Hexmag’s first product on the shooting market is, appropriately, their hexagon-patterned 30 round AR-15 magazine. According to Hexmag literature, the HX30-AR offers an alternative 30 round high impact resistant fiber reinforced polymer magazine design with an anti-tilt follower, USGI spec magazine spring, tool-less disassembly, and the HexID magazine identification system. I received several magazines for testing and evaluation, and my first impressions were good. For an initial offering, the HX30-AR looks great, with a satin-esque finish that I find attractive. The magazines feel sturdy, and well made, with no blemishes on any of the examples I received. The HexID colored followers and spring guides look attractive, and offer a good option for those interested in magazine differentiation, such as law enforcement or civilian users.

The inevitable comparison to be made is against Magpul’s PMag line of magazines. In terms of their design, I would certainly not call the HX30-AR a copy of the PMag, as from a dimensional perspective it shares more in common with aluminum USGI magazines than Magpul’s offering – the one significant similarity with the PMag being the constant curvature of the inside of the mag body. However, there’s no denying that the HX30-AR is a new challenger to the PMag in the field of polymer magazines, or that they are very similar offerings.

Like most polymer magazines of the current generation, the HX30-AR has extra relief on the front of the mag body, presumably allowing compatibility with the HK 416, L85, and other species of rifles with slightly different magwell dimensions than the AR-15. However, as I do not have access to an HK 416 or L85, I was unable to test whether it actually does seat and feed in those rifles.

The most unique feature of the magazine is its HexID system, consisting of colored spring guides and followers which can be purchased from Hexmag to allow magazine identification. Besides adding greater variety, this allows the user, such as a police department, to segregate different types of ammunition via the color of the spring guide or follower. I could see this being very useful when lethal and training ammunition is used in one department, or for a civilian user who just wants to be able to tell at a glance whether the magazine they grabbed has inexpensive Bear ammunition, or expensive Black Hills ammunition in it.

To test the HX30-AR, I turned to the classic “run over it with a deuce and a half” test. However, since I don’t have a deuce and a half, I opted for my Honda moving at about 30 miles per hour, instead. Running against the HX30-AR was one of my Magpul PMag Gen M2s. Initially, my intent was to run over the magazines with the car, and then see how they functioned in a shooting test, but as you will see, things got… Interesting.

The first test – running over the magazines unloaded at about 30 miles an hour – went as I expected. Both the Zombie Green HX30-AR and the PMag survived with only minor scuffs and scrapes.

 

 

The next test, which is one I don’t see performed often, was to load both magazines with 20 rounds of Bear ammunition, and then run over at the same 30 mph speed. Unfortunately, there was a technical glitch, and so there is no footage of the HX30-AR undergoing this test, but I nevertheless got good pictures of the aftermath.

 

The results were dramatic. Both the PMag and the Hexmag failed the test, spilling rounds all over the road, and being cracked along their seams so severely that neither would seat. The HX30-AR experienced cracks both front and back, while the Gen M2 PMag experienced severe cracking only along the back. It seems likely to me that this difference wasn’t due to any structural or design disparity, but because the PMag was hit differently by the car. Regardless, neither magazine would hold rounds through even light shaking, or seat in the magwell of my Colt 6920. They were toast.

For the shooting portion of the review, I switched to the Nimbus Blue magazine, and continued. While a most thorough review would put several hundred rounds through a single magazine, budget limitations restricted my shooting portion to a mere 138 rounds, all of which were fired through the Nimbus Blue magazine, and most fired as quickly as the shooter could pull the trigger. I had no problems with the Nimbus Blue magazine.

In sum, my impression of the HX30-AR magazine was a very positive one. While I wouldn’t suggest PMag owners selling off their stock and buying a pile of new HX30-ARs, I think I might choose the HX30-AR over the Gen M2 Pmag if I were looking to buy new magazines. The HX30-AR is several dollars cheaper, has a neat identification system, looks good, and doesn’t seem to work any less well than the PMag. In the opinion of this blogger, while it may not bring anything flashy or “revolutionary” to the table, it is a welcome addition to the AR-15 polymer magazine market.

Final Thoughts: Don’t run over your polymer magazines when they’re loaded, if you want to still be able to use them afterward. I think it’s likely that the follower plays a significant part in supporting the tower of the magazine during crushing stress, and that rounds don’t do nearly as good a job, leading to failures when the magazines are loaded. It seems probable to me that all polymer AR-15 magazines are susceptible to this failure.

HX30-AR magazines can currently be purchased online from Apex Gun Parts, Wise Tactical, and Dark Sky Solutions.

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