All posts tagged AK Magazines

If your gun isn’t up to par, don’t think adding accessories to it with change anything

MOE MagazinesOD Green AR magazinesFlat Dark EarthFoliage GreenMost AR15 rifles being built today are way ahead of the rifles from 10yrs ago.   I don’t hear about gas keys coming loose, gas tubes coming loose or firearms corroding like they use to.   The metals used today are so much better than before and the way the are put together has also been improved.  Now so many people are building their guns, sometimes from scratch and sometimes just purchasing the the upper receiver after building the lower.  We don’t act like experts when it comes to all the technical know how with various magwell, barrel designs, quad rails or stocks, but we can offer advice to help direct you in the right direction.   Recently we had a large purchase of Magpul magazines and all of the accessories that go with it and had push the product due to the departments lack of knowledge over the product line.

Most of the competition shooters know what all of the ranger plates and accessories values are what is just an over thought out product but sometimes it just comes down to the basics, to win  a competition or to win a fight.   Depending on the legalities of owning standard capacity magazines, Magpul 30rd pmags are by far the most recommended, although I would stick with the Gen 2 PMAGS because I personally  have had spec issues with the Gen 3 pmags and we had to put a recall on them, but I would blame that on Politics and hyperactive demand for the product line.    In this day and age, there are not a lot of GREAT magazines out there, but if your AR15 is not running with Magpul Gen 2 PMAGS or Lancer Magazines, I would highly recommend you consider taking the AR15 to a gunsmith to adjust the magazine release so the mags drop free.

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Glock Factory magazines vs after market?

I remember almost 20yrs ago a company called USA magazines, and after the first Assault Weapons ban, that was about the only manufacturer I knew that made 30rd magazines for the Mini 14, but I had really bad experiences with them.   The majority of the problem was with the followers and this seems to be a pretty common issue.   If you move machinery from one location to the other and have any minor changes in the equipment, that slightly out of spec magazine is going to jam up in your firearm and that is pretty much what the problem is with after market magazines.   I have not the time or the energy to test out after market magazines because I actually started using them and then learned to only buy Factory mags but now that there is another run on firearms and magazines, some people are tempted to buy what they can.

Should you bother putting your money into something that is not a factory item?  If you don’t have any other options a brand like Promag magazines Promag magazines has a pretty good reputation and some of our customers have told us that they use them in their AKs and or in the Walther PPK or Ruger LCP we can give you that.  There’s nothing wrong with having a bunch of magazines that are in your range rotation but for primary use, i would stick with magazines that have been tested or just stick with Factory magazines.  Many companies stand by their magazines and have warranties so also do some research into that before you buy.

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Is a 6.8 SPC worth getting?

That is a question we get quite often around here and we always throw a question back to a customer.   People call or show up wanting us to give them advice but there are a lot of liabilities in telling people what to get or do.   So much of gun accessories and firearms has to do with the job at hand and a persons gun skills.   I’ve heard people claim that you can’t shoot long range with a 5.56 gun but I see it done all the time at local gun clubs.   Sure there are instances of high wind where a 5.56 bullet isn’t going to do very well, but sometimes only a 50 bmg is going to get the job done.

Even the trusty and reliable Mini 14 is an often over looked hunting Carbine, but I’ve seen white tails taken up in Vermont with 75gr expanding rounds.   The 6.8SPC would be a more powerful round than what the military is using today but it’s not really going to solve all of your problems.  Most of my friends that own them are using them for hunting rounds and not even for Carbine training ect.  The only problem you may run into when changing uppers in with the gun magazines.  The 5.56 round is better than any handgun round if you use the right kind of ammunition and the AR15 platform gives you lots of caliber options that are really best for upgrading your gun for better hunting.

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Magazines that aren’t flush fitting

I have never really liked the feel of having a pistol magazine protrude out of the bottom of the gun unless it is because the gun grip is too small for me.  I’ve seen a few of my friends do this on their Glocks, namely the Glock 26 because it is such a small gun.   I did put an extension on a Sig 239 which is the  only gun I currently own that has this.   The first gun that I owned was a Colt 1991A1 and it only came with one pistol magazine.   It was a Colt magazine which i thought would be the best gun magazine to have, but that turned out to not be true.   After having a few problems with the slide stop not catching, I found out the magazine tab was bending and causing the issue.

I believe it was at a gun show that I picked up 2 Wilson Combat magazines and my Colt 1991A1 ran flawlessly with ball ammo.  The gun magazines really ran well with hollow point ammunition but I found the gun to be too picky with hollow point ammo that I pretty much gave up on worrying about it.   If you look at the velocity that a 45acp is flying at, I don’t think you’ll have massive over penetration issues compared to 9mm ball.   Wilson combat magazines have varying base pads and from my experience this is mostly a concern for competition shooters.   If the magazine drops free I don’t need to worry about gripping it and pulling it out for a fast reload.

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10rd magazines and living behind enemy lines

I guess we are all living behind enemy lines if you consider what we’ve been dealing with since the 2008 election.   I recently go around to reading some of the bull shit that is listed in the Obamacare bill and it’s loaded with nothing more than crap.   We have a bunch a lunatics in Washington DC that are trying to say that a vending machine operator has to list how many calories for each individual item they are selling.  This is all brought to  you by the people that are afraid to call Islamic terrorism what it is and want an average American Citizen to not be allowed to own a firearm that holds more than 10rd of ammunition in it.

We have a diverse group for our customer base.  We  have the concealed carry apparel crowd and we have many, many Government employees and private contractors.   Our customers that live in California and New Jersey tend to be more restricted in the gun accessories product line and when it comes to selling gun magazines, we’ve been selling a lot of t he Promag magazines to them.   The Mini 14 is a very popular firearm in California because the gun doesn’t have to be modified from the Factory configuration, but it still shoots the .223 or 5.56 ammunition that the AR15 does.

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Military rifles and table shooting

I remember when I made the jump from shooting bolt action rifles as a kid to shooting my first AK style rifle.  Besides thinking it was cool and fun to shoot, I realize that the kind of felt awkward to shoot from the table.   The real reason was that my size didn’t really support the gun very well and it was the protruding 30rd magazine that made me sight a little higher than I wanted to.  I later picked up a Yugoslavian SKS rifle and even though it fired the exact same 7.62×39 round, it was far more comfortable to shoot, and it was easier to lay lower on the ground.    With my present level of training I realise there are shooting positions that you can move into and still remain low to the ground, but still not always practical.

Another simliar comparison would be for an AR 15 style rifle vs a Mini  14 with a 5rd magazine.  The next time you buy a gun and are looking to stock up on gun magazines, pickup a smaller capacity magazine for table shooting and see what I mean. These differences really come out when taking a firearm on a long hunting trip, because finding a good firing position is extremely important to getting a good hit.    I have a few 10rd magazines for my M1A rifle that I like to use when shooting off of tables.   Even though the gun is normally sold or issued with a 20rd, the smaller capacity helps keep you low and gives you a little bit more potential for movement.

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Evolution of firearm magazines

Rifle MagazinesDirect Impingement firearms have a questionable existance in the military industry since the design is more than 60yrs old, but the Magpul P-Mags have possible extended the life of them since the reliability of the magazines has also increased the reliability of the firearm.   Magpul P-Mags can take a beating and still run strong.   Check out some of the tests people have done with them on youtube.com

Rifle and pistol magazazines  have evolved as much as firearms have evolved in the last 100yrs.   They basically look the same, but they are stronger, more reliable and better thought out.   One of the  biggest advancements in firearm evolution were Glock Firearms.   The biggest evolution in rifle magazines are Magpul P-Mags.    There have been other similiar rifle  magazines made out of plastic, but the Magpul P-Mags are King.

 

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