All posts tagged PMags

Carrying rifle magazines off a tac vest

A well designed tactical vest is almost always the best place to to carry your gear, but the gear should drive the mission.   The reason Molle vests are so popular is simple putting it, you don’t always need the same gear to get the job done so why expect the vest to already be designed for everything.  Sometimes to many attachments is the real piss off and you want simplicity.   There are still times when all a guy needs is a vest for flash bangs or grenades.   Those can be important roles for achieving a mission accomplished.

The tactical clothing market is easy 1000 times bigger than it was 6yrs ago and quality and cost are one thing, but the other is about usefulness.  One tactical pant that catches the eye are the Woolrich elite tactical pants in Style 44447.  These pants were designed after the ACU style pants are are probable the most popular carbine operator pant.   There pants are lightweight cotton ripstop and can hold up to 6- 30rd pmags in or any AR15 30rd magazine for that matter.   If you aren’t in a situation where a tactical vest is appropriate, the Woolrich Elite pants make getting gear easy in the prone positions.

Top

LWRC REPR Impressions

I am a FAL owner and I have gotten more out of my DSA STG58 than most people have gotten out of an M1A.   I have never felt like I needed to go out and get the M1A because I am in the minority that can get MOA out of my FAL and I really don’t feel as though I need to get it better than that.  From my experience with Semi-auto rifles, the more you push towards accuracy, the less reliable the gun is after all of the fine tuning.   The best way to get a 308 into gear is to turn it into a DMR.

LWRC is once again the leader in better designs and moving away from the direct impingement design is one thing, but getting an MOA gun with reliable magpul pmags and making it lighter than an M14 or FNFAL is a fantastic thing.   I was fortunate to be able to get to test a few of the new LWRC REPR rifles out and I did not feel like I was firing a 308 rifle.   The REPR feels like an AR15 and the lighter weight really means something for a gun in this caliber.  $3500 + optics is steap though, but hell, everyone has a second mortgage these days.

Top

10rd magazines for 1911s?

This is something I’ve only delved into once and it wasn’t a great experience.   Back in the early 1990’s we had all of that assault weapons ban BS and and aftermarket gun magazines were everywhere.   Some of us that owned certain firearms ended up with unreliable firearms that should have been durable.   $90 Glock magazines were not uncommon and $14.99 for a jamming Mini 14 30rd magazine from USA magazines, which I believe is been long out of existence.   Many people fell back on revolvers and there was a big upsurge back into the 1911 because it was one of those guns that was originally designed for fewer than 10rds which was what the Assault Weapons Ban limited you to.

So some of us messed around with aftermarket 10rd magazines and all of the ones I tried failed pretty quick.   We tried to make the 1911 into it’s highest capacity that we legally could, but the balance pretty much got messed up.   Gun magazines, even a few rounds bigger than standard capacity can make the gun imbalanced or make it harder holster.   There are a lot of reasons to use 10rd magazines like Wilson Combat magazines or Chip McCormick which have a good reputation in competition shooting, but they will protrude considerable.   This may cause snagging on shirts ect if you are considering using one for CCW.   If you’ve ever practiced with you’re gun, which you should have, firing 8rds and reloading is probable a better CCW than thinking a 10rd magazine is going to give you more protection.

Top

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.

Top

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.

Top

Keeping a Carbine running

There are a lot of really good sources of information about maintaining an AR15 and now that there are so many variations of AR15’s out there you really have to pay attention to the type of gun you have.   I’ve found that one of the best sources of information is SWAT Magazine because the writers they get have a long track record of knowing the products that our out there and  what the real world use is like.    Issues like over cleaning firearms is something you rarely hear about it goes on a lot more than you realize.   Especially when it comes to bolt carrier groups.  I was amazed at the number of Instructors that weren’t cleaning their Carbines and were only dropping lube in the guns as maintenance.

Now that piston driven guns are becoming so prevalent, there are areas that don’t need as much lubrication as other AR15 variants.  One thing that hasn’t changed over years, but has only continued to grow are the use of Magpul Pmags.   They are everywhere and although there have been some minor issues with dimensions and materials, they still beat USGI mags in just about everything except for weight.  One thing you still need to keep in mind when operating a Carbine and keeping it running is you still need to clean magazines out.   Pay attention to how many rounds you are putting through your magazines and inspect them.   Magazines get dirty at some point and they will cause malfunctions.

Top

Under cover work with a Carbine

I as getting a little board with doing concealed carry method testing with holsters and various types of tactical pants this week and since it’s been so fricking cold out, I decided to do something new.   I have a few friends that do under cover work and I have sold them some of the Eotac Style 101 vests.   I originally thought that both of these guys were nuts because these vests are the most tactical looking vests out there.   The 4 AR15 magazine pockets are a dead giveaway if someone didn’t already figure out you were’t fly fishing.   I was amazed at what these guys actually did with the vests.

There are several tactical vests out there that are all out assault vests.  You can basically attach a couple hand grenades to them and your good to go.  These vests usually have a handgun holster on them and to me that pretty much makes it an outwear vest.   The Style 101 s from Eotac are not really heavy unless you really put heavy items in them.   Even though these are tactical vests, you can easily wear them under your heavy winter clothing and it will not really add much weight or keep in body heat anymore than what you are already wearing.   You can wear this under a regual winter jacket and I have even seen small M4 Carbines along with these vests doing under cover work inside your average winter coat.

Top

Mini 14 Magazines and hunting

I must admit, I was  lucky enough to be able to stock up on PMI magazines in the 1990s and never had to worry much about finding after market rifle magazines for the Mini 14.   While admit I have seen plenty of poor performing Mini 14 rifles on the ranges, it was always because the user was not using Ruger factory rifle magazines.  If you are fortunate enough to live in a State that allows the use of semi-auto rifles for deer season,  there is no lighter and faster Carbine for Coyote or white tails than the Mini 14.   I have personally witnessed deer being taken with 75gr HPBT with the Mini 14, so don’t tell me the .223 isn’t good for the job.
Inside of 200yds and with a 4x optic, a Mini 14 is well within the tolerances of being able to take a 150-200lb animal.   Considering the flat trajectory, hold overs are virtually none existant at these ranges.  Since you can get 20rd and 30rd factory magazines for the Mini 14 again.   There still are reasons to not want to heat up the rifle and it is well known that the Mini 14 is not a military rifle.  The accuracy will begin to decline after approximately the 3rd shot is fired which gives good reason to only stick with the factory 5rd magazines.

Top

Magpul PMAGS

Magpul PMagsThe PMAGTM (Polymer MAGazine) is a lightweight 5.56 NATO, M-16 compatible magazine. It features an advanced impact resistant polymer construction, a pop-off Impact Cover for storage, and an easy to dissasemble design with a flared floorplate for easy magazine extraction from pouches. PMAGTM utilizes a resilient stainless steel spring for corrosion resistance.

The MagLevel PMAGTM features transparent windows on both sides of the body and has a painted indicator on the spring for quick determination of approximate rounds remaining in the Magpul PMAGS

Our latest revision has been updated with a new body ribbing design which allows for better compatibility with aftermarket mag couplers, a new follower which gives even smoother loading with military stripper clips, and the Impact Cover can now be snapped onto the Floorplate when not in use to prevent possible loss. The MagLevel now has even larger windows than before and includes a black-oxide coated spring for increased contrast with the painted indicator.

Made in U.S.A.

Top
Page 1 of 1