Strait vs. Curved

AR-15 » Magazines

AR Sponsor:

Posted: 3/29/2006 9:18:05 PM EDT

Is there any advantage of a strait 20rd mag vs. a curved one? Ive got a curved one and of course it works fine, but what would the advantage be of a strait one, looks only, maybe iam missing something.

Posted: 3/30/2006 1:25:57 AM EDT

[#1]

Straight is traditional - metal followers, and such. Have dozens. I have never had a glitch with a straight 20.

Curved are newer, doubtless a manufacturing expedient. I have 10 of these. And I have never had a glitch with a curved 20.

But then I've never had a problem with a USGI 30. Guess I'm just lucky.

Now as for Orlites.............

Sam

Posted: 3/30/2006 3:00:28 AM EDT

[#2]

Straight is legal for service rifle competition. Curved isn't.

Posted: 3/30/2006 4:35:51 AM EDT

[#3]

BOTH SHOULD BE BANNED!

Seriously... I've never seen or tried the curved. Straight have such an extraordinary reputation that I see no need to deviate from them!

Posted: 3/30/2006 1:01:42 PM EDT

[#4]

Which sticks down farther out of the gun?

Posted: 3/30/2006 3:38:22 PM EDT

[#5]

Quoted:
Which sticks down farther out of the gun?

Curved, but not by much.

I prefer the old straight 20's.

Posted: 3/31/2006 10:25:56 AM EDT

[#6]

There's not a whole lot of difference in function.

Straight were the original design. Since the follower isn't going around a bend, the stock one works fine without any anti-tilt modifications. Which is good, because the magpul followers don't fit. They were the mil-std all through the Vietnam era, and they look better, IMHO.

Curved 20s are cheaper and easier to find, since they are basically cut down 30s. MOST manufacturers don't need two separate dies for the shell. They use the normal 30 rd followers, so it is possible to tilt, but it's ok because the magpul followers do fit these (also the ranger plates). That pushes the price up to only a couple of $ less than the straight 20s.

ETA: CProducts has separate dies for 20s and 30s

Posted: 3/31/2006 10:31:52 AM EDT

[#7]

Quoted:

Curved 20s are cheaper and easier to find, since they are basically cut down 30s. The manufacturers don't need two separate dies for the shell. They use the normal 30 rd followers.

Wow! I didn't know that.

So the curved twenties dont have the feed lip design of the original twenty?
Then I would definitely opt for the STRAIGHT 20s over the Curved. The feed lip design, in my opinion, is what made the original 20 the better mag. Not the metal follower.

I wouldn't want the reduce capacity of the 20, and still have those sharp, back corners of the feed lips that get dinged and cause feeding problems.

Posted: 3/31/2006 10:35:10 AM EDT

[#8]

T Money,
C Products 20 round magazines are manufactured from a separate progressive die. It is a dedicated die just for 20 round magazines. Your post concerning other manufacturers is correct. The magpul follower works very well in our curved 20.

Larry
C Products

Posted: 3/31/2006 10:37:53 AM EDT

[#9]

Quoted:
Quoted:

Curved 20s are cheaper and easier to find, since they are basically cut down 30s. The manufacturers don't need two separate dies for the shell. They use the normal 30 rd followers.

Wow! I didn't know that.

So the curved twenties dont have the feed lip design of the original twenty?
Then I would definitely opt for the STRAIGHT 20s over the Curved. The feed lip design, in my opinion, is what made the original 20 the better mag. Not the metal follower.

I wouldn't want the reduce capacity of the 20, and still have those sharp, back corners of the feed lips that get dinged and cause feeding problems.

Yeah I agree. I wonder why they went away from that feedlip design.

Posted: 3/31/2006 10:52:03 AM EDT

[#10]

Quoted:
There's not a whole lot of difference in function.

Straight were the original design. Since the follower isn't going around a bend, the stock one works fine without any anti-tilt modifications. Which is good, because the magpul followers don't fit. They were the mil-std all through the Vietnam era, and they look better, IMHO.

Curved 20s are cheaper and easier to find, since they are basically cut down 30s. The manufacturers don't need two separate dies for the shell. They use the normal 30 rd followers, so it is possible to tilt, but it's ok because the magpul followers do fit these (also the ranger plates). That pushes the price up to only a couple of $ less than the straight 20s.

I had an old 20rnd mag that was pure shit.
Just last week, I took off the floorplate, broke the plate retaining tab and installed a Gen I MagPul follower. It fits, functions and feeds just fine. The only problem is that the floorplate wants to open, even if I put a bend in it (trying to create pressure against the tabs).

Posted: 3/31/2006 8:53:03 PM EDT

[#11]

Quoted:
Which sticks down farther out of the gun?

Curved 20's.

NHMTG 20rder (same design as Colt 20's), Bushmaster 10rder (ban mag), Bushmaster 20rder.

WIZZO

Posted: 4/1/2006 11:03:23 AM EDT

[#12]

Quoted:
Quoted:

Wow! I didn't know that.

So the curved twenties dont have the feed lip design of the original twenty?
Then I would definitely opt for the STRAIGHT 20s over the Curved. The feed lip design, in my opinion, is what made the original 20 the better mag. Not the metal follower.

I wouldn't want the reduce capacity of the 20, and still have those sharp, back corners of the feed lips that get dinged and cause feeding problems.

Yeah I agree. I wonder why they went away from that feedlip design.

Not everyone has ditched the original design. NHMTG (Okay/Colt or whatever you want to call them) still makes these and are not hard to find.

Posted: 4/6/2006 9:30:59 AM EDT

[#13]

As much as I love the looks of the straight 20 rounders:

IMHO the "new" feed lip design, with the feed lips not "in the air", but at least at the backside anchored to the mag body is WAY stronger!!

The front of the feed lips might be bent at both designs, but at the rear the "filled out space" of the 30 rounders simply holds the feed lip in place at the rear!

H

Posted: 4/6/2006 10:31:30 AM EDT

[#14]

Quoted:
Quoted:
Which sticks down farther out of the gun?

Curved 20's.

NHMTG 20rder (same design as Colt 20's), Bushmaster 10rder (ban mag), Bushmaster 20rder.

WIZZO

Thanks, just what I was looking for.

Posted: 4/6/2006 10:46:23 AM EDT

[#15]

the OLD COLT 20 rounders or USGI with METAL FOLLOWERS are the best mags EVER!!

I bought the NEW D&H 20rd mags they SUCK !!

compared to the 20 rounders with metal followers!

I trust my life with the old Colt mags

Posted: 4/6/2006 11:05:31 AM EDT

[#16]

Quoted:
As much as I love the looks of the straight 20 rounders:

IMHO the "new" feed lip design, with the feed lips not "in the air", but at least at the backside anchored to the mag body is WAY stronger!!

And WAY more prone to damage. Almost all the shit feeding 30s I've ever had to trash were problematic because of that "Stronger" area you're talking about. It's a nice sharp corner, and when it gets dented it screws up the alignment of the top round or rounds in your mag.

No amount of fancy followers or gold springs will help out. And there's no easy way to fix the damage as far as I know.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Strait vs. Curved

AR-15 » Magazines

AR Sponsor:

Warning

Confirm Action

About AR15.COM

Stay Connected

Newsletter

Contact Us