I thought I'd pass along my experience with these since I couldn't find anything about them online when I came across them and hopefully it's helpful to others. They were under $5.00 at a retailer that I was buying a shotgun from so I grabbed a couple at the same time.

The vendor I bought my original batch from raised their price but another vendor has had them at the $4.99 price for several weeks and I ordered another batch from them without a problem. [https://thecastlearms.com/product/sds-mag-ar-55.6223-30rd#product_detail]
Edit to add for those who want to hunt for deals: MFG Number MAR30RDMPC  -  UPC Number 713135218997

I have been running five of them in semi, full auto and simunitions capacities without any problems. I haven't done any extreme testing [freezing / dropping from 3 a third floor while loaded / driving over them] but I have used them for over 1000 rounds now without issue. They have survived drops from table and shoulder height while loaded on both gravel and concrete and keep them loaded.

They assemble similar to most polymer mags on the market now, which is  to say some variation of the slide on base plate with the spring fitting onto an locking plate that captures the base plate on one end and then fitting into the follower on the other end of the spring. If you are familiar with how a P-Mag comes apart, it's the same concept.

The examples I have appear a bit more translucent in person than the photos show but there is a smoke tint to them, which I'd say is just a hair lighter than an ETS magazine. Color/tint and translucency is consistent through the magazine material, no waves of inconsistent material mix.  Once rounds are in the mag you can still readily identify the ammo [visual verification for sims] and you can spot a standard brass case from a nickle plated case or a tipped projectile vs a FMJ projectile without a problem.

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I did not observe any markings on the mags or packaging about where these mags were made so I started a thread in SDS's industry forum:
https://www.ar15.com/forums/industry/Polycarbonate-AR-15-mags/801-301746/

They provided the information that these are made in Turkey. They already offer 33 round Glock magazine that's similar to the AR mag and It sounds like they may have some other mags in testing.

I don't think I'd plan on these replacing USGI mags or PMags for life or death situations but I think they could have their place in range mags, training capacity, competitions, and hunting.

If any one else has some experience with these, I'd be interested to hear it. It's been a while since I've ventured into this forum but if we have a "magazine testing guru" who's got a scientific approach to evaluating magazines to get an apples to apples comparison, I'd be willing to cover the cost of a couple mags to get the benchmark info out of curiosity.

Interesting. Never heard of these of seen them before. Thanks.

This makes me sad. the price gougers here were selling them at 12.99.

The design reminds me of the HK mags.. knowing that some HK products are being licensed to turkey makes me wondering if the quality may be better than we think.

Wonder how they will hold up against gun oils/chemicals getting on them over time. Just something I wonder about all mags not metal.

Castle Arms now list them as our of stock and they have a $12.00 price listed for their current sale price. Gun Deals price checker was how I found them so you maybe able to do use it for better prices elsewhere.

Got one the other day at the sales price from Natchez Shooter supply.

Castle just sent an email saying they are in stock for $4.99 again for anyone interested. They also have the Glock 33 Rd version for $7.50.

Paid $10 at the fun show for one, not knowing what it was.  Pics:

https://www.ar15.com/forums/general/Name-this-mag/5-2556424/

Thanks for the heads up . Was looking to buy 10 but $21.05 shipping to VA is a bit steep.

https://thecastlearms.com/product/sds-mag-ar-55.6223-30rd

I was going to buy a few to try out, but that almost $21.00 dollars in shipping has me holding off.

Magpul was once an off brand magazine.

Ordered 10 yesterday, already being shipped, even with the high shipping cost it's still $7 a mag. Worth a try, they can become range mags if anything.

Shipping makes these a difficult swallow. I can get 10 pmags on sale for not much more.

The mags just showed up, 2 days, initial impression, they seem decent, drop free from different brands of lowers, even from my Andersons which have difficulty with 2nd gen Magpuls. They have an over insertion stop. They feel a bit slick in the hand and the translucent quality is a bit on the darker side compared to my ETS Glock mags, but you can still identify  the remaining rounds. Don't quite feel as substantial as the Magpuls. The followers are light grey and are anti-tilt and disassembly is easy. Think I'm going put the full 30 rounds in a couple of them and leave them loaded for a while and see how they hold up. I'll take them to the range the next time I go.

This is a legit concern with polycarbonate.  It has terrible chemical resistance.  Most plastic mags are made of glass filled nylon because of its excellent chemical resistance.  That is the main reason that polycarbonate is not used under the hood in automotive applications, and nylon is.

They are back down to the $4.99 price again. Use code 10BUCKSOFF for $10 off the order. It appears to be limited to 50 uses so I know it's down to at least 49

Code appears to be used up now.

I don't like you anymore.

50 uses seemed to be a very small quantity, I wouldn't be shocked if they don't offer something similar in the future with a greater quantity of use given how quickly it got used up.  If their website tracks how many times others try the code without success, they'll see that they are probably missing out on a large number of orders due to their shipping rates being a bit high.

I emailed them regarding their ridiculously high shipping:
My email:

Hello,
Why are your shipping rates so high? I am trying to order some ar15 mags, and whether I add 2 or 10 to the shopping cart, shipping is approximately $20. This is really high compared to other vendors. Don't you offer any kind of flat rate shipping or free shipping for a certain dollar threshold?  Or any discount promo codes?


Their response:

Good morning, Nick.  Our shipping is at a flat rate.  It is due to the weights of the products and the location of the customer.  At this time we do not have any promo codes.

The Castle Armstrong

It's flat shipping based on the weight?

Yes, apparently 2 ar15 magazines weigh the same as 10 ar15 magazines,  and it seems they are made of lead , not plastic

Just to follow up on these, I've got about 30 of these in service with a group of 15 people who have done a lot of training with them, to include drops on concrete and use coming in and out of full kit for mag changes, movement in structures and in and out of vehicles. Several 100's of rounds loaded in and unloaded by firing and manual unloading in each mag in temps that ranged from 10* to 95*. They've worked without issue and they work with the larger size speed loaders that you can buy where you cram 30 rounds in at a time. Needless to say, for what I paid I've been happy with how they performed over the last few months. If the thread doesn't disappear before I forget to update again, I'll try to do so.

Costs more to ship 10 mags a mere five hours than the mags themselves

Bummer, because I'd like to try them.

Would you mind sharing the retailer that previously also had them for $5?

Regarding the expensive shipping from Castle Arms, I agree it's a pain but for what it's worth I tested today and the price doesn't increase from the $19.95 they charge for even a single mag until you add >83 to your cart. At that point it jumps in various small increments every 4 mags or so. Granted I don't know who is going to drop $434.12 for 83 mags shipped but if anyone decides to pursue that option it works out to $5.24 (rounded down to nearest cent) each shipped. A group buy with local buddies would probably be the best way to go about that.

Agreed. I certainly don't blame anyone for not being keen on buying a whole bunch of inexpensive off brand mags without a track record. I appreciate you creating this thread OP and everyone else for their input. Hopefully we can build a record of their success/failures.

It's been a while, but I'm pretty sure it was BattleHawk... they also can have odd ball shipping rates.

Woke up this morning and checked this thread. Began using the UPC code OP posted and found these mags for $1.16 here. Already ordered 100, hope vendor comes through!

I guess I just bought the last 39...  tried to order 50.

Double tap.

Nice score still!

That's a heck of a deal, let us know if you receive them or don't either way.

The order never fully went through.  I'm not sure if it was the overwhelming influx of orders or if they did a backdoor cancel.  I saw a confirmation screen but never an email.  An email came later to tell me to complete my order with a link to $8 magazines.

I got all 100 mags, haven’t opened the box yet. I’ve been busy and gotta make room in mom’s basement.

ETA: just cracked them open. They remind me of lancers without metal feed lips.

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Nice!

I have my 10 that I ordered, will be testing them this weekend. They all drop free from my Aero Lower.

Awesome, they drop free from 4 different brand lowers I tried.

Just test fired 3 of them today, they all worked perfectly as expected. No hiccups. They feel pretty nice too, not a cheap feeling mag.

That being said these will be strictly range mags, I’ll stick to Pmags for HD use

Just thought I'd check in and say that a decent sized batch of these that I have been letting folks use continues to run without issues for several mags worth of ammo each month since mid summer last year. Quite impressed at this price point.

Thanks for testing them.  Testing rifle mags is no longer a cheap endeavor.

I bought some about a year ago and left all 10 loaded in an ammo can. Took 3 of them out last week and all worked flawlessly.

I decided to buy 5 of these from Shaw Armament to try out.

https://www.shawarms.com/products/magazines-sds-mar30rdmpc-713135218997-5176


Cutting open the cheap cellophane wrappers and feeling the polycarb (?) plastic, I wasn't really impressed initially...thought it felt like airsoft-grade equipment.

I figured I'd risk $6 and sacrifice one to do some drop tests. First, I dropped it empty from shoulder height onto the concrete floor of my garage onto the baseplate, feedlips and sides several times each...no visible damage. Then I loaded 30 rounds and dropped it from @ 2' onto the concrete floor in the same sequence. I was expecting either the baseplate to shatter, the spine to split or the feedlips to break (or all the above)...I was surprised to find no damage again. I banged on the baseplate to see if the feedlips had spread or were damaged enough to dislodge rounds...took about 6 heavy whacks to finally get the top round to pop out. I was pleasantly impressed.

While they won't be replacing my PMag or aluminum USGI mags for serious use, I'll definitely throw them into the rotation for range mags and see how they continue to work.

Just bought 10 shaw still has them in stock.

That's where I was at when I started this thread. They still wouldn't be my first choice to charge I to combat with but at this point I've continued to see the mags I have tested twice a month with a decent size group continue to perform without problems so in a pinch I'd trust them more than say the old C products mags that had feedlip problems and definitely more than the stamped steel mags that came from some unknown importer.

I dropped one loaded (on purpose) on the rear of the feed lips and it cracked. Rounds flew all out of the magazine. Also it won’t hold loaded ammo anymore.

If you still have it, post a few photos.

If you can post info on:
how much use the mag had prior to failure
how it was stored
weather when the failure happened
how high of a drop you gave it
what it landed on
what you did to control the fall so it would impact on the rear of the feed lips

I'm curious to hear what you've seen happen with pmags/USGI mags that are given the same treatment. USGI's seem to be prone to bending the feed lips when dropped on the feed lips and I've got 5 or 6 pmags with cracked spines/feed lips from wear and tear. It'd be interesting to hear how much more fragile these SDS mags are as your report is the first failure I've read of.

I’ll post a pic tonight. I dropped it from about waist level on concrete. The mag was stored in my house. Only had it about 6 months or so maybe shot 60 rounds or so through it.

Same here... I was thinking that.



Their older polymer AR mag and here's their current Gen 2 mag.

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Little superglue & it'll be right as rain.