Rachael showing off the Black Dog Machine 50 rounder. Photo © Gregory

Black Dog Machine's 3rd Generation AR 22LR magazine. Photo © Gregory

The improvements in the new gen-3 mag are: steel feed lips, no need for magazine loader (follower can be manually pulled down) and 30-round capacity (old mags were 26-round capacity.)

[ Many thanks to Gregory for the info. ]

Mini-14 in Tapco stock and magazine

The price will be $15.

New and old, and older

The Program Executive Office (PEO) Soldier agency has just blogged about it ...

“With the improved magazines, we’re taking weapons reliability up another notch,” said LTC Chris Lehner, Product Manager Individual Weapons. “By incorporating a heavier, more corrosion resistant spring, along with a new follower design that does not tilt inside the casing, our engineers were able to develop a magazine that presents a round to the weapon with even greater stability. Increased magazine reliability results in overall improved weapon system performance.”

...

“Soldiers can remember it like this: ‘Tan – is the plan. Green – start to lean. Black – take it back,’” said LTC Lehner. “While the improved magazines increase reliability to an even greater degree, the new magazines by no means reduce the importance of Soldiers keeping their weapons clean and lubricated appropriately for the environment. Also, Soldiers must be proficient on conducting immediate action (SPORTS) if their weapon has a stoppage.”

The Army has also developed a nifty tool to check if the feed lips are worn out. It is kind of a no-go gauge for magazines. If this does not already exist for civilians or law enforcement, I imagine it would be a popular accessory.

Feed lip wear tool.

[ Thanks to Solomon and Daniel for the link ]

85 8.5 foot drop test. The Tango Down, PMAG and TAPCO all split down the spine.

Many more tests than these were performed. For the full write-up check out the Shotgun News article.

My thoughts:

PMAGs are very good, but not as indestructible as some think.

Aluminum mags are not as bad as some think.

You should consider checking out Lancer's mag.....they surprised me.

If MSARs mag dropped free they would be an interesting option.

Dropping mags onto cement is A LOT tougher on them then running them over with a SUV....

but all those videos from the various mag companies sure did work wonders for advertising didn't they.....

Many thanks to jdun1911 for emailing me the link.

UPDATE: The drop test was 8.5 feet, not 85 feet.

everyone seems to be talking about how the world/economy/social order is going to collapse soon (it’s not) I figured the best rifle for that collapse would be a bolt action .223 with an 18 inch barrel, forward mounted optic, back up iron sights, and the ability to feed from standard AR15 magazines.

This got me thinking and I could not come up with one that did.

My artist impression of what such a Remington 700 would look like.

The Australian AIA M-10 “5th Generation” Lee-Enfield rifle comes in 7.62×39mm and feeds from a AK-47 magazine. The one pictured below is being sold on gun broker. Not many are available in the USA because after it was found out that some parts of the rifle (maybe the whole) was manufactured in Vietnam, they were banned.

While 30 round magazines are not as practical on a bolt action as they are on a semi-automatic, magazine parity with the AR-15 would be a big bonus. Remington and Ruger are you listening?

The new military magazine manufactured by Brownells

Larry, from Brownells, told me that the follower will unfortunately not be available to the civilian market as part of the contact prohibits them from using the design for any other purpose than the military.

This video shows the XRAIL mounted on a Benelli M2 Tactical. The benelli magazine appears to be shortened and the gun can now hold a total of 26 rounds.

Now I will be honest with y’all, I don’t actually know what an “auto index loader” is. This is how I imagine the system may work:

* Each of those tubes are a magazine.
* Each of those magazines feeds into the shotgun magazine.
* Once a magazine is depleted it rotates.
* The final magazine contains a spring long enough to feed the shells that are in the shotgun’s magazine.

Because I enjoy making you suffer by awful drawings, here is a graphical representation. The blue box represents the shotgun magazine. The red boxes represents the XRAIL magazines. In this example the shotgun magazine holds three rounds while the XRAIL has three “magazines”, with two holding two shells, and the third a spring.

First two shots


3rd and 4th shot.


Last three shots

I have watched the above video frame by frame and there is seems to be some additional things happening during the magazine rotation. Maybe I am completely wrong … in which case I would have patented my above idea and not blogged about it

The system will be able to work on multiple guns. From what I have seen on youtube Benelli and Remington autoloaders work with the XRAIL. I don’t see why this system could not be adapted to work on pump action shotguns, aside from the fact that if would have to be mounted quite far forward.

A very interesting product. Hopefully it will come to market soon (and probably a video game as well, when game designers get word of it)

Hat Tip: Tactical Life

I think the “spring tension is shot” excuse is a catch-all reason that is over used when us amateur gunsmiths run out of ideas. Like the way they blame ball bearings for everything wrong in turbofan aviation maintenance.

[ ... ]

Here is an example of a spring ‘problem’ that wasn’t from the Cooper Commentaries:

“Our distinguished family member J.P. Denis of Belgium reports that he discovered an abandoned MP40, together with several magazines, in a building that was being torn down. This piece had been left unattended for 50 years with all magazines in full compression, and they all worked perfectly. I think this is marvelous. When you think of the degree to which our culture depends upon springs, it is good to know that spring construction is so well understood.”

An interesting post. We really do rely on our magazine springs. Read it here.

Read it here.

This is a great move by Ruger. At this rate we should be seeing a 100 round drum pretty soon

Bob Dylan got it right when he sung

Come senators, congressmen, please heed the call
Don’t stand in the doorway, don’t block up the hall
For he that gets hurt will be he who has stalled
The battle outside ragin’
Will soon shake your windows and rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin’

They are selling for $49.95 at Ruger.com.

Hat Tip: Michael Bane via. Say Uncle

CMMG claims that no other magazine offers greater performance under extreme conditions. It has their new stainless steel anti-tilt follower which features superb stability, minimal drag and unmatched durability.

The new CMMG braided wire spring gives 40% additional pressure over standard USGI springs. A nano-ceramic plated braided wire spring protects for over 400+ hours against salt sea spray.

Read the full review here.

(Photo of PlasmaFox’s AR-15)

Repeat after me “clips are used to hold cartridges together for quick loading, magazines are used to hold cartridges for feeding into the guns’ chamber”

The best explanation of the differences that I could find is at The Gun Zone.

The terms are NOT interchangeable!

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.

Click to expand. Photo ⓒ Chen “SMGLee” Lee. Used with permission.

The magazine utilizes a unique two part design. By using a stronger opaque polymer for the upper part they can make a magazine that is hardier than if it was fully transparent. The “glue” that binds the two parts together is apparently harder than the rest of the mag.

More about the ARC here.

So to the drop test. I wanted to see what they could do in the cold. I dropped it from the same table (3′ high) I have dropped metal mags from on the range. If you drop a metal mag on concrete from the same height it will damage the feed lips as to be unuseable-but you can bend them back. I was planning on dropping them on all sides but it broke before I could try it. From the table, fully loaded, no cover, both feed lips shattered when they hit the concrete. I expected it to break/crack but these things shot off and rounds went everywhere. I stopped the test right there as didn’t want to try it with any others on the other sides. You can see in the AK HTF that if empty they do fine in the cold.

So what does this mean.

IF you drop ANY mag loaded on the feed lips it will be useless. The Pmags might survive during the summer but all metal mags will bent hot/or cold. The metal mags can be bent back.

The plastic shatters when cold (duh) it doesn’t just crack.

I finally got a answer as to what these can do.

This test was dropping on concrete in cold weather. I had to clean off a spot to get down to the concrete. If the mags are dropped in the snow vs just concrete they do just fine. So the possibility of hitting on the feed lips in cold weather on a hard surface-very unlikely

The covers are great to keep out the snow – huge plus.

Overall they do just fine. I was surprised at the complete breaking vs. cracking buts that’s what cold can do.

The result: cracked/split feed lips:

uafgrad tried a simular experiment in even colder weather:

Ok Back to tougher in Alaska
…
Here is where it set for a period of about 18 hours. This was the “hi” temp for the period
…
The mag was fully loaded and dropped from a height of 36″ directly onto the feedlips (as previously requested) striking bare concrete.

Once it hit the ground, all but 6 of the rounds exited the magazine on to the ground.

Some plastics becomes become brittle in cold conditions, so this is not surprising. The good news is that Magpul are not sitting on their laurels. Their latest version of the PMAG can survive a drop from 5 feet onto concrete feed lip first, fully loaded in -30 F. See this video shot with a high speed camera:

A big thanks to Jay for the link.

Click to expand.

As the photos suggest, the magazine is manufactured in two parts. These parts are then “glued” together (I am sure they use a fancier word). The join is supposed to be very strong.

An o-ring type silicone seal prevents dirt getting into the action through the magazine well.

The design has no floorplate which adds to its strength. Cleaning is done by holding the magazine upside down and spraying water or compressed air through holes in the follower. If the spring needs replacing you throw out the magazine and buy a new one.

I dug up this forum post from earlier this year:

The two-piece housing assembly allows us to use optimum ammunition ’stack’ in the design. We can tightly control the molding process at the same time, as we are making 2 small shots instead of one long one. Material freeze off is no longer an issue. The industrial adhesive we use to join the 2 halves exceeds the strength of the base material. Additional benefit is that we can mold the entire lower half of the magazine in a transparent/translucent material for ammunition viewing, keeping the superior strength reinforced material up top for the feedlips, etc.

The ‘gasket’ between magwell and magazine is actually a soft durometer silicone seal that is bonded to the magazine. It can’t shift or migrate on the magazine body. We used a foam seal at the Show for demonstration purposes. A specific type of magazine carrier design is underway, to answer that question. It will be trick.

In all the studies we researched, the primary mechanical cause of magazine failure to feed was due to feedlip issues. Springs and followers were down the list. By using a high quality coated spring, our sealed design would need to be replaced only when the lips were worn out and/ or damaged.

The follower is pretty novel, and is driven differently than existing baseline G.I.-type followers

This photo by SMGLee of a rapid prototype model shows the follower design and the o-ring/gasket seal clearly:

The retail price is $24.95. The magazine is currently available for preorder at BravoCompanyUSA.com. At that price I can’t imagine it going up in price or going out of stock due to excessive demand.

A video of SMGLee testing the magazine:

More photos and the full press release after the jump …
Some more photos:

The TangoDown press release:

The ultimate polymer magazine has arrived! A true 30-round capacity magazine for the 5.56x 45mm cartridge fits all M16/M4/AR-series/FN SCAR-Light/M-249 weapon systems*. Advanced design and construction allows for the strongest, most reliable combat magazine ever produced.

Proprietary state-of-the-art polymers are combined to allow smooth, dependable feeding in a corrosion-proof unitized body. Oversized feed lips take constant abuse that would easily damage aluminum or steel magazines. Unique low-friction anti-tilt follower combined with a premium spring maintains reliable round delivery. Sealed modular design allows ideal straight-to-radius feed cavity, unavailable on any other polymer magazine.

Additional benefit of modular design means no floor plate to fail upon impact. Magazine body becomes a five-sided box, setting a new standard for strength. Impact that crushes USGI magazines has no effect on the ARC. Magazine cleaning is a snap, requiring no disassembly thanks to the slotted follower. A soft seal joins against the weapon magazine well on insertion to prevent entry of dirt and other contaminants, a crucial bonus in desert warfare**.

We designed in several features that make ARC user-friendly in harsh conditions. Large serrations on the front and back straps eliminate slippage when doing ‘push-pull’ magazine insertions. Deep ribbing on both sides enable a fast, sure grip when retrieving from mag pouches. An Open Water version is available, which features a self-sealing drain tab for OTB operations.

· The ARC magazine is available in several color options, including translucent for visual round count.

· The ARC magazine is manufactured using the latest in polymer Quality Control procedures, guaranteeing properly dimensioned components.

· The ARC will drop free from weapon systems, regardless of origin, and will also seat easily in a bolt-forward weapon with a full 30 rounds.

Note: ARC magazine model ARC/L-001 may not fit some magazine pouches, however custom pouches are available from TangoDown, Inc. Contact TangoDown for details.

* ARC/l-001, -001C magazines will NOT fit H&K model 416 rifles. New model for H&K 416 available soon.

** Military model only, commercial model ARC/L-001C has this feature deleted. ARC/L-001C fits all existing M4 style magazine pouches.

ARC is U.S. and foreign Patent Pending.

Color: Black, SOCOM Flat Dark Earth, Foliage Green, Translucent (available soon)

Thanks to Raif for letting me know about the video.

At the Pakistan IDEAS-2008 expo an M16/M203 was on display with a MWG 90 Rounder High Capacity Magazine, sitting directly above a Colt IAR poster (Photo by skybolt @ Defence.pk).

The tan colored weapon on the poster is the Colt IAR. Click to expand.

I think it would be safe to assume that Colt is going with the MWG 90.

MWG 90 Rounder High Capacity Magazine

If you look closely at the first image it appears that the MWG 90 magazine is attached to the M16 upper receiver. Something is attached to the receiver which extends towards the magazine. Anyone know what this is? It does not appear visible on MWG promotional photos, such as this one:

Colt may have customized the MWG 90 to increase reliability/durability.

It look like they have only made enough to satisfy pre-orders and are now taking pre-orders for the second batch.

Tromix Custom with Md-20 mag

… now obsolete This photo has been floating around
the internet for a while.

UPDATE: DistalRadius @ the Saiga-12 forum posted these photos. Click to expand.

Referring to the SR9:

It is the worst of the worst! With the magazine removed, the trigger functions normally, dropping the hammer, but the gun is prevented from firing. (…) It simply blocks the firing pin! Upon hearing a “click,” instead of a “bang,” the shooter knows little, because the pistol has told him little. Chamber might be empty. Might be a dud round. Magazine may be unlocked.

Being a Glock fan, I personally think the less external safeties the better. As mentioned in the article, a magazine safety should not be the only thing that separates your kid from firing your pistols.

More here.

One of the upgrades that may be coming in the future is a more reliable magazine. The test revealed that 239 of the 882 stoppages M4 suffered were magazine-related.

The hope is that upgrades, such as stronger springs, will increase the magazine’s ability to feed rounds more effectively, Radcliffe said. If all goes well in testing, the improved magazines could be ready by next spring.

Another upgrade under consideration is a “hammer-forged” barrel, Brown said.

I didn’t think that they were actually planning on replacing the M4 when they announced the testing. Even without magazine stoppages the M4 performed very badly.

DID has a very comprehensive article

“Even with extreme dust test III’s 98.6 percent success rate there was a total of 863 class 1 and 2 weapon/magazine stoppages with 19 class 3 stoppages. During extreme dust test II conducted during the summer, there were 296 total class 1 and 2 stoppages and 11 class 3 stoppages.

A class 1 stoppage is one a Soldier can clear within 10 seconds; a class 2 stoppage is one a Soldier can clear, but requires more than 10 seconds; and, class 3 is a stoppage that requires an armorer to clear.”

DID will simply point out that 10 seconds can be a rather fatally long time when people are shooting at you, and at your friends. So, what happens when the Extreme Dust Test III stoppages are broken out by weapon?

The M4 Carbine is the Army’s existing weapon.

* 882 jams, 1 jam every 68 rounds, again using heavy lubrication. In addition all 10 of the M4 barrels needed to be replaced, and a number of their parts were replaced during the test. None of the cold hammer forged HK416 and XM-8 barrels needed replacement.

The HK416 is a modified M4 carbine, which can be and has been converted from existing rifles. Used by US Special Forces.

* 233 jams, 1 jam every 257 rounds, 3.77x more reliable than the M4.

FN SCAR is US special Forces’ new weapon, designed by SOSOCM. It just went into production in late 2007.

* 226 jams, 1 jam every 265 rounds, 3.85x more reliable than the M4

XM-8 is a developmental rifle. It’s an advanced version of HK’s G36, a rifle in wide use by many NATO armies. The US Army cancelled the XM-8 weapons family 2 years ago.

* 127 jams, I jam every 472 rounds, 6.95x more reliable than the M4.

Hat Tip: Murdoc Online

Of course if it is not reliable then it is just dead weight!

More here.