not sure. I was surprised.
That's true, but there were also pallets of pmags that arrived already screwed up, but we don't talk about that..nor do we talk about how the feed lips have like a 20% survival chance on deployment. Because...you know...realiable magazines usually go through three generations of updates for no reason.
As a Marine 0311 when we deployed in Afghan we used magpul gen3. Never heard anyone complain or ever seen or heard any issues with them. But wasn't during the winter.
PMAGS are being used actively by the military. I haven’t had the best results with their pistol mags in my Glocks, but their rifle mags are very, very reliable.
Hey I'm listening. I literally have a hundred of these damn magazines, thinking I 've preempted any law changes. Could you please be more specific on what failures you are seeing. What induced them? And if I have to replace them then what brand of aluminum GI mags? Duramag? OK industries? I've seen those fail as well. Please help. @@griftinggamer
@@kanejakejimmy There is no indestructible, 100% successful magazine. Some are much better than others. These are wear items... I've had bad luck leaving pmags loaded and stored, feed lips bend and break. Especially with the shifts in seasons and weather I guess.
The exposed penetrator on the M855A1 round tore up the feed ramps on rifles until they designed and issued new mags to line up the rounds with the chamber. So Trench's complaint with the M2 mags is fair...if you are using the one round that wants to destroy your rifle with high pressures and a chisel-hard point. Those of us who use soft or ballistic tips can use more than 2 models of AR magazines.
I use gen 2 pmags from Magpul with m855 green tips and my feed ramps hold up well no issues whatsoever I’ve heard GI MAGS dent if they fall on a pavement and become inoperable
That example of Alaska is a very extreme one. In Alaska temperatures can get as low as -60F during the winter. I really don’t think it’s fair to have a mag in that extreme, unusual environment, and use it to prove that aftermarket mags are trash. If you lived in Alaska it would be, but most people don’t.
That is sorta true. He said it was -15F at his training event. I was hunting in -12F just some weeks ago. And I'm not that far North. So lots of the country can hit those temps. I haven't had those issues yet with my Pmags. But most of the time I was hunting I was using Brownells and Lancer. Last year I used Pmags at -10F while hunting. And he said his ammo could have been contributing to the issue. That doesn't make sense to me but I wasn't there. But my point is a lot of the country fits his description of events.
@@woodsghost9088 I’ll concede that. But truthfully my issue was with his blanket statement, that all aftermarket mags are useless. Will some mags preform in some guns better than in others, yes. Will some mags preform better in certain conditions better than others, also yes. But that doesn’t mean they’re all trash. His statement is much to broad to be accurate. In my opinion mags are like any other type of gear. You have to do your own field testing to make sure that what you have will work as intended in the environments you intend to use them in.
Was shooting a uspsa match a few weeks ago using g19x mags in a g17. Had a failure to feed. Tapped and racked. Still a failure. Kicked the mag out, racked and got a new mag out. Glock spring froze in the magazine. Brand new magazine too. Test your equipment gents
Cheap mags are good for training through malfunctions, so don’t just throw them away. Just paint them so they’re easily identifiable and don’t carry them for anything serious. But, I’ve had no issues with p-mags in AR platforms. But my favorite are the stainless steel HK mags. You could use them to block up your truck.
In the 1911 space, you definitely WANT aftermarket magazines. Kimber mags are trash, Springfield 1911 mags iffy, so too Rock Island, Colt, etc. The tier goes: Wilson Combat 47D or Tripp Research Cobra Mags; SIG or Chip McCormick mags (now owned by Wilson), Mec-Gar, Checkmate. The latter two need about two weeks fully loaded to "set" the magazine springs. Per Hilton Yam, Magazines are an expendable wear item. The feed lips will crack or expand, and they will no longer function. Depending on how you treat them (dropped in training or never dropped), loaded all the time or not, shot a lot or not, they can last six months or years. So, the 1911 is definitely an outlier there, aftermarket mags are probably far better. Love the content.
@@CiviTac If they make the oem magazines then I definitely consider the mecgar branded ones to also be oem, if it’s for a gun that they aren’t the oem for I’d still trust them over anything else but technically still would be aftermarket at that point
also for CANIK as well. I have the 18 rounder with the plus 2 base plate an have dropped numerous times on tile havent had a problem yet. been holding up.
A promag in a pistol completely vacated its bowls out the bottom when the tail somehow came apart. Its was right during a "mag dump" and about 30 rnds poured out on the first show while the other guys in dumped. It wasnt my mag, I was just handed it.
worst experience I ever had was at a NJ gun range where they convince people who never shot before crappy pistols and rifles that never been cleaned or zeroed are worth 100$ an hour to shoot. shameful.
A lot of OEM mags are made by MecGar. I've personally never had issues with my MecGar mags for either of my two Beretta pistols in the competitions that I shoot.
Rule of thumb-- OEM for Pistols (typically). Worst experience with aftermarket Mags wasn't even really aftermarket-- it was a polymer mag made by DSA and sent with the FAL, that is absolute junk and only good as a paperweight, metal/ steel or aluminum surplus mags are the way for that platform, all the polymer mags on the market for the FAL are pure garbage. The gen 2 AK pmags are far better than the gen 1's too, the metal reinforced lugs are much better, but I still prefer steel/ metal mags for the AK too. Duramags are good to go for AR's, best metal aftermarket STANAG style mag on the market. No complaints with Pmags in my AR's, but yes definitely have to use Black or White arctic specific over tan/ FDE in the extreme cold. Camo-wrapping Pmags in winter is useful too, helps insulate and protect them apart from the camcon application.
@fearrogue often. Me n my shootin buddy would go usually when it was single digits (Colorado mountains) because we knew no one else would be out shootin. Had the range to ourselves for hours
Why take something wrong and make it worse though. You should be able to grab the mag that you butterfingered onto the floor without also having to play jacks with spilled ammunition.
@destroyerofgear did you spike it on the ground flat on the baseplate from eye level? You can make anything fail if you try hard enough. Most of these mags are perfectly fine
Comment for the algorithm! Worst mag failure I ever had was the new issued tan one with the blue follower for 855a1. During qual, it overinserted and totally BOLOed my whole qual. Went to my Lancers and no problem. Best mag experience I consistently have though, is the old, USGI, tan follower magazine from the arms room with Ranger plate floorplates. Not sure why they're the best, but they just work every time I run one.
Pro mag shouldn't be in business, they are so bad. In 30 years of experience with firearms, I have only liked one of their magazines. It was the only magazine available on the market for a discontinued pistol I acquired. That pistol was missing the mag when I bought it and was obviously worthless without one. I verified operation and flipped it.
Marines are issuing PMAGs because they work better with the HK416s. The GI mags work better with the M4s. So M4, M16s (yes POGs still get M16s) get GI mags, most Grunts get PMAGS for the HKs
I have an A2 rifle made quite a few years ago, and it works with both PMAG Gen 2 and steel mags from C Products and FN. All of them work well, learned my lesson from earlier cheap plastic mags bought for my Mini 14. I live in a 4 season environment, but not arctic conditions, and use M193 or NATO headstamp ammo.
G.I. M16 mags are all technically aftermarket. The US Army contracts multiple companies to make them. When I was in I saw not just Colt but Okay, Cooper, Labelle, FN, and Adventureline/Parsons/Center Industries. Even Colt sub contracted to Center in later years. Chances are the new tan ones are going to be in the same boat with big army using diffrent sub contractors just to keep up adequate stocks. So there is a substantial aftermarket that works. Especially now when even aluminum mags all come with Mag Pul anti tilt followers and better springs. Also Mec Gar makes the mags for Beretta and are neighbors in Gardone, Italy. They make Sig's mags, CZ, Canik and a few others as well. They may differentiate them with diffrent markings and base plates but I won't hesitate to use them to protect my life.
Magpul pmags have been feeding my 308 bolt rifle, AR and AKMs reliably for years. Granted, I'm not crawling in dirt and mud but they work for me just fine. The only Magpul pistol mags I have is the new P320 mags they just came out with and they have a metal body. I took the three I bought to the range and fed 300 rds through them with no issues other than it's difficult to the point of not worth trying to put that 17th rd. in but getting 16 in them is easy enough. The other alternate mags I have is lots of Wilson Combat mags for my Kimber Custom 1911. A common cause with 1911 failure is shitty mags but Wilson Combat mags have been feeding my 1911 reliably for many years.
I had a few MFT mags with the Betsy Ross flag on the side, but the bolt would jam on the magazine lips, it wouldn’t hold the bolt open properly and you’d have to yank it out. I dumped and stuck with pmags, Daniel defense, standard aluminum GI mags
I have maybe 20 glock pmags. Maybe for 2 years. I keep them loaded and i empty them all at the range at least twive a week. While i dont have thousands of rounds through them, i do have hundreds of rounds throygh them and they have been flawless. They are hard to load to capacity at first but after a few uses they load all the way. They will screw up with steel case ammo. Everytime. But i dont shoot that stuff anymore. Its not cheap enough for me. I also have several of the 27 round glock pmags for my PCC. No issues there either. Do i trust my life with them? I dont know yet. But they are great for the range. I personally dont like to drop my carry mags on the ground. So pmags are perfect for that. Glock pmags are proving their worth to me. But i still have plenty of factory mags. Ets glock mags habe been good too. I have a few and never a problem. Rwb has sucked for me. Not buying anymore of those. With other brand guns, sig, ruger, i like mecgar. They are perfect and in a lot of cases theybare the factory manufacturer. For my AR. Of course p mags. But i have some c products and they are fine. I have a ton of the D&H that psa sells and they are the best in my opinion. I have had milsurp mags and have found they are not worth the price. If i can buy a new pmag or a d&h for the same price as a used beat to hell milsurp, well thats a no brainer to me. I stay away from milsurp mags unless its a deal. I have been buying police trade in glock factory mags from aim surplus and they have been flawless. .40 and 9mm. About half the price of new so even if i have to respring them, its still a deal. But i havent had to yet. Promag just sucks with everything i habe every tried.
Just curious what peoples experience is with Lancer 5.56 magazines. I've only had one bad experience with mags and they were counterfeit Korean 15 round Glock magazines. They actually cracked and split on the back of the magazine. Total junk.
Transluscent plastic is hard to reinforce. Lancers are notoriously fragile, and sometimes split at the welds. For some reason only the aug and g36 clear mags work, unless the new magpul ones prove out
ETS mags. Glock and Sig P320. P320 jammed every shot and would lock the slide back when it shouldnt. Glock mag caused and out of battery issue with a AR9
I run gen 3&2 mags mainly, I bought some 10/30rnd hex mags and the tip of the bullets scrape on chambering. As well as I noticed the fool me when I don't properly seat the mag it stick for a sec then falls out. I understand it's a mix of training but just my thoughts.
Some VERY questionable Yugo mags for 5.45, I had the bottom plate rocket man off the mag, feed lips were out of spec, honestly a miracle I survived that range day
Solid vid Trench, thanks. Great tip about the environmental ratings on black vs tan polymer, makes perfect sense but would never have occurred to me. Definitely my new favourite no BS channel!
Best mag surprise was using Prodigy mags in a Stacatto P. They actually work decent, I only trust them for drills and range use but way cheaper for beat around mags.
Man.. you gotta stop taking your morning dooo... in my cheerios! First the $1,500 LPVO with ACSS from PA is gonna "get me killed" but now the $40 a magazine Shield Arms for a G48/G43x is gonna get me killed with changing the mag release to the metal one.. I just can't win lol.
To be fair the PLX C is immune from most of the complaints Trench had about LPVOs. It's durable, lightweight, very usable at 1x, and doesn't experience zero shift at different magnifications or after being dropped.
you can buy anti tilt followers and springs for those old Gi mags. When your like me and live in California you take whatever you can get your hands on. I have a motley collection of 30 round 2nd generation p mags and used aluminum 30 round mags for my ar-15s.
My anecdotal reason for hating on metal GI mags is I tripped while buddy rushing and fell on a large 2-3ish foot wide rock which crushed 4/5 mags in the pouches on the front of my PC. The 4 that were crushed would only feed the top 10 rounds so at the end of the range before the notional counter attack I had to strip 60 of those rounds to load up my 2 remaining functional mags (this was before we were issued 7 standard and we were out of Hawaii, so it was near impossible to buy your own unless you had family send them from out of state. I still own a fair amount of duramags which I haven't had any issues with (yet) but my go to are gen3 pmags. At work we have triple digits of them loaded 24/7 for several years now and no issues with broken feed lips on them. I know they had some issues back in the day with gen2s over time before I got here.
I’ve got 40 pmags for my AR, have not had even 1 single issue with any of them. Then again, thankfully I haven’t been afforded the opportunity to use them in real combat conditions. It’s been about 10 years now with them, and I’ve got the same amount of p mags brand new in the package in storage. I’ve only got about 3 or 4 GI mags. 2 ea 30 round and 2 ea 20 round mags. As far as my pistols are concerned, I’ve got 2 1911s 1 in 45 and 1 in 9mm, and for those I use only Wilson Combat mags or the OEM magazines, which would be Springfield. I have 10 mags per pistol and continue to purchase more when I have the funds to do so. You are certainly putting out good information in this video though. I 100% agree with your statement that the #1 cause of a malfunction can be directly attributed to magazine issues, which is exactly why I found which brand magazines my firearms “like” and stocked up on them.
I was surprised that the Battlefield Vegas guys hated PMAGs for ARs. Based on that I decided I wouldn't test my luck and bought aluminum magazines from that point onward.
@@griftinggamer okay is great. Duramag, not a problem. D&H. Brownells, But are aftermarket. Plenty of great mag for the AR. But not made by AR manufacturers, except maybe the Daniel defense mags
If you have old grey aluminum GI mags buy the magpul replacement followers they are a seriously good upgrade. They'll keep your mag feeding reliably. I did so with mine and they've done really well over the past several years that I've had them.
I live in the upper Midwest and shoot outdoors year round, many thousands of rounds per year. I often shoot when it’s sub zero temps outside. I have never had problems with my magpul magazines. Most are gen 2, some gen three. They perform flawlessly in my ARs. Also, my police department has many pmags that never see maintenance and continue to roll flawlessly in the department carbines. Can’t say the same the aluminum and steel usgi mags.
Never had issues with aftermarket mags. I evaluate each mag individually and mark them if I have issues. I've had just as many issues with gi mags as aftermarket. From your experience, it seems that metal is the go-to in the cold.
Promag 17 round Glock mag. Walked up to the line to start my turn at paper hole punching and the baseplate falls off the mag, spring flys out and rounds go all over the place!! Tossed all the promag mags I had in the trash. I have lots of magpul for range time but only carry Glock OEM in my Glock and Psa pistols as well as run the Glock magwell in my Ruger PCC.
Best mags for me are the following, pmags, lancers, ok products, c-products. Distant #2 hexmags,usgi surplus. Ak mags,the best are the original, pmags 3rd gen,us palm works great for a made in USA product! Worst mags are megar promag. Thanks for the video!!🫡👍✌️💪
Speaking of 2011s, there's a huge variety of different mags all seemingly made to different specs. Different guns tend to like different things but in general the two best magazines are MBXes and Stacattos. Find out what your gunsmith tuned the gun to work with an stack those.
There’s actually several variants of USGI mags. The later production Okay Industries USGI mags had tan/brown anti tilt followers. MecGar is the OEM for pretty much all CZ and Beretta mags (and the MecGar Beretta mags were better than the Checkmate industries USGI beretta mags). Also Bulgarian circle 10 waffle mags are better than most steel AK mags. Seen plenty of KP9 magazines break too lol
Hex Mag Gen 1 , Glock ETS and Ammend 2 Glock and AR Mags . All the stories will take too long to type out . . Ive also had a rack of issues with Lancer L5AWM AR mags . In General for ARs i use PMAGs , and Okay Surefeeds . For Glocks i use 21rnd and 27rnd Pmags in Competition . Shadow Systems ships with Pmags so they are not after market mags . I do use Glock Factory 17rnd for EDC but would not hesitate for 1 second to use Glock Pmag . My CZ SP01 and S2 use Mecgar 23rnd Mags . I also use Factory CZ Mags with Henning +6 Baseplates. Brownells used to have USGI Contract in late 2000s . They did have an issue with them but cant remeber what it was off the top of my head . Ive been using Okay and Colt mags for 20+ years . Colts mags were probably made by Okay . Ive also used D&H Mags . BCM has used D&H as OEMs for 10+ years . Side note . In earlg 2010s the US ARMY Boycotted Pmags from being used . I cannot remember all the deatils . USASOC and SOCOM used them almost exclusively.
My AR came with a Magpul mag. Also I only have plastic mags, the best non-magpul ones I've used are hex mags and ETS. I only have one GI mag and it's kinda meh.
Stainless steel Duramags are the best I've used....it's now the only rifle magazines I use. At one point last year, stainless steel Duramags were less expensive than P-mags.
ASC stainless steel were the WOST I have ever had. Load anything past 20 and it will jam every round. The steel isn't pressed either so the lip hangs out and you can cut your hand
You're doing well, my man. Just keep doing what you're doing. You have a whole helluva lot of experience that I, and a ton of other American men who are born defenders, but due to various life decisions, never served, and do not possess... and now lack abilities that are highly likely going to be very relevant in the near future. I'm grateful that the Army trained men like yourself, and that you're independent enough to see that disseminating the information you learned, to your fellow countrymen, is not only right, but necessary. I have great respect for your commitment. Will soon be a Patreon member...
Magpul pmags are oem mags for the vast majority of AR’s on the market today. Also being issued in the military now. They are as high of quality an AR mag you’re going to find.
@@trench_grenade even for gen 2 unless you live in Alaska I wouldn’t be worried about it. I don’t think I have much to worry about freezing temps in Louisiana
School of the American Rifle did a video on the shield arms magazine and he made it run reliably with some modification. Haven't done the mod myself as I got a Glock.
Honestly can’t remember what brand it was but they were like less than 10$ and it was see through plastic. I loaded it up with 556 and the mag exploded after firing the first round. The spring popped out on the bottom with all the rounds falling out and it became an empty tube.
I would wager that everyone having trouble with the magpul glock mags is shooting poly-coated steel-case ammo. This stuff just doesn't work well in polymer mags for some reason. It acts weird and sticky. You can tell just by loading the mag. I like to play it safe with OEM mags, but the reason I can't ditch the magpuls is because that 21-rounder is such a perfect size. I'll keep using them until I find an issue with them, but they have been perfect for me since my steel-case wolf ammo dried up long before I started using them.
I’ve been competing using lancer and duramag the past couple years with 0 issues. I’ve had d60’s fail in the rain though lol. Currently running the shit out of shield mags with the stendos. YMMV.
Only glock oem mags for sure. As far as AR mags hell ive got thousands and thousands of rounds through gen2 and 3 pmags and even lancer mags...had one lancer issue out of about 60 mags. I actually like the metal feed lips. But when even tho no problems with gen2 pmags i buy the gen3 windowed now mainly cause i got used to the window.
For rifles i only use newer GI mags, Magpul, steel AK (also have a couple polymer Magpul AK but would not use those in a serious situation). For pistol i use factory or Mecgar (for my P229). Mecgar is actually OEM for some brands; i think they're pretty good. I should check my AR Magpul mags though, wouldn't be surprised if i had some Gen 1/2.
Glock pmags I buy in bulk for training. Only run stonk glonk mags for duty. M3 mags I’ve had a good experience with. KCI and Promag are by far the worst I’ve used
PMAGs are phenomenal for rifles, pistols PMAGS I wouldn't trust with jack shit
AK ones depends on the rifle, since there is no consistency with AKs.
@hansblitz7770 true, I mainly ment AR mags I should've clarified that. all my formal and informal training is on ARs so I haven't used AK mags enough to form a personal opinion on them
@@hansblitz7770i know yugos (zastava) has NO issues with ANY mag type atleast not with anything ive come into contact or have heard about now good luck with furniture though☠️
Came here to say the same thing. I will run PMAGs in my AR all day but won't trust them in my pistols.
Correct
Magpul stuff has been used by people stacking bodies for like the past 10 years
Yup
I’ve seen videos from Ramadi when it all went to shit (around what, 2007 maybe?) and they were reloading stacks of pmags in what looked like a building they had just taken. Looked like marines but I’m not sure. I was surprised.
Not mapgul Glock mags.
For rifles yes for pistols you should only use factory or oem like mec gar there is just so much more that goes into manufacturing a pistol mag
That's true, but there were also pallets of pmags that arrived already screwed up, but we don't talk about that..nor do we talk about how the feed lips have like a 20% survival chance on deployment. Because...you know...realiable magazines usually go through three generations of updates for no reason.
As a Marine 0311 when we deployed in Afghan we used magpul gen3. Never heard anyone complain or ever seen or heard any issues with them. But wasn't during the winter.
PMAGS are being used actively by the military. I haven’t had the best results with their pistol mags in my Glocks, but their rifle mags are very, very reliable.
What problems have you had with the Glock PMAGs?? I'm asking for a friend, who... Uh.. owns like a hundred of the damn things!
You say that, but no one's pmags in my entire company survived a deployment without bad feed lips.
Hey I'm listening. I literally have a hundred of these damn magazines, thinking I 've preempted any law changes. Could you please be more specific on what failures you are seeing. What induced them? And if I have to replace them then what brand of aluminum GI mags? Duramag? OK industries? I've seen those fail as well. Please help.
@@griftinggamer
@@kanejakejimmy
There is no indestructible, 100% successful magazine. Some are much better than others. These are wear items...
I've had bad luck leaving pmags loaded and stored, feed lips bend and break. Especially with the shifts in seasons and weather I guess.
@@kanejakejimmy
To answer your question okay industries, and the imported steel magazines from global ordanance have been pretty good.
Replace follower in old GI mags with a Magpul antitilt follower.
I love Duramag anodized mags.
They don't fit in 20 rounders sadly.
No, Magpul doesn't suck.
The exposed penetrator on the M855A1 round tore up the feed ramps on rifles until they designed and issued new mags to line up the rounds with the chamber.
So Trench's complaint with the M2 mags is fair...if you are using the one round that wants to destroy your rifle with high pressures and a chisel-hard point.
Those of us who use soft or ballistic tips can use more than 2 models of AR magazines.
I use gen 2 pmags from Magpul with m855 green tips and my feed ramps hold up well no issues whatsoever
I’ve heard GI MAGS dent if they fall on a pavement and become inoperable
@@intuitivefugitive8852 I'm not talking about green tips, but the successor A1 variant. They have a grey-ish tip.
That example of Alaska is a very extreme one. In Alaska temperatures can get as low as -60F during the winter. I really don’t think it’s fair to have a mag in that extreme, unusual environment, and use it to prove that aftermarket mags are trash. If you lived in Alaska it would be, but most people don’t.
That is sorta true. He said it was -15F at his training event. I was hunting in -12F just some weeks ago. And I'm not that far North. So lots of the country can hit those temps.
I haven't had those issues yet with my Pmags. But most of the time I was hunting I was using Brownells and Lancer. Last year I used Pmags at -10F while hunting.
And he said his ammo could have been contributing to the issue. That doesn't make sense to me but I wasn't there.
But my point is a lot of the country fits his description of events.
@@woodsghost9088 I’ll concede that. But truthfully my issue was with his blanket statement, that all aftermarket mags are useless. Will some mags preform in some guns better than in others, yes. Will some mags preform better in certain conditions better than others, also yes. But that doesn’t mean they’re all trash. His statement is much to broad to be accurate. In my opinion mags are like any other type of gear. You have to do your own field testing to make sure that what you have will work as intended in the environments you intend to use them in.
@@sreardonatpfg excellent points. I'm with you 100% on those statements and points. Well said.
Friends don't let friends do pro-mag
Please Remember Our Mags Are Garbage
Friends don’t let friends wear cowboy hats 😎
They make great door stops though
In the past most OEM mags were made by Mec-gar.
Yes, at least with the Euro brands.
Many still are.
Was shooting a uspsa match a few weeks ago using g19x mags in a g17. Had a failure to feed. Tapped and racked. Still a failure. Kicked the mag out, racked and got a new mag out. Glock spring froze in the magazine. Brand new magazine too. Test your equipment gents
Sounds like trench should be talking about OEM mags sucking lol
@boejiden1942 my experience is by no means gospel. Just letting yall know what happened. I also haven't had any ar pmag issues
PMAGs and USGI work beautifully for me.
Cheap mags are good for training through malfunctions, so don’t just throw them away. Just paint them so they’re easily identifiable and don’t carry them for anything serious. But, I’ve had no issues with p-mags in AR platforms. But my favorite are the stainless steel HK mags. You could use them to block up your truck.
In the 1911 space, you definitely WANT aftermarket magazines. Kimber mags are trash, Springfield 1911 mags iffy, so too Rock Island, Colt, etc. The tier goes: Wilson Combat 47D or Tripp Research Cobra Mags; SIG or Chip McCormick mags (now owned by Wilson), Mec-Gar, Checkmate. The latter two need about two weeks fully loaded to "set" the magazine springs.
Per Hilton Yam, Magazines are an expendable wear item. The feed lips will crack or expand, and they will no longer function. Depending on how you treat them (dropped in training or never dropped), loaded all the time or not, shot a lot or not, they can last six months or years.
So, the 1911 is definitely an outlier there, aftermarket mags are probably far better.
Love the content.
Mecgar is the one exception, but they actually make a lot of the factory magazines for certain guns so it’s not really aftermarket in a lot of cases
I consider them to be oem for sure
@@CiviTac If they make the oem magazines then I definitely consider the mecgar branded ones to also be oem, if it’s for a gun that they aren’t the oem for I’d still trust them over anything else but technically still would be aftermarket at that point
Mecgar is the oem manufacturer for Beretta
Yup, and other major firearm brands, too. All the magazines for my P229s and P226s are made by Mecgar.
also for CANIK as well. I have the 18 rounder with the plus 2 base plate an have dropped numerous times on tile havent had a problem yet. been holding up.
CZ 75s are Mec Gar....
I like my gen3 pmags for my AR. For pistol mags, exclusively OE
A promag in a pistol completely vacated its bowls out the bottom when the tail somehow came apart. Its was right during a "mag dump" and about 30 rnds poured out on the first show while the other guys in dumped. It wasnt my mag, I was just handed it.
worst experience I ever had was at a NJ gun range where they convince people who never shot before crappy pistols and rifles that never been cleaned or zeroed are worth 100$ an hour to shoot. shameful.
dang bro, here in GA we have shops thatll let you rent a sparkling clean SUPPRESSED glock for like $15.......
What part of jersey? I use to live in NW jersey in warren county. Ranges in NJ suck. RTSP is overrated.
@@WarriorInWaiting pa is like that . NJ is socialist hell
Since 2016 marine corps officially swapped pmags for metal mags, ill keep my rifle pmags
Pretty sure MECGAR makes some of the mags for Gun MFGs or at least used to.
They make a lot of sig and Taurus mags
They still do. Especially for older designs.
Mecgar OEMs for many companies and guns. I've been using their para ordnance mags for a long time and they're great.
A lot of OEM mags are made by MecGar. I've personally never had issues with my MecGar mags for either of my two Beretta pistols in the competitions that I shoot.
Pro Mag is the worst tried it on my wife’s Ruger LCP 9 mm and did not work at all. Lesson learned at the flat range. Test your stuff use it
The gen 2 pmag for ar rifles is pretty fucking solid.
PMAG is only AR mag that’s not trash
Rule of thumb-- OEM for Pistols (typically).
Worst experience with aftermarket Mags wasn't even really aftermarket-- it was a polymer mag made by DSA and sent with the FAL, that is absolute junk and only good as a paperweight, metal/ steel or aluminum surplus mags are the way for that platform, all the polymer mags on the market for the FAL are pure garbage. The gen 2 AK pmags are far better than the gen 1's too, the metal reinforced lugs are much better, but I still prefer steel/ metal mags for the AK too.
Duramags are good to go for AR's, best metal aftermarket STANAG style mag on the market. No complaints with Pmags in my AR's, but yes definitely have to use Black or White arctic specific over tan/ FDE in the extreme cold. Camo-wrapping Pmags in winter is useful too, helps insulate and protect them apart from the camcon application.
I still use a couple Gen 1 magpuls that I carried in 07
@fearrogue often. Me n my shootin buddy would go usually when it was single digits (Colorado mountains) because we knew no one else would be out shootin. Had the range to ourselves for hours
Mec-gar mags are the manufacturer of a lot of oem mags.
Good magazines...PMAG
Best magazine I had, H&K steel magazines...never had a malfunction during four tours of combat.
“Combat”
I buy mostly USGI pattern mags, old and new. I’ll swap out old springs and followers in older mags and it makes them run like a dream.
If you're dropping full mags you're doing it wrong anyway.
Why take something wrong and make it worse though. You should be able to grab the mag that you butterfingered onto the floor without also having to play jacks with spilled ammunition.
@destroyerofgear did you spike it on the ground flat on the baseplate from eye level? You can make anything fail if you try hard enough. Most of these mags are perfectly fine
Good point!
Comment for the algorithm!
Worst mag failure I ever had was the new issued tan one with the blue follower for 855a1. During qual, it overinserted and totally BOLOed my whole qual. Went to my Lancers and no problem.
Best mag experience I consistently have though, is the old, USGI, tan follower magazine from the arms room with Ranger plate floorplates. Not sure why they're the best, but they just work every time I run one.
All of my 5.56 mags are Lancer's "clear" mags. ...My Springfield Hellion, has only had 1 failure to feed out of 911 [total] shots fired at the range.
Pro mag shouldn't be in business, they are so bad. In 30 years of experience with firearms, I have only liked one of their magazines. It was the only magazine available on the market for a discontinued pistol I acquired. That pistol was missing the mag when I bought it and was obviously worthless without one. I verified operation and flipped it.
is the good one wilson combat mags?
I like wilsons. The 10 rounders on my normie ass Springfield 1911A1 work really well. I'm pretty judgemental so...
For 1911s? Yes.
What about duramag?
Marines are issuing PMAGs because they work better with the HK416s. The GI mags work better with the M4s. So M4, M16s (yes POGs still get M16s) get GI mags, most Grunts get PMAGS for the HKs
Huge facts
I had one Lancer and I never bought another ever again, sticking with Pmags and Aluminum mags for my AR
I prefer aluminum USGI mags for AR. Colt, NHMTG and Okay mags are the best.
My PMAGs have never failed me. Especially gen 3 PMAGs.
My only bad aftermarket mag was Lancer. I throw the mag in and two rounds go flying into my rifle (open bolt). Common occurrence.
I have an A2 rifle made quite a few years ago, and it works with both PMAG Gen 2 and steel mags from C Products and FN. All of them work well, learned my lesson from earlier cheap plastic mags bought for my Mini 14. I live in a 4 season environment, but not arctic conditions, and use M193 or NATO headstamp ammo.
G.I. M16 mags are all technically aftermarket. The US Army contracts multiple companies to make them. When I was in I saw not just Colt but Okay, Cooper, Labelle, FN, and Adventureline/Parsons/Center Industries. Even Colt sub contracted to Center in later years. Chances are the new tan ones are going to be in the same boat with big army using diffrent sub contractors just to keep up adequate stocks. So there is a substantial aftermarket that works. Especially now when even aluminum mags all come with Mag Pul anti tilt followers and better springs. Also Mec Gar makes the mags for Beretta and are neighbors in Gardone, Italy. They make Sig's mags, CZ, Canik and a few others as well. They may differentiate them with diffrent markings and base plates but I won't hesitate to use them to protect my life.
Magpul pmags have been feeding my 308 bolt rifle, AR and AKMs reliably for years. Granted, I'm not crawling in dirt and mud but they work for me just fine. The only Magpul pistol mags I have is the new P320 mags they just came out with and they have a metal body. I took the three I bought to the range and fed 300 rds through them with no issues other than it's difficult to the point of not worth trying to put that 17th rd. in but getting 16 in them is easy enough.
The other alternate mags I have is lots of Wilson Combat mags for my Kimber Custom 1911. A common cause with 1911 failure is shitty mags but Wilson Combat mags have been feeding my 1911 reliably for many years.
If you are running Magpul AK mags, run the ones with the steel in them.
I only use the finest mil spec mags
*stares at CETME L magazines in my chest rig*
Yeah I fucking dead aren't I?
GI mags are my #1 go to
I had a few MFT mags with the Betsy Ross flag on the side, but the bolt would jam on the magazine lips, it wouldn’t hold the bolt open properly and you’d have to yank it out.
I dumped and stuck with pmags, Daniel defense, standard aluminum GI mags
I have maybe 20 glock pmags. Maybe for 2 years. I keep them loaded and i empty them all at the range at least twive a week. While i dont have thousands of rounds through them, i do have hundreds of rounds throygh them and they have been flawless. They are hard to load to capacity at first but after a few uses they load all the way. They will screw up with steel case ammo. Everytime. But i dont shoot that stuff anymore. Its not cheap enough for me. I also have several of the 27 round glock pmags for my PCC. No issues there either. Do i trust my life with them? I dont know yet. But they are great for the range. I personally dont like to drop my carry mags on the ground. So pmags are perfect for that. Glock pmags are proving their worth to me. But i still have plenty of factory mags.
Ets glock mags habe been good too. I have a few and never a problem.
Rwb has sucked for me. Not buying anymore of those.
With other brand guns, sig, ruger, i like mecgar. They are perfect and in a lot of cases theybare the factory manufacturer.
For my AR. Of course p mags. But i have some c products and they are fine. I have a ton of the D&H that psa sells and they are the best in my opinion. I have had milsurp mags and have found they are not worth the price. If i can buy a new pmag or a d&h for the same price as a used beat to hell milsurp, well thats a no brainer to me. I stay away from milsurp mags unless its a deal.
I have been buying police trade in glock factory mags from aim surplus and they have been flawless. .40 and 9mm. About half the price of new so even if i have to respring them, its still a deal. But i havent had to yet.
Promag just sucks with everything i habe every tried.
Just curious what peoples experience is with Lancer 5.56 magazines. I've only had one bad experience with mags and they were counterfeit Korean 15 round Glock magazines. They actually cracked and split on the back of the magazine. Total junk.
Transluscent plastic is hard to reinforce. Lancers are notoriously fragile, and sometimes split at the welds.
For some reason only the aug and g36 clear mags work, unless the new magpul ones prove out
I like dirty magazines
Is it Tuesday already?!?
my mom took mine away
PSA Micro Dagger mags were the worst I've used
They need a little work
@@JimmyCzerwinski-p4g yeah, School of the American Rifle has a video on how to fix them, but I have to do all that, I'm not carrying them.
ETS mags. Glock and Sig P320. P320 jammed every shot and would lock the slide back when it shouldnt. Glock mag caused and out of battery issue with a AR9
I run gen 3&2 mags mainly, I bought some 10/30rnd hex mags and the tip of the bullets scrape on chambering. As well as I noticed the fool me when I don't properly seat the mag it stick for a sec then falls out. I understand it's a mix of training but just my thoughts.
Can we put springs and better followers in the old g.i. mags?
Some VERY questionable Yugo mags for 5.45, I had the bottom plate rocket man off the mag, feed lips were out of spec, honestly a miracle I survived that range day
Solid vid Trench, thanks. Great tip about the environmental ratings on black vs tan polymer, makes perfect sense but would never have occurred to me. Definitely my new favourite no BS channel!
Best mag surprise was using Prodigy mags in a Stacatto P. They actually work decent, I only trust them for drills and range use but way cheaper for beat around mags.
Man.. you gotta stop taking your morning dooo... in my cheerios! First the $1,500 LPVO with ACSS from PA is gonna "get me killed" but now the $40 a magazine Shield Arms for a G48/G43x is gonna get me killed with changing the mag release to the metal one.. I just can't win lol.
To be fair the PLX C is immune from most of the complaints Trench had about LPVOs. It's durable, lightweight, very usable at 1x, and doesn't experience zero shift at different magnifications or after being dropped.
get the psa micro dagger mags… the catches are plastic!
you can buy anti tilt followers and springs for those old Gi mags. When your like me and live in California you take whatever you can get your hands on. I have a motley collection of 30 round 2nd generation p mags and used aluminum 30 round mags for my ar-15s.
Bad magazines = awesome training magazines.
My anecdotal reason for hating on metal GI mags is I tripped while buddy rushing and fell on a large 2-3ish foot wide rock which crushed 4/5 mags in the pouches on the front of my PC. The 4 that were crushed would only feed the top 10 rounds so at the end of the range before the notional counter attack I had to strip 60 of those rounds to load up my 2 remaining functional mags (this was before we were issued 7 standard and we were out of Hawaii, so it was near impossible to buy your own unless you had family send them from out of state. I still own a fair amount of duramags which I haven't had any issues with (yet) but my go to are gen3 pmags. At work we have triple digits of them loaded 24/7 for several years now and no issues with broken feed lips on them. I know they had some issues back in the day with gen2s over time before I got here.
I’ve got 40 pmags for my AR, have not had even 1 single issue with any of them.
Then again, thankfully I haven’t been afforded the opportunity to use them in real combat conditions. It’s been about 10 years now with them, and I’ve got the same amount of p mags brand new in the package in storage.
I’ve only got about 3 or 4 GI mags. 2 ea 30 round and 2 ea 20 round mags.
As far as my pistols are concerned, I’ve got 2 1911s 1 in 45 and 1 in 9mm, and for those I use only Wilson Combat mags or the OEM magazines, which would be Springfield. I have 10 mags per pistol and continue to purchase more when I have the funds to do so.
You are certainly putting out good information in this video though. I 100% agree with your statement that the #1 cause of a malfunction can be directly attributed to magazine issues, which is exactly why I found which brand magazines my firearms “like” and stocked up on them.
I was surprised that the Battlefield Vegas guys hated PMAGs for ARs. Based on that I decided I wouldn't test my luck and bought aluminum magazines from that point onward.
Basically all magazines for the AR15 are aftermarket.
Pistol mags, i agree with you
Not really....there are still OEM manufacturers that made usgi mags..okay industries are still pretty awesome
@@griftinggamer okay is great. Duramag, not a problem. D&H. Brownells, But are aftermarket. Plenty of great mag for the AR. But not made by AR manufacturers, except maybe the Daniel defense mags
If you have old grey aluminum GI mags buy the magpul replacement followers they are a seriously good upgrade. They'll keep your mag feeding reliably. I did so with mine and they've done really well over the past several years that I've had them.
I live in the upper Midwest and shoot outdoors year round, many thousands of rounds per year. I often shoot when it’s sub zero temps outside. I have never had problems with my magpul magazines. Most are gen 2, some gen three. They perform flawlessly in my ARs. Also, my police department has many pmags that never see maintenance and continue to roll flawlessly in the department carbines. Can’t say the same the aluminum and steel usgi mags.
Never had issues with aftermarket mags. I evaluate each mag individually and mark them if I have issues. I've had just as many issues with gi mags as aftermarket. From your experience, it seems that metal is the go-to in the cold.
*Me who only has a shotgun and a revolver* "Magazine issues, what's that?"
We can talk again when the cylinder gets fouled or your shell stop breaks/jams.
Lol. For sure! Reduces problems.
Promag 17 round Glock mag. Walked up to the line to start my turn at paper hole punching and the baseplate falls off the mag, spring flys out and rounds go all over the place!! Tossed all the promag mags I had in the trash. I have lots of magpul for range time but only carry Glock OEM in my Glock and Psa pistols as well as run the Glock magwell in my Ruger PCC.
Promag might as well be a CIA op to get crap mags out on the market. I can see no other reason for them to be in business
Best mags for me are the following, pmags, lancers, ok products, c-products. Distant #2 hexmags,usgi surplus. Ak mags,the best are the original, pmags 3rd gen,us palm works great for a made in USA product! Worst mags are megar promag. Thanks for the video!!🫡👍✌️💪
Speaking of 2011s, there's a huge variety of different mags all seemingly made to different specs. Different guns tend to like different things but in general the two best magazines are MBXes and Stacattos. Find out what your gunsmith tuned the gun to work with an stack those.
There’s actually several variants of USGI mags. The later production Okay Industries USGI mags had tan/brown anti tilt followers. MecGar is the OEM for pretty much all CZ and Beretta mags (and the MecGar Beretta mags were better than the Checkmate industries USGI beretta mags). Also Bulgarian circle 10 waffle mags are better than most steel AK mags.
Seen plenty of KP9 magazines break too lol
Never use plastic mags in the winter
Old FAL mags may be build like tanks, but those springs have a finite lifespan.
I’d love to hear more details on what AR mags work good in different weather and environments conditions!
Can someone share some thoughts on lancer mags? See them on sale for 11$ been tempting.
Pro mag is the absolute worst
Yep, I don't even know how they are still in business.
Hex Mag Gen 1 , Glock ETS and Ammend 2 Glock and AR Mags .
All the stories will take too long to type out . .
Ive also had a rack of issues with Lancer L5AWM AR mags .
In General for ARs i use PMAGs , and Okay Surefeeds . For Glocks i use 21rnd and 27rnd Pmags in Competition . Shadow Systems ships with Pmags so they are not after market mags . I do use Glock Factory 17rnd for EDC but would not hesitate for 1 second to use Glock Pmag .
My CZ SP01 and S2 use Mecgar 23rnd Mags . I also use Factory CZ Mags with Henning +6 Baseplates.
Brownells used to have USGI Contract in late 2000s . They did have an issue with them but cant remeber what it was off the top of my head .
Ive been using Okay and Colt mags for 20+ years . Colts mags were probably made by Okay . Ive also used D&H Mags . BCM has used D&H as OEMs for 10+ years .
Side note .
In earlg 2010s the US ARMY Boycotted Pmags from being used . I cannot remember all the deatils . USASOC and SOCOM used them almost exclusively.
My AR came with a Magpul mag.
Also I only have plastic mags, the best non-magpul ones I've used are hex mags and ETS.
I only have one GI mag and it's kinda meh.
The worst magazines ive ever used is GI surplus mags in the ARs we used for competition. It jammed the gun hard multiple times over several matches.
Theyre the worst because you cant easily tell when they are fucked up.
Stainless steel Duramags are the best I've used....it's now the only rifle magazines I use. At one point last year, stainless steel Duramags were less expensive than P-mags.
ASC stainless steel were the WOST I have ever had. Load anything past 20 and it will jam every round. The steel isn't pressed either so the lip hangs out and you can cut your hand
CTS CZEVO-30 magazine. The clear one with the weird spring in it.
I garuntee that "actual beretta magazine" is made by mec-gar.
You're doing well, my man. Just keep doing what you're doing. You have a whole helluva lot of experience that I, and a ton of other American men who are born defenders, but due to various life decisions, never served, and do not possess... and now lack abilities that are highly likely going to be very relevant in the near future. I'm grateful that the Army trained men like yourself, and that you're independent enough to see that disseminating the information you learned, to your fellow countrymen, is not only right, but necessary. I have great respect for your commitment. Will soon be a Patreon member...
Magpul pmags are oem mags for the vast majority of AR’s on the market today. Also being issued in the military now. They are as high of quality an AR mag you’re going to find.
The Gen 3 ones yes
@@trench_grenade even for gen 2 unless you live in Alaska I wouldn’t be worried about it. I don’t think I have much to worry about freezing temps in Louisiana
My PMAGs have been great. My ETS mags for my glock and AR have been great. Just the facts.
I agree with you 💯
Some pistol are designed around the magazine
This is gun ownership 101
Promag 20 rounder would allow rounds to fall out if you bumped it slightly and wouldn't feed if you loaded more than about 7 rounds.
School of the American Rifle did a video on the shield arms magazine and he made it run reliably with some modification. Haven't done the mod myself as I got a Glock.
Honestly can’t remember what brand it was but they were like less than 10$ and it was see through plastic. I loaded it up with 556 and the mag exploded after firing the first round. The spring popped out on the bottom with all the rounds falling out and it became an empty tube.
I would wager that everyone having trouble with the magpul glock mags is shooting poly-coated steel-case ammo. This stuff just doesn't work well in polymer mags for some reason. It acts weird and sticky. You can tell just by loading the mag. I like to play it safe with OEM mags, but the reason I can't ditch the magpuls is because that 21-rounder is such a perfect size. I'll keep using them until I find an issue with them, but they have been perfect for me since my steel-case wolf ammo dried up long before I started using them.
I’ve been competing using lancer and duramag the past couple years with 0 issues. I’ve had d60’s fail in the rain though lol. Currently running the shit out of shield mags with the stendos. YMMV.
Only glock oem mags for sure. As far as AR mags hell ive got thousands and thousands of rounds through gen2 and 3 pmags and even lancer mags...had one lancer issue out of about 60 mags. I actually like the metal feed lips. But when even tho no problems with gen2 pmags i buy the gen3 windowed now mainly cause i got used to the window.
I have personally had a lot of issues with Pmags the longer I use them. I stick to aluminum/steel magazines for my AR.
pmag is the only AR mag, unless you have surplus mag pouches.
For rifles i only use newer GI mags, Magpul, steel AK (also have a couple polymer Magpul AK but would not use those in a serious situation). For pistol i use factory or Mecgar (for my P229). Mecgar is actually OEM for some brands; i think they're pretty good.
I should check my AR Magpul mags though, wouldn't be surprised if i had some Gen 1/2.
Pro mag is my go to, they make great malfunction training mags
Glock pmags I buy in bulk for training. Only run stonk glonk mags for duty. M3 mags I’ve had a good experience with. KCI and Promag are by far the worst I’ve used
Sig: self igniting gun