Which AR-15 5.56 magazines are best?

[joshs]

Didn't realize you were using Brownells mags.
Any idea when they were manufactured?

Likely 2007 manufacture. I bought a bunch shortly after they came out, but haven't used them much because I had so many Pmags. I'm down to under 10 Pmags, so I thought I'd start using the Brownells mags. I shot about 500 rounds of Wolf through my gun before the class using the Brownells mags with no problems.

I haven't eliminated the possibility that my gun has some type of gas leak or bottleneck somewhere, which may have contributed to the problem. It's possible that with a gun that is getting a full cycle of the recoil system, that the extra drag the lip of the Brownells mags will always be overcome by the force of the spring/buffer, but when there are other magazines available that don't have this problem, I can't see a reason to use the Brownells mags.

[LittleLebowski]

I'd like to try your Brownells mags with Wolf in my 5.56 Sabre, Josh.

[joshs]

I'd like to try your Brownells mags with Wolf in my 5.56 Sabre, Josh.

Sure. I don't doubt that it will work. My gun is really optimized for running 5.56 pressure ammo. It's just weird that it worked fine with Wolf for awhile and then completely sucked in class. I couldn't find anything in the gas system that would restrict flow, although there is quite a bit of built up carbon, so the gun may have been right on the edge of reliability with a clean gas system and the carbon buildup was enough of a change to cause short-stroking.

On the Brownells mags, I think I've found the problem. Some of my mags are from 07 and some are from 09. The 09 mags present the round for feeding much higher than the 07 mags.


09 mag is on the right.

[rob_s]

With no rounds in them, do they look like this?

[joshs]

With no rounds in them, do they look like this?

Yes, but with magpul followers.

[LittleLebowski]

josh, after the last day of the class; do you feel that the lighter viscosity lube helped?

[joshs]

josh, after the last day of the class; do you feel that the lighter viscosity lube helped?

A bit, but it was also significantly warmer on Day 2 than Day 1.

I was able to duplicate the "round stuck on magazine lip" stoppage using the "1-09" marked Brownells mags and XM193. I'm starting to think that the Brownells magazines were the main source of my problems.

[That Guy]

This thread is a few years old. What is the word on new production Brownells magazines?

And I might as well ask a silly n00b question* while I'm at it: 30 rounds vs 20 rounds. Any words of wisdom on the subject?

(* I don't actually even own an AR, yet. The legal paperwork for buying one is being processed and I am researching my options. Speaking of which, a few discussions on this site have been an incredible help! Thank you all.)

[BillSWPA]

I have the Brownells magazines with the Chrome Silicon springs (which seems to be their default). They seem to be a very good magazine at a good price.

[VT1032]

This thread is a few years old. What is the word on new production Brownells magazines?

And I might as well ask a silly n00b question* while I'm at it: 30 rounds vs 20 rounds. Any words of wisdom on the subject?

(* I don't actually even own an AR, yet. The legal paperwork for buying one is being processed and I am researching my options. Speaking of which, a few discussions on this site have been an incredible help! Thank you all.)

Depends on what you are doing, but I'd say generally 30's are better. I think they have bit better track record reliability wise, but the big sells to me are the capacity obviously and the ability to monopod the mag in the prone. The older pmag 20's (pre gen 3) had some issues. That said, I own and use 20's that I use when bench shooting. I'd say lancers are probably the best overall AR mags, but in terms of durability and price it's hard to beat a pmag. I've had good luck with the aluminum brownells and ok mags with magpul followers as well.