I'm looking to get 8 mags for home defense / zombie apocalypse / whatever. It seems like there's about 12301231214235712098354 different options, and I have no idea what's quality and what's trash.

I've picked up a couple of the PMAG M3's, and they don't seem to seat as into my rifles (new PSA and an Maine-Bushmaster) as well as the two old aluminum mags I have.

Any suggestions on what to look for?

Okay brand GI mags

Pick up a stack of D&H mags from PSA when they go on sale again. Usually priced $6.99-$7.99 w/ free shipping on 10+.

+1 Picked up some of these recently as my Okays rescued from a "too lazy to pack it out trash pile" in A'stan are getting long in the tooth. Ran 'em through their paces; they are fine and the price is right. PSA floorplates, good springs & gray no-tilt followers. Good value. (Have Pmags Gen2 & 3 but, frankly, prefer the original style as they just stuff better in most gear.)

Okay Surefeed. I have not tried the E2 mags, yet.

http://www.surefeedmagazines.com/

They don't want to seat all the way, bolt closed or open.

With enough force they'll go in and stay in, but if I just slap the mag in it'll fall out.

If I put the mag in, kick it, smash it with a rock, jump up and down on it a few times, and beat it with a sledgehammer, it'll finally click into place.

I'm guessing the raised section in the back of the mag is causing an issue. The 20-round M3's are fine, the 30-round M3's are a problem...I may just try dremmeling that part off the mags.

USGI 20's & 30's from the Equipment Exchange.

Check your magazine catch first. It might need to be backed off 1 or 2 half-rotations. Might save you the trouble of modifying all your magazines.

I say this because the last two complete lowers I bought (PSA) needed the mags to be hammered in before I realized the catch was too tight.

https://palmettostatearmory.com/200-rounds-federal-5-56mm-nato-55gr-fmj-bt-ammunition-ten-magpul-pmag-30-5-56x45mm-magazines.html

https://palmettostatearmory.com/d-h-5-56-30rd-magazine-5-mags-100-rounds-of-federal-55gr-xm193-5-56-nato.html

this has always been my choice above for mags , GI 30's with the brown anti-tilt followers , and GI 20rd mags with alloy followers cant do much better then this , not a big fan of the polymer mags

M2s don't have that raised rib on the back-find some of them or the aluminum ones from PSA - I think they are $6.99 right now too- get 20 and be done.

I picked up 10 of these not to long ago.....they feel and look good. I like the feel better the the og okays.

MOE or Gen M3 Pmags.

I'm an Okay magazine fan, but a Pmag is better.

Pick up a Lancer L5AWM or two. I also had trouble getting a M3 PMAG to seat in my Daniel Defense rifles and the Lancers work flawlessly.

Polymer mags can be funny with certain lowers I guess.
I had a bunch of Gen2 PMAGs awhile back that PSA was bundling with some ammo.  Difficulty seating & kicking out (Anderson lowers), just overall tight fore-to-aft dimensions. Had taken measurements, as well as some of the g-kids sidewalk chalk to see where any binding might be. Filing & dremeling of one to no avail. All others including a couple of Gen3's, a Lancer and some other GI 20 & 30 round mags worked great. To their credit Magpul tech spent about 30 minutes on the phone with me, both of us with calipers in hand (they keep a bunch of lowers laying around so they can grab one of the caller's if possible). The end of it - again to their credit - was to issue an RMA on their dime and in about a week I had a bunch of new Gen 3's. Had one GI mag over the years (a low-bid from one of the Parsons, KS outfits) have a poor fit but never get such issues out of a reputable metal mag.

Okay mags seem to be on sale these day also Troy mags are really good.

Nothing wrong with pmags. I prefer GI though. Not getting into plastic vs metal here.

I've had excellent experiences with brownells mags. Both tan follower (issued, not commercially available), and regular bodies with magpul yellow followers. The EPM does me well.

I suggest you avoid MFT like the plague. I've seen them puke, double feed, skip over, not seat properly. Just garbage. Gives plastic mags a bad name.

I’ll second the recommendation above to try out a couple translucent Lancer mags. I prefer PMAGs and Okays, but Lancers are tough, quality mags, so they’re worth trying to see if you like them. I’d buy six Okays and two Lancers, if you’re set on getting 8 more mags.

Make sure that you are not loading 31 rounds by mistake. When fully loaded, the top round should be on the right and you should be able to push it down about a quarter of an inch.

Lancer and gen2 PMAGs all day

Lancer > USGI > Magpul is my preference.

I agree with 100% of your posts, tig.

Lancers.

And I agree that MFTs are garbage

If you have FB mr guns n gear posts regular deals on AR mags,  brownells just had 10 lancers shipped free and 10 dollars off for 119.00

i ordered a set they are good to go in my opinion if that is too expensive Okay mags are ideal really.

GI mags like the PSA mags are fine but I prefer PMags because I can load them all the way with 30 rounds and still have them lock up on a closed bolt. I have had and seen several GI mags fall out when loaded with 30 rounds and inserted on a closed bolt. PMags just work for me no matter what.

I like the Surefeed E2 mags, Just ordered 20 more.

Okay, D&h, Brownells are all good and p mags. Also the Brownells 20 round mags are great

Seriously, this is a thing.  Count.  If it's tight, it's over loaded.

Okay or Colt 20rnd for bench use, Okay or D&H w/magpul follower 30rnd for everything else is my MO.  Only polymer mags I have are glock, and those have steel liners.

@Iram

On the PSA D&H mag deals  there is price break point where you pay more at $7.99 with "free shipping" per mag than paying the $6.99 price with shipping. I think the minimum shipping box is $8.50 and slightly increases from there.   So factor in your $1.00 per mag costs.

There was debate on reddit in r/gundeals sub reddit at https://old.reddit.com/r/gundeals/new/ where the math was worked out. They also had found a glitch(which may have been fixed by now) where their free shipping didn't actual require the minimum number or if you added then subtracted the mags to what you wanted the free shipping stayed. Some of the people in that forum are nuts for how far they will go to save a buck. You'll find good deals there but the quality of advice can be lacking compared to here.

You also find many good PSA deals where Gen2 Pmags are thrown in to sweeten the pot. So if buying AR parts and/or building that next rifle/pistol (and you're always building that next one....)  you'll  have Gen2  Pmags for varying amounts around $6-$8 in deals . Pmags are included by PSA  in so many deals sometimes people call  pmags packing peanuts because they help fill out the order box nicely.

Buying new,
Stay away from Promag, The Korean knock offs, Orlite, Thermold,  Tapco.  No good comes from these brands and the cost difference isn't worth the savings for the failure to work hassles.

Pmags are the polymer standard others are judged by, that said Lancer takes the polymer magazine and adds in metal feed lips. Combining the features of both Metal and polymer mags for a little more than Pmags. With Pmags you'll have some colors options(discontinued and new) and you can Rit Dye their "sand color" to almost any color you want.

D&H magazines (which may come with ether color of Magpull anti-tilt follower ) are GTG and have their mags resold as branded by other companies. Metal mags  can be dulled and/or colored by rattle can, cerakote, etc.

D&H metal mags are good to go.

The best metal mags are OKAY & NHMTG .

In Polymer mags Pmag is the standard, You'll be fine with the Gen 2 saving the cost of the Gen 3. Both come with standard solid sides and for little more a witness window to see how many rounds you have left.  The Gen 3's also come with a dust cover and have an over insertion protection tab feature that you likely won't need.  People swear the Gen 3 are best thing but they swore the 2 were perfection. Same thing with all the metal mag when the next anti-tilt follower hits. Suddenly the last color follower is now a jamatic and you must (but you must^{Dragon Warrior Ref}) upgrade to the latest follower design & color.

PSA recently had this deal https://palmettostatearmory.com/ten-d-h-5-56-30rd-aluminum-magazines-ten-magpul-pmag-5-56-30rd-magazines.html  with free shipping  so it was $7 per mag. I would expect this to come back around within a month. With Thanksgiving/Black Friday/Cyber Monday/etc. I would sign up and get ready.

Compare this https://palmettostatearmory.com/fiocchi-55gr-fmj-223-remington-1-000rd-case-ten-30rd-magpul-5-56x45mm-pmags.html  deal

with SGAmmo Price  https://www.sgammo.com/product/223-556mm-ammo/temporary-sale-1000-round-case-223-rem-55-grain-fmj-brass-case-ammo-fiocchi-2 with shipping to see the difference. SGAmmo Price varies by weight tiers so you can often ship 2(even number increases 4,6,8,10,etc.) cases for a few bucks less per than you can an  in odd numbers (1,3,5,7,9,etc.).

But that cheaper ammo doesn't have the Gen 2 Pmags,  so you can see the value/price of the magazines in the  difference.

And as said on you gun, check your mag button and catch, trying adjusting it. Also as silly as it sounds make sure you count the rounds going in the mag you might might be squeezing an extra one in, making you have problems seating them.  The top round should be on the right side of the magazine, when fully loaded.

Stick to gen 2 or gen 3 pmags, Lancer, or OKAY D&H Center Brownells magizenes.

Lancer...

I'm probably just going to order a bunch of D&H's.

I tired both tightening and loosening the mag release...doesn't make a difference.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

Ditto for me.

PMAGs/Lancer/OKAY/D&H/DD are atop my list and it appears (from this thread) I'm not alone there.