All posts tagged M4 Carbine magazines

Magpul accessories more fun than dressing up your date to the Prom

We’ve pruned some of gun magazines accessories down a little bit in 2011 based mostly on which products sold, and secondly on which products we got the least complaints about.  Breakage and fit issues is something we really don’t like dealing with because many of the times it was the customer breaking the part while trying to put it on the gun.  It seems to be better these days because quality control in machining has improved but its not a battle we want to deal with every week when people come back with the same products and tell us the part was broken when they got it, when we know that it wasn’t.

Magpul makes some really nice gun sights for the M4 Carbine and they are in the top 3 category with Troy sights.  There are differences in optics sights and having folding sights vs fixed sights is something that comes up fairly often.  Magpul pmags are in their own category and there is very little reason to think about using anything but these gun mags.   You can actually help camoflauge your firearm by picking certain color variations that help break up the look.  Foliage green, OD green an Flat dark earth as well as Black are available for all of the Pmags.

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Announcing that you are there with all of those things on your M4

There was always something that bothered me about the Trijicon ACOGS when they first started hitting the civilian market in the 1990s.   I couldn’t really figure  out why I didn’t like them at first and it wasn’t just that they cost as much as an actual Bushmaster AR15.   It finally dawned on me a few years ago when I was at a gun club, about 500yds down range and I saw the glint of someones rifle scope.   What i never liked about the Trijicon ACOGS was that the loun neon colors announced that you were there and it was my hunting instincts that were trying to tell me that.  When we are bow hunting we have on cover scent and camo but when you send the military into some parts of the world they have neon strands on their guns.  Something wasn’t right about that.

With all firearms and accessories there has to be a balanced achieved between prevailing in a fight and and not compromising your ability to defend yourself or take cover or concealment.   When it comes to using gun magazines, the hottest sellers are the Magpul Pmags with the window, but again, this is something that can announce you are there when the shiny brass cases are showing on the side of your black firearm  and the sun hits in on that perfect angle.   That is something that can be picked up from hundreds of yards away.  Flashlights, optics and gun parts can help you in getting your bullets on target but be careful they don’t compromise your ability for concealment.

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Philadelphia Mob’s it’s only a matter of time

Today I was listening to a local talk radio host who had a local reporter on and they were talking about the Flash Mob stuff that was going on there.   In some people’s minds these incidences are not racial, but that is absolutely absurd.   We’ve had at least 3 mob incidences against young white males or old white men and it’s always black on white.   In some camps of our society, racism only applies to things that a white man can do and not the other way around.  Racism exists in all societies and cultures but only those living in the world that Political correctness has created think it only exists when a victim is black.

One of the callers challenged the local news writer about what the news article would be if a gun owner shot one or more of these individuals when they were committing the crime.   The news reporter basically said it at this point it would say something about a “gun owner defends against a mob” I’m paraphrasing, but I thing it was bullshit.  We know that if a gun owner shot one of these individuals and reloaded with using spare gun magazines that it would be excessive or bull  shit that someone that trained to shoot shot 5 or 6 of the criminals and it was unfair that someone would do that against un armed youth.   Considering the ages groups of some of these Flash mobs it would probable not sound justified if a 65yr old man shot 11yr-19yr olders, but the reality is it may well be if things keep up like this.

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Did they take your Legos away from you too?

I have noticed for a very long time that there is a strong correlation between the guys that can’t stop accessorizing their M4 Carbines or AR15s and there previous childhood hobby of playing with Legos.  One thing that I always consider when putting something on a firearm is knowing if it is combat worthy or not.   There are a lot of things that are sold at gun shops and gun shows that are just downright trash, and others will hold up if you mount them properly.  Now that everyone has a rail or A3 model, you need to buy rails to protect them when not in use.

Now that you need new rail skins or rail covers, you have to pick out the pretty colors you, do you want Field Green, Dark Earth, OD Green,  Black or Tan on your M4 Carbine?   Magpul Pmags also come in many colors and sometimes people can get pretty particular about which colors they want.   I guess you want your gun to look nice when it’s pointing at someone.   I admit that it does get a little messy when you have mismatched color firearms parts and accessories, but as long as you don’t have rainbow colors on them it won’t be the end of the world.

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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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As a former AR15 hater, I give to you the bringer of salvation

I spent an awful lot of my young adult years watching guys with loads of money show up at gun clubs and firing ranges with their fancy guns and bash anyone that had an AK, SKS or a Mini 14.  I was often ridiculed for owning a Mini 14 because according to most AR15 owners, it couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn at 100yds, but I was hitting 2 inch groups all the time.   These guys would always rave about how accurate the AR15 was and that they never had reliability issues, but I was always watching these guys clear malfunctions or blame magazines or ammo for all of their jams.  I will tell you that I got tired of the mentality and avoided AR15s for a very long time just because I could get the job done with a Sturm Ruger Mini 14 for just about every job I ever need it for.

I did notice that shortly after Pmags started showing up on firing ranges the amount of jamming I saw dropped by 99%.   I don’t know when the last time it was that I watched an M4 or AR15 jam that was  using Magpul Pmags.   These magazines are virtually indestructable.   I’ve seen youtube videos of guys driving trucks over them and they still worked.  I have heard of a few problems with them not dropping free from magwells of some manufacturers, but that’s a minor production issue and not really the magazines fault.   Even if you live in a un gun friendly State, you can still get 10rd magazines.

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Have you considered using 20rd mags instead?

I guess it’s from all of the years of reloading and bench shooting that I find 30rd magazines to be annoying to shoot from the bench with.  I consider myself to be a pretty good shot, but you do have to learn how to get into different shooting positions if you really want to get good with a rifle.  I stared out shooting SKS rifles and could get 3-4 inch groups on a good day, but when I tried shooting groups with an AK, I felt like a was standing on a unicycle.   Sometimes having higher capacity magazines means more bulk and drag.

I’ve had my share of owning 75rd drum magazines, but the amount of work that goes into loading those really takes away the fun of shooting them.  It’s kind of like when you were a kid sledding down a big hill, after the 2nd or 3rd time you were so worn out from walking up when the ride down only took 20 seconds.  The gun magazines are magpul pmags in my opinion and I would even consider picking up 10rd pmags for DMR work or bench shooting and 20rd mags for fighting.   I don’t think there is a difference in reliability with any of the various magazine capacities, but getting down on the ground and putting accurate shots on paper with a 30rd can become awkward.  There are positions you can try, but they aren’t for anyone not in good shape.

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