Why I WON'T Be Buying Anymore Magpul Pmags 

Metal feed lips. He won't be buying magpul anymore because he like's metal feed lips. You're welcome.

Won't be buying anymore PMags... Real reason why... He has 250 of them.

Today's lesson: How to stretch a 60-second video to 11 minutes.

The P Mags come with a snap on cap for the top, this cap pushes the rounds down and takes the load off the feed lips. This means they can be loaded indefinitely without any issues on the feed lips. I noticed you didn't say anything about that and I thought your subscribers should know that.

Should NOT have taken that long to not make a point.

I love the "ounces equals pounds and pounds equals pain" quote when it comes from a person who is overweight.

Stomp on a GI mag and then stomp on a PMAG and you will change your tune.

Magpul has done more testing on mags than you could ever imagine, they've torture tested all kinds of different blends of polymer to find the best compromise of strength, hardness, flexibility, and durability, they've done countless drop tests, they've tested leaving their mags fully loaded for years and heating up their fully loaded magazines to hot temperatures and observing the effects on the feedlips, they've experimented with using metal feedlips. They know what they are doing, there's a reason that they stuck with the polymer feedlips.

I think the first complaint that I have with the metal mags is that when I'm out shooting, metal mags tend to get blazing hot out in the sun. I really like the polymer in that regard

Well given this is an almost 4 year old video, I’m sure you’ve heard it plenty already but I’ll say it anyway. As a military veteran metal feed lips on a mag aren’t all you think they are. Drop a mag at the wrong angle it’ll bend the feed lips & then you have a paperweight. Personally & professionally I would rather have a mag that, if dropped at a bad angle, had feed lips that had some give to them. Then there’s the whole noise discipline thing, pmags a a bit more quiet. Overall I find that pmags are a bit more efficient, but those are my personal tastes & opinion based on experience.

When a USGI mag leaves spec due to dropping, use, wear, etc - it bends and you can't tell it is out of spec until it malfunctions. If a pmag leaves spec, it cracks. Like with anything firearms related, occasional inspection is needed. Pmags also are stronger than USGI's as shown when they were first introduced. That strength helps with overall durability.

Military has chosen Gen 3 PMAG windowed and non- windowed for their standard issue after rigorous testing and thousands of rounds, where the PMAGS outperformed all competitors. Sooooo there’s that now........

I'll be happy to take a few of your PMags off your hands to help you make room for more Lancers

O my goodness metal mags is just $7 and pmags is just $11! Here in New Zealand metal mags is $100 and p mags is $150 i think gun stores in here are ripping us off

Technically, polymer magazine feed lips are very hard to break. If they do break, it is easily visible and the mag can be discarded. Thin metal feed lips on metal mags can deform or bend a bit out of spec, rendering them less reliable in a way that is much harder to detect without a caliper. Bent / out of spec feed lips have long been the bane of aluminum / steel magazines.

A couple of years ago I hosted a new years day shoot at my range. One of my buddies brought out his AR carbine and opened 3 brand new P mags to test them out. 2 of the 3 P mags broke off their feed lips and caused malfunctions so severe it required disassembly of the butt stock to get the bolt open enough to clear the multiple rounds that were crammed in the chamber and around the gas tube. We disassembled the carbine twice, once with each magazine. It was 19 degrees outside with about 4 inches of ice on the ground that day. I don't know if there was a flaw in the plastic or if the cold made the plastic more brittle but the plastic feed lips broke off twice in the same day.

Opinion based advertising isn't a meaningful evaluation of magazine quality. Show some tests. Show some objective performance metrics. Your opinion means nothing without data to back it up.

Take a drink every time he says feed lips

The dust cover for the P-Mag takes the pressure off the feed lips.

I stopped sop porting Magpul over a year ago. Simply because I found out that they sue anyone who comes out with a product that even resembles their products slightly. There was one instance of them taking another company to court over putting out a prototype that had a window in the magazine.

One day, someone will invent a Pmag long term storage cover... and they will call it... a Pmag cover.

That was a waste of my time

Naaa! I'm stick in with my Gen 3's with dust covers. Can't be beat.....

Another advantage I have notice in the Lancer mags over the Pmags is the side catch. Like the feed lips, the side catch is also metal, versus polymer on the Pmags. Over time, the metal Magazine latch on the AR-15 tends to "round over" the upper portion of the side catch, causing failure of the magazines to lock into place. The mags, then, simply fall out of the magwell. Definitely not contusive to winning a gunfight. Plus, I also like the overall design of the Lancer mags, including the translucent smoke colored body. Going forward, Lancer mags will be my ONLY choice for AR-15 magazines.

The metal feed lips do make a difference in the long run. The pmags can stretch or warp, after loading a stretched pmag the rounds can just pop out. I literally grabbed a mag once out of my mag pouch and zipppp all the rounds pop out. Since getting out I’ve only had problems with 40 rnd mags. I just don’t buy 40 rnd pmags anymore. I’ve got plenty of government mags and several 60 rnd Surefire mags i can utilize.

Look up the test where they roll over a Pmag with a up armored Humvee, try that with a GI mag.

I use and will always use USGI mage, for the reasons you state. I started using them when I first joined in 1985, and still use them in my unit today. I feel they are the best available..nothing against other companies who manufacture other choices, just a personal preference. I also still use the "old school" paracord pulls, and spray camo my mags as well (a holdover from my LRS/SR days I guess),since you mention you like the color of P-Mags, krylon the USGI mags,add camo patterns,whatever you like,it works fine. If you drop them thru normal use, the paint will of course wear, but you just re-krylon them time to time. They can take just as many knocks and drops as the "new" polymer types,and,are readily available. Same as you,they are good enough for me,especially since they haven't made USGI mags without 'anti-tilt' followers for some time. And, if you HAVE the old type GI mags, you can buy aftermarket anti-tilt followers (as well as spring assembly,floor plate ect) to install in the old type, so there really isn't any reason NOT to use USGI mags, Don't buy into the hype.They (GI Mags) work just fine. I have never had an issue,and, in all my combat deployments, never once had a issue with any of my mags.

transparent plastics are usually much more brittle

USGI aluminum magazine followers can be replaced with non-tilt Teflon mix plastic self lubricating and are slick. Order MagPul replacement followers for $1.50 each.

Knowing magazine quality is very important to consistent rifle function, I've not gone wrong with Colt OEM mags. It doesn't seem to matter much if the mag is polymer or metal, if it gets damaged it isn't going to work right. I do have over 20 pmag gen 3 for my Sig 556 (ak) and they run flawlessly. In my opinion, just get good magazines, not cheapies.

polymer feed lips are actually stronger than aluminum. only talking aluminum USGI mags. now, when it comes to storing, the dust cover actually takes the stress off the feed lips.when you put them on, you can feel the round being pushed off of the lips. but I'd actually rather buy USGI as well.

My brother had problems with pmags as well, your video was spot on. We both use Lancer mags now.

His comments about the feed lips has no basis in reality, his logic is backwards. The polymer feed lips are far superior. A long time ago (back in the 90s) I started using polymer mags (Eagle - made in Israel) and had some friends ragging on me about it. After getting tired of their B.S., I grabbed one of my mags and smacked it a few of times, feed lips first, on a wooden shooting bench. I then told my friends "Now do that with your (G.I.) magazines. "No way, that would bend the feed lips." was the reply. So I did it again, loaded a few rounds, and sent them downrange. "Now tell me again how your metal magazines are better than my "plastic" ones... silence. Some of those mags stayed loaded for years at a time sitting in my safe. Almost 20 years later and I still use those original Eagle mags (along with Pmags and misc. others) and they still function flawlessly.

better to just to order ammo from palmetto and get 10 free pmags.

If you're worried about 7/10ths of an ounce of weight difference in your magazines you are waaaay overthinking this. Even in a heavy load out situation with lets say 10 magazines you're talking about far less than a pound of weight in difference. This is just bitch session video with no actual substance to it. The Magpul magazines will take far more abuse than the standard issue mags. Look at some torture tests between the two.

I was in Afghanistan in a gunners hatch and the M2 50 got caught on a tree branch and ripped off the coopala and pinned me in the hatch. The 50 landed on my M4 PMag. It put a slight crack but the PMag still functions to this day. If it was a tin mag it would be done.

GI mags are hardened aluminum, not steel. I also run the PSA mil spec cage code mags. 5 years in the Marines and never had a mag issue with GI mags. The PSA mags have the anti tilt followers, mil spec springs that have been tested and rated, and again GI mags are hardened aluminum, not steel. I've had some loaded with 30 rounds of M855 for years and they're still perfect, function perfect, no issues at all. The aluminum starts off as sheet metal non hardened T0 rated, gets stamped into shape, then it's resistance welded, then heat treated to T6 forged rated per mil spec, then they're coated per mil spec and are stamped with the mil spec military cage code number. That's how GI mil spec mags are made regardless of which company makes them.

I know you said you addressed the metal vs polymer feed lips in part 2... But haven't watched it yet. 1.) Polymer is highly resistant to impacts, thus preventing denting if dropped etc. This is why I use composite constructed Rescue Jacks for vehicle extrication instead of the old metal designs. I'd put bets on the pmag holding up better being dropped and having the feed ramps damaged. But polymers, composites, metals have different strengths and weaknesses depending on many variables. Like a strong sword is forged out of 2-4 different metals.. where as many knives are made out of just stainless steel. you make a sword out of stainless steel it will fail, only being suitable for decoration. 2.) I have seen a magpul fail though. I have not seen metal ones fail but so few use them so they are not around for me to see. 3.) The lancer mags anti-tilt seems better than a magpuls but I have noticed that they do not like 300 blackout. I assumed that of the Lancers because the anti-tilt follower was less giving, it would help keep the higher grain heavier bullet from tilting down when feeding into the ramp. This was not the case. P-mags fed 300 black out reliably. 4.) The military has done extensive testing on magpul, lancers, GI mags, troy etc. A test was performed when the Gen 3 magpuls were introduced. The test favored magpul. Magpul isn't the only game in town many flavors to choose from. Good for us, keeps it competitive.

Been running ARs for many years, both at work and play! I love the look and feel of those GI mags, guess there is something to say for nostalgia. But man, it is just damn hard to beat a P-mag. The original GI mag was/is designed to be cheap so it could be discarded on the battlefield. It was not designed to be thrown down, picked up, and re-used multiple times. Putting an anti-tilt follower in it doesn't change that. I use them both, but if someone told me that I could only have one type of magazine for extended use, it's the Pmag all day long.

Watch Iraqi veterans video on magazines. He put them all through the same tests, the pmag was the most reliable after being dropped, smashed, and submerged. The GI mag folded like a Pop can.

Thanks...I agree 100% about the GI Mags...I bought older used GI Mags several years ago for $5 each and upgraded to the Magpul anti-tilt follower. I did take advantage of the PSA sale for $6.99 ea and got a few more. Like you said, I like Magpul but can't ignore the value of GI Mags...

Country boy preppers rifle was one of the best looking rifles 7 years ago.. that Troy hand gaurd was what set the tubular handgaurd market a flame .. 2020 and AR15’s have gone so far since than with innovation and products.. changes in the AR market for decades was minimal , only more recently has it been set on fire .. which is a good sign!!!

That metal magazine you have is NOT a GI mag. What you have is a generic copy that is not as reliable or well built.

In Afghanistan I had my M2 50 get caught on a tree and pinned me in my gunners hatch. The 50 cal slammed on the PMAG. A tin mag would of been destroyed. The PMAG had a slight bit of cracking but functioned 100%. So I stand by them. Battled tested!

3:17 I don't agree. Aluminum and steel will dent and deform. Polymer will not dent. If it is hit hard enough where it would dent, it would fracture. But I never heard of anybody having that problem.

Did you ever think the problem maybe your gun. I have these magazines and they work great.

Just a suggestion: Next time you get the urge to put a click-bait title on an 11 minute long video, please explain the title in the first 30 seconds of the video. Thanks.

Not all new GI mags are anti-tilt. Check out Colt's because they're not. Also remember that using a steel mag you'll be using against an aluminum receiver and will wear out your receiver quicker. Poly mags hold up better than steel ones especially against impacts.

If one of your biggest grips is a $4 difference then you have no idea. Any cal of Pmag in Australia retails for no less than $150. Count your blessings.

I have been interested in a fully transparent magazine setup, so I looked up the Lancer mags and ordered a few. Thanks for the tip.

You apparently have never had to deal with a GI mag that is bent ever so slightly. I will never use GI mags ever again, fortunately my mishap was during a training event where life was not on the line. Running around doing drills in a military environment reeks havoc on those mags I have been thru many GI mags but I am still on my Original PMAGS i bought 10 years ago. I still don't know why the military still uses these besides the fact that they are cheap as dirt....

I know this is an old video. But I left my pmags fully loaded for 3 years and took them to the range recently and they functioned fine. And the thing about metal feed lips if you drop them and they bend they'll stay bent. The polymer will flex and go back to it's original shape.

I think he may had a little too much to drink and took a chic home that had polymer ramps A DADT moment

If you dropped a metal magazine on its lips they will get bent out of place and cause feeding problems. I'm not saying don't use them, I'm just saying beware of that vulnerability.

I only have a couple of P-mags the rest are all GI mags. The ones that didn't have anti-tilt followers I replaced with the anti-tilt followers.

I broke the floorplate on a PMAG: after tossing it 30' in the air fully loaded. Floorplate cracked, BUT STILL HELD AND FED ROUNDS. I called Magpul to buy a new floorplate, as I broke it. They refused to take any payment and sent me one for free. For something that I broke. I've used PMAGS in Afghanistan and never had a problem.

I'm not buying anymore Pmags. I already bought around 10,000 of them in the last 5 years and that should last me for life. :-)

In my experience the GI mags feed lips get all bent up fairly often, but all you do is whip out your multi-tool and bend them back. It won't look pretty and crisp anymore, but it's not that hard to do either.

If they suck, why did the Marine Corps just give Magpul all their mag business...

From personal experience. I bought a Ruger mpr AR. The mag it came with was a p-mag. I didn’t like how much force I have to put into the mag in order to secure it. So I bought a gi mag. I had both mags loaded, too max, Incase I needed them for a home invasion. After having this for 3-months I finally got in opportunity to go shooting outdoors for 3+ hours. Out of the 300rds I shot that day. I received 2 double feeds with my gi mag with in the 30rds. Now I was running steel cased. However my Pmag had no issues and ran flawlessly. That alone makes me distrust the metal feed lips.

I just have GI mags. Why? Because I don't have a lot of money to spend on expensive magazines. I'm pretty content with what I got.

My best friend is a nano-molecular engineer. I asked her about modern polymers vs. steel and aluminum. She said that modern polymers have the potential to be much stronger and robust then metal. So maybe in the future we will have much stronger polymers. She said her lab is working on a modernized polymer that they hope to have the same tensile strength as t-7071.

Aluminum and steel feed lips can bend and stay bent

The thing about metal feed lips in a polymer body magazine is that, that creates a weak point. The metal is molded into the plastic. Just creates an area of weakness where the metal can separate from the polymer. For someone who is worried about dropping polymer feed lips and toughness of feed lips overall that seems like a no-brainer. Dropping the lancer mag feed flips first could potentially separate the lips from the body of the mag.

I've left steel, Aluminum, and polymer mags loaded for extended periods of time. I've had severe problems with BOTH steel and aluminum feed lips bending over time and causing constant fail to feeds. The polymer mags have had almost no problems. This is still the same groupthink of the resistance of polymer framed pistols over the past few decades. News flash! The polymer framed pistols hold up BETTER to extreme punishment than the "super strong, ultra durable" steel framed pistols...

Great commentary and very objective ! Although I'm a magpul man, the trick to mag reliability is anti tilt followers, thats it. Polymer or GI aluminum or translucent polymer, as long as you have anti tilts, you are ok. But Magpul IS NOT the first to offer anti tilt followers. Stainless steal AR15 mags by HK offered anti tilts a decades before magpul.

A big part of my mag purchases, is investment. That said, GI mags are much more prone to blunt force damage, and rust. I've bent feed lips with one drop onto concrete. P-Mags are nearly indestructible and can be had for less than $9.

24 year Retired ARSOF. Used PMAGS in both Iraq and A-stan. Your argument is Bovine Scatology. Never had an issue. My MK 18 then M4 went " angry" weekly. No issues whatsoever. Don't quit your day job. -BP out

You're worried about P-mags for a shtf scenario but not your 300 lbs. Ok buddy...

Thanks for taking the time to go in-depth on what you like and why you like it. It's hard to say "I like roses" without people screaming "why do you hate daisies?!?"... I agree with most of your points, but I don't have enough data to consider myself any kind of authority. I think I favor the counterargument that a bent feed lip may pass visual inspection and then malfunction when you need it, while a polymer feed lip will fail spectacularly so you KNOW it's out of spec before you need to pull the trigger. That said, I really like those Lancer mags; may pick up couple. Thanks for posting good info!

I challenge you to break Pmag feed lips. Aluminum feed lips won't break but as soon as you dent them it's over.

Appreciate your freedom. I have one pmag. It has a rivet in it so I can only fit 5 rounds in it. I could easily take it out but would loose all my guns and go to jail if I got caught. You can put 10 in a stanag if it is a "pistol magazine" and is marked as such (for now but that loophole could change any time)

Midway USA has a 10 pack of Pmags for $79.99

several years ago, by luck, I acquired a pair of H&K mags for a 416 (I think). These are the best mags I have ever used. Heavier gauge steel, smooth as butter followers, solidly built. If I lived in a state that would allow me to own such things, I would buy as many as I could find. No Idea of what mags like that cost, but I bet they're not cheap. Just looked 'em up-$65.00 each...WOW!

damn homie you have some OG big bugs screaming in the background. I paused the video thinking it was coming from my window..

I love how people say metal feed lips bend... You can bend metal back into position. It may not be as durable before, but if youre in a desperate situation and your feed lip got banged up, you can bend it back with your multi tool and use it again. Plastic cannot bend. So when your plastic breaks, your mag is done...

I'm not going to mention GI mag lips being bent more easily than Magpul mag lips snapping, but GI mag lips bend more easily than Magpul mag lips snap

Using these mags in my Saiga .223 and in my AR, I only use GI mags. The Saiga beats the crap out of the polymer mags and has broken feed lips on a few magazines. I typically only use certain mags in certain guns, but if shtf, I want to know that my mags can be used in either rifle. Granted it does beat up the GI mags as well, but they still function in either weapon.

lancer is a pmag but better. hahahaha. its the Gen 4's in my mind. you can easily check how much you have left in a mag, better than that retarded half window, similar weight, and then BAM feed lips that don't loosen up after 3 months of being left loaded

Pmags come with a “dust cover” clip. If you leave the mag loaded and are worried about the plastic feed lips, keep the cover clip on your loaded magazine. It is designed to push the rounds down slightly taking pressure off the feed lips.

The army just switched to anti tilt followers in 2016 until then they had either no anti tilt or a half anti tilt feature. But mag pul sells just the followers. Which is nice because you can get 9 followers for $21 which you are issued 7 mags through the army instead of switching to P mags for $15-17 a single mag.

"I'm done with p mags" "I'll still be buying mags from Magpul"

What led you to believe a Lancer mag will feed better after many years of loaded storage? There are several RU-vid videos of head to head comparisons of several brands of mags where Lancer, among others, failed from failure to feed. I haven't heard or read about a Magpul mag failing from worn out "lips".

Why so many down votes (398 downs to 758 ups, as of 25JUN16)? Valid points made, and I still plan on using Pmags. Magpul fanboys act like they own stock in the damn company.

My commander had us milspec test numerous polymer mags. The only one that came close to passing were Lancer's. Magpuls failed the drop test, usually splitting and spilling all their ammo. They also failed the high temperature and reliability testing. Once the M4s got hot, the Pmags started to get soft and failed to feed and lock the bolt back on an empty mag. The control mags, various makes of aluminium USGI, all passed.

Gen3 Pmags are the only way to go... just ask the USMC.

You make some valid points. I agree that GI mags are lightyears ahead of what they used to be and ,also, that Pmags aren't the only game in town anymore. I, however, still love Pmags and will continue to buy them(when they're on sale😉). Respectfully🍻🇺🇸

I will stick with Magpul. Video was a waste of my time.

The reason I don't use PMAGs exclusively is the COAL they allow. 2.26" is the max in a PMAG. Maybe 1 or 2 thousands but the steel mags have more room for longer cartridges.

I have one Lancer mag which stays loaded all the time. It is a great mag and functions flawlessly. I also keep my pmags loaded and have never had a problem with them even if I keep them in my truck all day. I will have to watch to see if they start acting up on me.

I recommend keeping pmags. I seen how large you are and to be honest if you sat on a pmag wrong, let's say while eating beef jerky, you can crush the metal feed lips. Whereas on a pmag, it flex and returns. Of course they break too but only after many, many hours of sitting down on them. That might be easy for you to achieve on your recliner but at the very least you have a better chance.

Lancer mags are the lightest mags on the market (even lighter than aluminum GI mags). Lots of colorways too. They have stippling and are squared off and tidy. Love em.

as for storing PMags, the cover that comes with PMag when used pushs down on the top round, taking the pressure off the feed lips. So, they last long than GI Mags fully loaded.

Pmag doesn't make a metallic sound, doesn't have sharp edges, isn't as cold in the winter, is easier to disassemble, and I prefer the look.

i have a mix of different mags, but i tend to prefer polymer. As some other commenters noted, bends or dents in aluminum mags that go unnoticed could lead to malfunctions. If all mags were the same price, I would only have polymer.

I think polymer feed lips are stronger than aluminum feed lips. I'd be more worried about dropping and damaging aluminum more than polymer as well, especially if dropped on the feed ramps. Polymer will typically flex a good bit before it cracks, however I find even minor impacts can bend aluminum. A cracked polymer mag will probably still work if it's just a Crack in the mag body. A bent aluminum mag will have lots of trouble with a dent in it. In my opinion it's more a possible hinderence than a help. I have MANY of both polymer and metal (steel and aluminum mags) and for me personally, I will only be buying polymer from here on out as I think they will hold up a lot better over the long haul.

I've hear some GI's say that if you front load your mags on your chest or belly, then you can bend metal feedlips, whereas the pmags return to shape. it's also known when the plastic lips crack, they still function. This is all hearsay. I've never used pmags.

That ancient handguard lol I remember when those used to be 'hot' on the market, now they look like dinosaurs :D

The polymer bounces back if dropped or run over...drop a loaded gi mag on the feed lips...they will deform and stay that way...the lancers use spring steel and are more likely to not deform...i also use all 3

I have several old GI mags. I installed anti tilt followers. It was cheaper than throwing them away and buying new mags.