I am a firm believer that mag capacity will be limited by the federal government, whether we like it or not. It may happen next year or it may happen in 10 years. It really just depends when a mass shooting similar to Sandy Hook happens and who's in office.

I have decided to maybe buy around 20 mags or so. Yes, I know PMAGS are great and highly recommended. I love them and have never had a problem with them. My only concern is that they haven't been time-tested. We have no idea if they will start to fail 10-15 years down the line.

So I'm just wondering which mags, in your opinion, will last the longest.

You need more than 20. How many do you need for the rest of your life, how many for the lifetime of your children and their children...

USGI,   Mags

Magazines are a consumable component.  Have spares.

One would presume that steel magazines might be more rugged than aluminum or polymer, but might experience corrosion at some point.

20 per rifle, you mean, right?

Okay are the BEST USGI that I have ever used.

I'm using some Vietnam era Colt straight 20's that function perfectly.  Stick to USGI's.  OKAY/Center and D&H are my favorites.  The Brownells USGI's are pretty good mags as well

Penthouse. In on 1

Just buy pmags and don't load them.

Okay Industries. Prowl the Equipment Exchange periodically and grab the GI "surplus" mags when they show up.

None. The very nature of magazines are disposable

That being said the only true time tested mags are usgi.

Damn my old school 20's from the 70's still run

In the event of a ban, I'd be much more concerned about theft or loss of mags. Sure you can damage them if you try, but chances are slim that you'll wear out a good quality mag. That being said, I like Pmags and Lancer AWM. In addition, I bought NHMTG and D&H ten packs with Magpul followers when they were on sale. All work flawlessly and should outlast me.

How many mags do you plan to use on a range trip? Multiply that # by 3 or 4 and buy your preferred mag. Then watch for sales on other brands and buy when you can. DSG has D&H mags with Magpul followers for $10.50 each at the moment.

To each their own, but I don't know why anybody would buy only one brand of AR magazine. There are some to stay away from. There's plenty of good ones too.

I agree.....Don't load all your mags.

Buy at least 10 mags per AR.  If you can, buy more and store them unopened.

My thoughts exactly. Love my pmags,but I have been wanted some more  with a track record. I've had some USGI aluminum that I got in the early 90's that were old then-they still function fine.  I was down in south caroline the other week,stopped by the PSA store.Those guys are great. Picked up some DH Teflon coated mags for 8 bucks ! They had cases of them......SWEET!!

BIG +1

I only use 2 mags at the range. The rest I keep in their sealed packaging. I've sold too many firearms with opened (that's "used" on the market) mags and not used them. Then when selling them off you take a HUGE hit. My advice is, if you don't NEED to use them, keep them in their sealed packaging in case you want to sell them later.

The only ones proven by time to last are US GI. Although PMAGs are robust and reliable, how long will the polymer last before it becomes brittle? Maybe a scientist or engineer that specializes in the modern materials can answer this question. Maybe today's plastics will last 50 or 100 years... Maybe not.

I had some Wilson Combat 1911 magazines fail this summer. They were about 10 years old and only saw moderate use, and very little abuse. If they were dropped free, it was usually onto grass. Two of the three suffered failure of the plastic base pad in that cracks developed in the flats and grooves where the pad slides into the magazine body. Had one pad come right off in my hand during a reload. Inspected the other two and found one to be OK and one to be near failure. Wilson replaced all three no questions asked.

Was the plastic becoming brittle with age? Exposure to oil/solvents?  Poor design? Overuse? I don't know...

On the other hand, I have Gen1 Glock 17 magazines that I've had since they first came out in 1985 or so. Still function fine and show no signs of deterioration...

1DD

I like PMAGS, but I've also got ~200 USGI mags.  Whatever you decide to get - buy it cheap and stack it deep!





       
 

USGI. Actual gov, cage coded, etc not "mil spec" but actual MIl

And twenty won't do it, twenty per rifle minimum. And yes, lowers and magazines for kids etc.

USGI would be a decent choice, so long as you can avoid corrosion. My personal choice would probably
be a shit ton of Lancer AWMs.

To be honest, I think most folks here sort of over-do it.  But if it brings you joy, awesomeness.  Unless you are burning through thousands of rounds a year, and abusing your magazines doing it, It's pretty rare for mags to actually wear out.  I shoot M1 Garand clips that are 60 years old just fine.  I shoot >30 year old aluminum GI magazines just fine.  

A baseline of 4 30 rnd magazines, and 3 20 round magazines will serve you just fine for the rest of your life.  I personally like Lancer, as the wear part is steel - which will last forever, yet the body is translucent plastic, which also will last a long time, is light, see through, and of dimensions compatible with magazine pouches - and they stack easier.  If I were going to store in a dry box to pick up 1000 years from now, I'd probably get steel magazines, disassemble, and immerse in oil.  For your lifetime, get a handful of aluminum GI magazines, a handful of Lancer's, and maybe some PMags, and when you die you'll discovered you bought 3 times as many magazines as you've ever used in one setting for the rest of your life -including replacements for the 1 that maybe went bad over the next 50 years.  Your kids will use them for the rest of their lives just fine too.

Be aware that many people find they prefer 20's to 30's.  They are easier to use at the range from a bench, as well as from prone.  They weight less.  They insert consistent with how the AR controls were originally designed (i.e. upon insertion, a 20 naturally places your free hand thumb directly over the bolt release, making for smoother transition).  They don't jut out and snag stuff, and they make for a lighter rifle which is easier to handle and fire.  They also hold 20 rounds.  20 rounds is plenty for any encounter you are ever going to have.  If you are fending off some kind of government supported home invasion - you are going to lose.  

Don't get me wrong - get some 30's too.  I just never use mine.  Maybe if I get into 3-gun....

Im not sure whats going to "last" the longest, but for now, I am sure to buy quality mags. I have had great experiences with Magpul Pmags, both the 20 rounders and 30's, and the Lancer L5 Translucent magazines. They may not "last' as long as USGI mags, but I buy enough of them to keep for many years.

Ask any armorer.

I've never had a Wilson Combat mag fail. And I've got a bunch of them. But all of mine have aluminum base pads on them.

I only buy PMAGs anymore.   Every time I drop USGI mags during malfunction/reload drills, the feed lips get screwed up and they stop working.  Pain in the butt.

I stocked up for my kid with mix of metal and poly mags. Something has to last right?

This. I had a USGI magazine that was loaded slide out of the floor of my truck onto a dirt road at the ranch and mess up a feed lip and bulge the area around the mag so it wouldn't fit back in the gun. I tried for about 30 minutes to fix it, but couldn't. I had the same thing happen to a PMAG, except it fell further to the road from the seat of my truck. It was fine and no rounds even popped out. The dirt road is pretty hard-packed, but still much more forgiving than a paved road. This "test" sold me on PMAGs. I will keep the 10 or so USGI mags I have for use at the range with the suppressor so I don't dirty up my PMAGs as much.

PMAGs. Most of my USGIs were issued to me, almost all of the mags I have personally bought are PMAGs. I still use some that I had with me last deployment. Got banged around in armored vehicles, carried every day, dropped occasionally and are still going strong. I'm sold for life and won't spend my money on anything else.

Any specific PMAG model preferred? M2 or M3? Window or non-window?

Doesn't matter in Colorado, you aren't allowed to transfer older mags to anyone.
AK magazines?

I've been buying/using gen 3's lately, but the gen 2's were what I used on my deployment and are still going strong, so get whatever you can find the best deal on. I have a few windowed mags but it isn't necessary, IMHO.

seriously figure out how man you think you need and double/triple that amount

we are living in the good old days of mag availability and price



buy'em cheap and stack'em deep