People are always talking about USGI pre ban mags, but the prices are getting out of hand...20 bucks for a used mag??? ...ok call me cheap but whatever. I picked up 3 orlites from a gun show at 8 bucks each, just to try out, blocked them off to 15rnds (Jersey's gay ass laws) and brought them home. Tried fitting them into my AR, fit a little too snug, but they still fit just fine, just dont drop fast(could be fixed with sope sanding)

I brought them to the range yesterday and was really suprised! they work just as good as my GI mags, one mag neded to be trimmed a bit because it didnt cartch the bolt (5 second fix with a pocket knife), and at least to me, they look cooler, too bad I cant get that dumb isreal sticker off.

Well anyway, if anyone has ever been told to stay away from the orlite mags, try them out you may be suprised and for the price you can get 2 or even 3 for the price of a GI mag, and these are new!

Best regards, Chris

I use them in my bushmaster for target shooting; they are about 10 bucks at AIM Surplus.  I have heard many say that they don't fit in their AR, but they work fine (although I had to return a couple that didn't hold well in the mag well, they exchanged them no problem).  Lots of folks mention that they may be susceptible to bulging in situations of long term loaded storage.  It depends on what the fiber embedded in the plastic matrix is (if indeed there is any reinforcing fiber...).  Also occasionally I have had problems with stripping the first round out of a 30 round load, solved that by only loading to 25.

Does anyone know what the fiber/matrix composition of these mags is?

Sheesh, is it any wonder why people say stick to the USGI's??? C'mon fellas, yours dont drop free without sanding them (which will further weaken mags that are already weak), got to load with only 25 rounds or they wont feed, have to trim it to get the bolt to catch... All to get new mags to work? No thank you.

I have never had any problems and yes there is reinforcing fiber in mine atleast

The trick is picking out the good ones... thats all with 2 minutes of work you have a great mag for a half or even a third of the price of a standard GI mag... On another note, anyone have success with any aftermarket steal mags? I got one for free and boy it sucked...
Best regards

Orlites work great in Colts and poorly in Bushmasters.  There are Orlite mags dedicated to our one Colt that work fine.  Bushmasters sometimes pop the top round out into the action as they pinch the mag upon insertion.  We keep Orlites strictly for our Colt and away from the Bushmaster.  A careful sanding can help them with the Bushmaster but it does provide a weak point.

None of the steel mags have been worth using except for the mags produced for Britain's SA-80 rifles and I have a boatload of them for my go pack and they work beautifully in all of the AR-15s we've tried them in.

Thermolds and Orlites are why I take my AR to the funshows.  Check them there and get the ones that work best.  Hell, I even check the USGI mags.

I recently got 4 cheap refurbed ones from Keisler's wholesale. I was worried at first, because they all had numbers below the insertion rib position change (see the FAQ). As it turns out, three of them fit, function, and drop free just fine. The third one suffers from the insertion rib problem and will take a little TLC. Overall, worth the price by a long shot.
 BTW- this is an RRA lower.

  -Hobbit

I recently got 6 Orlites and the review is mixed. They all fit in the Bushy lower, but required some extra force to get the catch to engage. Fully loaded 30s did cause some FTF. Also, they don't react well to dirty feed ramps.

For the $9 I paid for them, I suppose they aren't too bad - better than the USA mags.

Now I've been reading on here where some guys are heavily tweaking the USA mags to get them to feed reliably. I am going to play around with them to see what I can come up with.

Overall the USGIs are still the top with Thermolds running second.

I had nothing but trouble with mine.  I bought a dozen of them new a few years back, and they've never worked right.  Damn things didn't fit well (it was a real pain just getting them to lock into my Oly CAR), and they jammed up every other shot.  I switched to some used USGIs and haven't had any trouble since.

For me, they have been as reliable as USGI.  Two problems though.  First, a lot of them do not drop free.  Second, if you insert them into the mag well with a lot of force, they tend to spill a round of two into the reciever.

I use them as range mags only.

I tried a few when I first got my AR, didn't care for them.  I don't have to worry about expensive GI mags, I've got a supplier who can get me 85%+ 30 or 20 rd mags for $10/each.[:D]

I have four or five. ALL work fine. NEVER had a jam or other problems. They are reinforced around the mouth with a brass or copper mesh/screen , which is imbedded inside the plastic. I consider these to be some of the best ar mags available, regardless of price. Also to those critics of "plastic" mags, just one word "GLOCK".........hope this helps, Hagal

Also on mags. This is one of the best info pages on ar mags that I found.........http://www.fulton-armory.com/ARMags.htm