Firearm Magazines: A Short Primer on Selection and Use…

This guest post by Robert M and entry in our non-fiction writing contest.

Traditionally magazines are made of metal. Their basic function is a spring pushes a follower upward to place rounds where the bolt can engage then feed them. Old school is an internal magazine that is unloaded one bullet at a time, an upgrade to this is the ‘trap door’ release that drops your ammo everywhere except your hand. Stamped metal is spot welded, follower and spring inserted and a floor plate keeps it all together.

A clip is literary that, a device that clips your rounds together, examples are the Garand en bloc clip or the half-moon clips the old S&W pistols used for speed loading.

All magazines are spring powered. They can be single stack or staggered (double stack). Single are thinner and longer, staggered are shorter for the same amount of rounds and thicker. Ruger has a unique rotary magazine, much like a small drum magazine.

Depending on the make, a magazine will lock in one end and the other will be a spring-loaded release. Usually these are internal on hunting rifles with a 4-5 round capacity. Some rifles have a built-in internal magazine and use a trapdoor to release the rounds, others unload from the top as you loaded it.

Military style tend to lock on the front side via notch and pivot back toward a latch and release from the rear. Others have a hole or a notch on the side (AR and pistols) go into a well that lock into place and fall out when released.

There are plastic magazines and there are metal lined plastic magazines. I’ve used both and really can’t tell a difference. Some complain cold weather will cause them to crack and or shatter. At 20 degrees I did not experience any problems. The other complaint against plastic is they will let rounds pop out. So far no problems with that either. It could be too much spring tension in older magazines that has seen been corrected.

I have P Mag’s, Tapco, Moldmaster and Thermold for three different calibers and rifles. I can’t honestly say one has performed better than another or is more durable in a combat situation as I haven’t been there for a few years.

Metal magazines for the most part, have a plastic follower. Eventually the follower will wear and bind if use a lot. Chances are most civilians will never see this problem unless they shoot a lot, a whole lot. They are prone to getting dinged and dented which may interfere with how far the follower will depress and limit capacity. Metal magazines are Colt, Remington, Rock River and Triple K.

Pistols may be more finicky than rifle due to their small size and tolerance. My Glock and Kimber have fed no problem with factory mags. Korean Glock mags seem to be highly reliable as well for a 17 and 26. Pro mag fits my 1911 fine.

Used magazines can a gamble. Chances are new springs are needed and a good cleaning, hopefully not worn out lips or dented.

I have stored rounds loaded for about six months without noticing any deformation or spring weakness being induced. Rob Pincus (firearms instructor) has stored fully loaded magazines for two years and never saw a problem. Keeping them clean is probably the key here. Remove the floor plate, wipe out the inside, follow and spring and re assemble. Oil will attract dirt and grit.

Plastic magazines have come a long way since the early 90’s. Some manufactures had problems and got them worked out years ago. Thermold marked Canadian military are known to have weak springs.

Hopefully this coverage of magazine basics is useful. If you have tricks and tweaks add them as well.

This contest will end on April 22 2013  – prizes include:

• First Place winner will receive - A $500 dollar gift certificate courtesy of LPC Survival that is good for $500 off anything on their site. And  a Wonder Junior Deluxe hand-mill courtesy of Kitchen Kneads,
• Second Place winner will receive – Two cases of MRE’s courtesy of Camping Survival and a $150 gift certificate off of Hornady Ammo from LuckyGunner.
• Third Place winner will receive -  a one year subscription to Personal VPN service courtesy of unspyable.

Well what are you waiting for – email your entries today. But please read the rules that are listed below first… 

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