PMAGs not holding up
UPDATE: Drake from Magpul emailed me to say this was an issue with just one batch and it has been resolved.
This was a very small batch of PMAG’s that had this issue. We addressed the issues internally and solved the problem. We also followed up with all of our customers that we thought may have received these issue mags. Problem solved.
There is a discussion at the M4Carbine.net forum about Magpul polymer PMAGs cracking. Steve from Triad Tactical was running a training program and noticed a bunch of the PMAGs cracking in the same spot.
By the end of the first class, 50% of the pmags were broken. All of them had split where the feed lips meet to form a V on the spine. I called Magpul and they over nighted me 50 new pmags and a prepaid return label for all 50 of the ones I had, broken or not. They asked me a bunch of questions about the who, what, when, where and how the mags had been used. This was very cool and I was pleased with the way it was handled. I was back on track and had one course of 26 in the books, 25 to go.
More here.
The moral of the story is that diversity is the key. Don’t rely on one brand of magazine, especially if you are buying a whole lot at once. If a batch is faulty, regardless of wether it is metal or polymer, and you bought a whole lot you are screwed.
Many thank to Jay for the link.
This guy never drop/abuse his Pmag and it cracked.
http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=3&f=17&t=421896
jdun1911, heh, almost exactly the same type of crack. I am sure a chemical engineer could explain what the problem probably is. It could be the same batch.
Even with the recent negative publicity PMAG are selling like crazy. It’s like a horde mentality. IIRC Brownells has 50,000 PMAG back order. Every single online store can’t hold PMAG in stock for more then a day.
PMAG have been Obamafied (new lexicon).
Obamafied: too popular without logic.
I should acquire more HK mags when I have the money. I like those. I know pricey, but I have PMAGs and USGI mags.
No, No, No. You do not want HK mags. They are not good. You’re better off with PMAG/Lancer/GI Mag.
Without having one in my hands, I can’t be certain, but I’ll bet the combination of the V and the bevel is causing a stress riser right there.
Polymer, smolymer. Steel is what you want and need. Steel is traditional. Steel good. Plastic is for toys.
I picked up a few PMAGs the other day to see what the fuss was, but am not especially impressed by them so far. I’ve had great luck with the CProducts mags I’ve got and recently ordered a bunch more.
“Polymer, smolymer. Steel is what you want and need. Steel is traditional. Steel good. Plastic is for toys.”
gi mags are aluminum…
““Polymer, smolymer. Steel is what you want and need. Steel is traditional. Steel good. Plastic is for toys.”
gi mags are aluminum…”
LOL.
I have a load of Magpul pmags, and I haven’t yet had a problem. I have been rough with them and abused them, and have yet to have one of them fail. I saw the magpul guys testing some out on youtube, running them over with a truck, so I decided to try that out for my self. I ran one of my pmags over with my 7000lb Hummer H2 on pavement while the mag was unloaded 3 times, then loaded the magazine with 30 rounds and ran it over 3 more times. I then stuck the magazine in my AR and emptied all 30 rounds without a hitch. After that, I was thoroughly impressed.
By the way Charles, tradition can sometimes be a hindrance. Sooner or later, I can almost guarantee you most guns will be made of some sort of plastic(probably one that doesn’t exist yet). You must really hate guns like the Steyr AUG, FNH F2000, FNH Five seveN, and the FNH P90. these guns are made mostly of plastic, and some even have a plastic trigger group and even a plastic hammer, and I wouldn’t dare call them toys. I think one of these days we will even see barrels made of a plastic or similar material. Plastics are becoming more and more durable, and will soon be stronger than steel. Plastics have a lot of potential, so just don’t knock the pmags because you don’t like polymer. Try running one of your steel HK mags over with a 7000lb vehicle and see what happens to it.
Any item molded from plastic can have inclusions or flaws that occur during casting. Rushing the release, improper cooling, bad base material from the supplier etc can make even a good design fail.I have tortured a single P-Mag recently and it held up perfectly with no cracks and I will probably buy more of them when the price comes down to about $11 or so in a year.
I’ll just leave this here…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdesKUSUchA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCFXcOOb4jc