Aluminum or SS?

Hey y'all, I'm new here so please bear with me. Just got a Stag model 2 and it shipped with one 30 rnd aluminum mag. While I was waiting for delivery I ordered some AR-Stoner mags from Midway. I have to say that the aluminum mag seems extremely flimsy to me. Pretty sure I could crush it like a beer can in my hand. The Stoner mags are SS and seem built to last. Is flimsy aluminum the standard GI issue these days? I'll be wanting to stack some mags but if what's usual is that sort of aluminum I'll have to buy more Stoners I guess. Don't like spending $12 per though. And I have no interest in polymer or plastic mags.

Thanks for any advice..

Yes, GI mags are aluminum.

What are the markings on your floorplate? The SS mags from Midway are probably Cproducts who went out of business a while back. They take a special follower which would be hard to replace if needed too. Never heard of Al being called flimsy.

I'll be getting a couple of Pmags but I guess I'm just old-fashioned in not trusting polymers to be under continual stress long term. And yes, I own two Glocks and love 'em. But they don't use polymer mags either. It's long term durability of the feed lips that worries me. I'm not going to be going through mags like alot of folks do, mainly want a stack of say 20 or so to keep loaded and try to cycle through them a couple times a year. The aluminum worries me that even dropping it free will dent the thing, forget about stepping on one.

Thanks for the info about GI mags, I think I'll look for more SS when I find 'em.

here's a better idea - buy 20 aluminum mags, use them a few times to ensure they work, then leave them in a box for doomsday. buy 5-10 Pmags or Lancers to use at the range and beat the shit out of them.

The stainless used in C-Product (AR-Stoner) mags struck me as rather flimsy, and is thinner than the material used in aluminum mags. (they failed the "Great Shotgun News Mag Drop Test" when aluminum did not)

If you're against plastic, and price is a consideration, I'd get the DSG 10-pack deal and call it a day: http://dsgarms.com/ProductInfo/MA-02DSGB10A.aspx Yes, they're aluminum.

Or, if you're married to the idea of steel, Brownells and CDNN have Fusil's for $10. (Although based on the fact they've been on clearance for a while, warranty support might be in question) Also, they are carbon - not stainless steel.
Brownells 5 for $50

CDNN $9.99 ea

The floorplate on the Stag supplied aluminum mag reads .223 cal / 5.56 mm NHMTG S/42 HARTFORD, CT. And maybe flimsy isn't the right word, but I tell you I'm sure I could crush the thing with one hand.

The SS mags I bought off Midway say AR-Stoner on the floorplate. 223 / 5.56 with SS underneath that stamped on the left side. Black follower. Seem to be built like a Swiss bank.. lol

i doubt it, especially when its full of ammo. in either case, magazines are considered a replaceable part. they don't last forever.

That's true and a good point. Means I need to just buy more of several types and keep getting the one I like best.. Can do!

good idea. i think you'll be pleasantly surprised, especially with lancers. they have steel feed lips molded into the plastic body.

NHMTG=Okay=Colt. All the same mag. Unless you got a bad one its a good mag. If you can crush it with one hand you must be Superman.

I truly think I must have received a weak one. The thing feels to be about the thickness of 2 layers of soda can. I'm not Superman, just a Texan, though there's not much difference.

I personally prefer the dry film aluminum ones over the steel ones, I have a few of both and never experienced any malfunctions with either one though

However, magpul pmags are all I buy

if you still insist on only metal mags, try 44mag.com, copes distributing, primary arms, palmetto, aim surplus or other places for those instead of paying $12 each

check the mag deals link for current deals

I replaced 6 with the CMMG stainless follower and the CMMG braded spring. They are in my go bag and are the slickest magazine I have (over 200 various)

The USGI aluminum mags are so flimsy that even after 40+ years of military use, they're still standard issue.
And if you can crush one in your bare hand, I'll buy you a beer.
Hell, if you could do that, I'd be afraid to not buy you a beer.
Aluminum mags are not weak nor flimsy, they're just designed to be lightweight.
But if you're not comfortable with them, get some polymers.
Pmags are excellent mags, and you can't go wrong with them either.
Whatever suits you, load up on 'em.

Then why not get Lancer mags instead? They use steel feed lips.

+1 on the lancers.

There are other steels, and other steel magazines, you are referring to the Stainless by Cproducts. Not quite sure but they seem to be formed, welded, coated, and assembled. Aluminum is soft like butter but it has a very very hard layer impregnated into the outside, type 3 anodizing. This is almost like case hardening a steel. We have a tower part for one of our products that is like a magazine and it is nitrided steel. aluminum in a usgi mag is roughly .04" and the steel in our tower, and the hk mag is .032. Nitriding is the real deal with steel, before the towers are nitrided they do kind of feel soft, not afterwards.

I think the HK cloned magazines, FUSIL, KCI are alright but the problem is they aren't tooled the same as the U.S.G.I. So they take the rear feed guide and run a flat portion to the rear of the feed lips, this makes stripping rounds easier as the cartridge undercut for the extractor doesn't grab the rib, the problem is this makes a weak lip because there isn't much material on the back wall to hold the lip in its position, like how the original 20 rd mags didn't have a form in the rear of the lips, makes for some weak lips. Also buttwelding at the seam in the middle of the front of the mag is weaker than overlapping and tacking. If you crush them sideways it will do a Z with about .1" straight at the weld.

The steel mags have somehow got a weakness association but it is because of other issues.

The vast majority of us here are very happy with Magpul's PMAGs. Keep in mind that all polymers/plastics are not created equal. In many cases a polymer can be made to be stronger than steel, I don't know if that pertains to Magpul's polymers but their mags are the best and most reliable I have ever owned.

Check out David Fortier's non scientific torture test in Shotgun News. He broke the stainless steel magazine easier than he broke the aluminum USGI magazine. The vast, vast majority of guys in Afghanistan use aluminum and we win all the firefights.

Unscientific Magazine Testing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCFXcOOb4jc

Thanks for all the replies and good info. I'm new to ARFCOM and a new AR owner so I'm more than happy to learn. The SS mags I've got ARE heavy compared to the mags I got with the rifle. I have a buddy who trades with folks at Ft. Hood and he has many hundreds of 20 and 30 rd mags with the green follower. Is that the GI standard? He'll sell me as many as I want.

The Tan follower is the new standard

Unscientific testing is the norm on this forum.... I thought the discussion here was about SS vs. Aluminum???

You mean tan follower/spring combo. The tan follower won't work without the matching spring. The way the spring attatches to the follower is completely different and prevents it from tilting.......

I have no problem with the green followers. The improvement with the new followers/springs is quite small and it takes 1000's of rounds to see a diffrence. The weak link with the M16 system is not the magazine but the shooter, by a large margin.

GI mags have always been alluminum and they are actually fairly durable. If you could crush one in your hand I would be impressed. That said I prefer P mags.
Pat

OP, I believe the founder of Magpul has stated that he still has the very first production pmag loaded on his desk without a feed lip cover.

If you can crush it in your hand I will buy you a case (beer or mags, your choice)

Please post a video when you do.....

Thank you. A fair opinion from a Pmag fan. Good on 'ya.

My sentiments exactly.
And most issues that the military have been addressing will not arise under semi-auto fire.
So most of us will never encounter it to begin with.
And as to the "operator error" aspect, we've all known "that guy", the one that could break an anvil.
Hell, back in the mid 70's when I was in boot, we thought we were gonna have to steal the forks from a few mess kits, just to prevent a couple of our guys from going blind.

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