SureFire 60 round AR-15 magazine and 100 round magazine

Posted in AR-15, Rifles, Shooting Accessories by with 36 Comments
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I had the opportunity to try Surefire’s new 60 round and 100 round double stacked AR-15 magazines. The 100 is big and heavy (move over Saiga-12) but the 60 is not much longer than a standard 30 round magazine and the weight is not so bad. This is going to be a very popular product.

100 Round
100 Round
60 vs. 100 rounder
Steve Johnson

Founder and Dictator-In-Chief of TFB. A passionate gun owner, a shooting enthusiast and totally tacti-uncool. Favorite first date location: any gun range. Steve can be contacted here.

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  • Jason

    If I can’t hit the baddies in 30 rds or less, time to run like hell! :)

  • Gimmick

    Gimmick. No practical application.

  • SoloTwo

    Thanks for your thoughtful input gimmick.

  • Lance

    Im with Jason on this too. But i do smell M-27 IAR mag contracts in the future.

  • Paul

    I don’t think I would want to run a full loadout with 60 round magazines (especially at a very expensive $130 a piece). However, for a first mag, I think it makes a lot of sense. 30 extra rounds without reloading and without being overly bulky could give a few precious extra seconds of cover fire in an initial ambush.

    I could also see where this would be popular with competitive shooters. Less reloading could mean faster match times.

  • Bill Lester

    Gimmick? Tell that to the Marine who is assaulting a position with his M27. Or the SF team trying to break contact against a larger force. Or the contractor who is trying to stop a suicide car bomber. The list is endless.

  • Dakota

    60 rounds would probably be the only one that could be useful in a military setting, 100 round is way to bulky/unwieldy.

  • Ian

    This will be good for IAR gunners because of the sustained fire with similar sized mags. For regular rifleman I think this will be impractical for the rifle to handle.

  • Sian

    I wouldn’t say no practical application. One of the 60′s on-gun even with standard 30rd reloads gives you a lot of quickly available firepower in the same physical space as normal and no change in technique or storage. It would be an absolute boon for patrol carbines, and I bet these 60rders fit nicely in a standard 2-mag pouch.

  • gunslinger

    @gimmick

    just like how computers were never going to hold more than 300k of memory or be in anyone’s home?

    i guess the same can be said about a 30 rounder. why carry a 30rd mag when you can carry 5s? or what about single shot? yeah that’s it.

    don’t rule out something because you don’t like it. or see an immediate use for it.

  • RE: Gimmick

    “Gimmick?”

    why’s that? people never switch out 30 round magazines? by your argument, the same could be said about handgun magazines greater than 10 rounds.

  • WeaponBuilder

    I think it’s an absolute must-have for our Marines who are stuck with the new I.A.R. ‘support’ weapon. To go from 200rd belts down to 30rd magazines was a significant loss of suppressive firepower, IMHO.

    At least the 60rd magazines might help bridge the firepower gap now.

  • http://www.guntotinhippies.com Timothy Covington

    A couple of thoughts:
    1. The only thing I can think the 100 round magazine would be good for is competition.
    2. How well does the magazine catch (might be the wrong term) hold up to extended use of these magazines. That is a lot more weight than they are normally subjected to.

  • Doug

    I like the 60 round mag, could see myself buying one. The 100 round mag would be nice for use with the H&K IAR.

  • WJS

    Aren’t these quad-stacked instead of double-stacked? It might not be very practical for military applications, but if there’s another North Hollywood shootout I bet the cops and SWAT teams would love to get their hands on these. I bet the Mexican Federales would add these to their arsenal as well since they’re already running around with Beta C-Mags.

  • Matt Groom

    I want some 60′s! Any word on the Magpul Poly versions? Combat Tupperware, or vaporware?

  • ctr

    I imagine people said the same thing about the spencer carbine. I can see people claiming the same thing about the garand. About the m14. I would rather have 60 than 30. I would rather have a magical Hollywood firearm that can fire hundreds of rounds and never need a reload. Additionally, they could put a handle on that 100 rounder and it would double a fairly hefty club.

  • Matt

    Guys. Its not that you need more than 30 to hit something. It’s that you need more than thirty to kill all the people running at you shooting.

    These products aren’t for range plinkers.

  • Caseless

    Does Marine Corps use any IFVs with side firing ports? If so the 100-rounders can be used in those vehicles.

  • Chris

    60-rounder = cool. The $130 price tag? How many PMags/Lancers/etc can that buy? If I had tax dollars paying for my gear maybe I’d bite…

    • http://www.readygunner.com Neal

      Try out http://www.readygunner.com you can get them for $99 instead of $129. Still expensive for a magazine, but saves you $30. This would be good for tactical reloads in a SAW instead of opening the feed tray and putting a new belt in, you could just quickly insert a new mag. Unfortunately, I believe you would have all kinds of jams.

  • WHYNOT

    @gimmick..

    This is America, it’s not about whether or not we need it, it’s about wanting it! .223 in 100 rounds isn’t all that bad compared to older rifles: (FN’s, HK91′s in .308), and people lugged, and STILL lug those around in other 3rd world countries today.

    I’d like to see the internals on it, wondering how they stack it and if grime/dirt/sand could mess with reliability more than with a 30 rounder. curious.

  • Albert

    Nice USACAPOC SSI-FWTS!

  • Gimmick

    I have zero problem with magazine capacity, the more the better – for playing on the range.

    For the patrol soldier with a standard rifle/carbine, this is too heavy, too big, won’t fit in standard pouches, is too expensive, and will require retraining.

    Quick, do a tactical reload.

    Speed reload? You just dumped 40 rounds instead of 10.

    Oh, shit! Your buddy’s out of ammo – give him one of your mags. Oh Noes! All your remaining ammo’s in one damn magazine.

    Now try shooting from prone.

    Sure you can find a niche where it might shine.

    @gunslinger – that is a lame analogy because as computers got more capacity and speed, they also got smaller and lighter.

  • gunslinger

    @Gimmick- that’s my point. initially the computers seemed to have no practical application to a single consumer user. if the developers just threw up their hands and said, it’ll never work lets stop, we wouldn’t have these computers.

    now i’m not saying that we’re magically going to increase the power/capacity while reducing the physical size of ammo. but maybe we could find a way to utilize the advances made. that’s what my argument was. Take the idea and make improvements upon it. if it doesn’t work, move on.

    just like the magnetic ammo magazine. would it be better than traditional spring? maybe, maybe not.

    but i do like that you came back and offered thoughts as to the negatives of these mags. and those are the items that need to be discussed. sure the 100rnd is insanely huge for a standard patrol, but 60 doesn’t seem to be much larger than the 30. there could be some benifits for maybe 1st/2nd mags being 60, then going to 30. i’m not sure. i’ve never been on a patrol or caught in a gunfight. I can’t comment on the speed reloads or things like that, but those are important questions.

    as for the 100, what about a repacement for belt-fed/mounted weapons? once again. niche markets for sure, but still…maybe the quad stack could lend itself elsewhere.

  • Iman Azol

    Too big for prone. Too bulky for patrol. Too hard on the mag release. Too hard to share ammo with a buddy.

    It will, however, excel in the “who can melt their barrel the fastest?” event.

    It might work for a dedicated support weapon with substantially beefed up barrel and mechanicals.

  • Jae Senn

    @Iman – It’ll be handy for the Mexican narcs. They’re used to lugging around Beta C-mags on their M4s anyway.

  • http://N/A ViperTruck

    Any NJ guys looking for 15 round mags check out midwestPx.com. You can get 20 and 30 round Pmags already blocked and pinned shut really nicely (keeps for fully legal) . You cant even tell they’ve been fooled with. Just a heads up for anyone unfortunate enough to live in NJ

  • RJ

    Perfect to deal with flash mobs, yay!

  • Dr. Bill

    Coming from someone who HAS been in a firefight, when you are changing mags, you are OUT OF THE FIGHT. This product would have been a godsend during the Tet situation at TSN RVN in 1968.

  • http://pgtc.com Greg

    For what is worth I bought three 60 round Surefire magazines.
    Two of the magazines, which came from two different sources,
    have repeatedly jammed. I used different type rounds and
    in desperation dry lub, still jammed. The spring pressure seems
    uneven and the follower tends to nose dive. I also think there
    maybe a problem with the inside walls of the magazines being
    rough. I am not claiming to be an expert, but I am retired
    Army with some experience for what that is worth.

  • Steve H

    Just bought one today for $119.95 at my local gun shop. For my AR-15 I have four 30-round Magpul magazines. The guts of the 60- rounder are a dual ( stacked) springs on polymer feed shelves. The larger one supports the upper smaller one once the “neck” is reached. It is four rounds wide in the lower 2/3 and two round wide in the upper 1/3.

    As for use, I wanted it for practice rounds. The 100-round is nearly twice the size. It may be good for competition, or for law enforcement situations, where 100 is all you intend to carry. As for field use, I can see this as a good first use magazine with four 30-round followers. It packs up like two 30-round clipped together. On the other hand I thought of 30-round magazines for my AR-10 would only be a curiosity, but now use them all the time.
    Steve H

  • t will

    i think it is useful in many applications and sometimes i believe it does matter what cal. rounds are coming at you. there is a big difference in a 223/556 bullet and 762 in mil application 762 has much more penetrating power i wouldn’t want to give up suppression on incoming fire. exp. depending on cover with urban combat. definitely a must with IAR, 60 rounder that is. 100 i think is still a pretty bulky.

  • Jim

    60 rounders seem great, being only about an inch longer than 30′s and the width of two. The 100′s I’m not so sure about. You would have to get real comfortable firing your weapon sideways, with the mag pointed out, from the prone. But might be useful if your in a fixed position and know your not going to be leaving.

  • Dohams

    The 100 round mag? Not useful for the common soldier. Too big, to heavy. A SOC ambush is a differrent matter. Pack the ammo in, don’t have to pack it out.

    The 60 round mag is the right tool in the right size.

    Packing 5 (1 in the weapon, 4 on the chest) of these mags gives you 300 rounds at the same weight as 10.

    Reloading is a chore. It takes time to reload. The process diverts some attention from the threat where you your attention should directed. Also, there is a gap in the sustained fire. There is almost always a glitch, of some sort. The process takes time… no matter how well trained you may be or think you are.

    The fewer reloading processes the better. The more ammo accessible in a hurry, even better:)

    Down side: Damage the mag, 100 or 60 you may have lost all remaining ammo in that mag. You have to put it someplace out of the way and later recover what you can.

    PS: Some bad people count your rounds…Oh…he’s shot 30…changing mags… CHARGE…another 30 in his on/off switch, no sweat!!!

  • DemiGod Jin

    The 100 round magazine would be great for the zombie apocalypse, especially if they are the slow moving kind. Hahahaha =)

    But seriously if anyone is throwing that kind lead at a target and can afford the ammo and magazines, you could afford to pay someone to stand behind you and just reload your magazines. lol