I've been using teh same mags for a while now, about 10 30's and 10 20's all OKAY and COLT respectively.

NEver had a problem with any of them (theones I have had issues with have been discarded of course).

My 30's have a mix of green and black followers, teh 20's have metal ones.

What I'm worried about most is more the mag bodies than anything else.

I recently got 6 of the English SA80 mags cause I wanted some steel ones and I've had good luck with them, but mainly cause I'm getting a long range rifle soon and wanted different color mags for different ammos .

Anyhow back to the point....  One upgrade I want is orange magpul followers for all my mags, and while I'm at it, the springs on my mags have got to be older than me, so why not replace those.

So should I get new followers and springs for my collection, or just trash them and get some new mags?

CJ,

Just stash the old mags and get new ones. One can never have too many mags. If you do want to upgrade the old ones, CProducts sells replacement springs and followers. Larry has posted about the differences between the springs his company offers.

IMO, the magpul follower is a "nice to have", but not a necessity.


Larry,

Can you tell us the difference in the springs again? Can you explain "taking a set" and compression cycles?

I only ask cause of the CProducts ad - 20 rounders for 10.50 with CS springs and the orange MP follower.  Though I really want to replace my 30 roudners with steel, the 20's are so short that in the magwell with a magpul on they're pretty well protected from bumps.

You probably should look into the CProducts Stainless Steel Mags.   The reviews here have been excellent on the stainless (as well as the aluminum) mags from CProducts.  

Quoted: You probably should look into the CProducts Stainless Steel Mags.   The reviews here have been excellent on the stainless (as well as the aluminum) mags from CProducts.

didn't even know they had those!

25$ ain't bad...................IF it would come with an orange magpul follower!

I took 30 USGI 30 round magazines which I bought during the band and rebuilt them. I selected the magazines which were in the best shape and all 30 were practically in brand new condition, but technically used. Some needed to be rebuilt, but most didn't so I did them all to be safe. I purchased 3 or Tapco's 30 round magazine revitilizing kits which included 10 springs, 10 followers and 10 dust covers per kit. The springs/followers are identical to USGI componets and function is the same. I was able to rebuild 30 magazines and return them to brand new condition for less than 60.00 which is much cheaper than I could buy 30 USGI magazines. While Tapco makes some real junk, these kits don't fall into this category. These magazines function everybit as well as my D&H, Okay or Center Industries LEO and are everybit as reliable. While I have 20 or so seperate defensive magazines which consist of brand new D&H/Cproducts/Okay/Center I would have no problem using these as defensive magazines. These are my practice magazines and I have fired thousands of rounds through them without any problems. The only thing I have noted is the Tapco green follower isn't as "soft" as USGI green followers. The Tapco follower is a green, anti-tilt design but it appears to be made of the same material as the older "black" follower which could make it more brittle. I have dropped several loaded/unloaded magazines and have yet to have one breakage while I have broken the followers of 3 SA80 steel magazines after dropping them on the pavement while fully loaded.

To increase my supply of "defensive" magazines, I was going rebuild 10 of mint condition Labelle/General Stamping magazines with IMSI or Wolff Springs and Magpul followers. I figured I could do this for 7.00 per magazine. Brand new Cproducts magazines with CS springs and Magpul Gen 2 followers are 10.50. With magazines so, cheap it doesn't make sense to rebuild magazines, unless they are rare/desierable like USGI 20's or FNC magazines. Magazines won't be this cheap forever, so stock up now while you can or you will regret it. Personally, brand new magazines are preferable to rebuilt/used magazines. I ordered 8 Cproducts magazines with orange magpul followers today to increase my supply of defensive magazines. I intend to order at least 3 more lots of 8 magazines, configured the same way. Magpul followers are an improvement over USGI green followers, and they can increase reliability of the magazine. I have never had a problem with "black" followers, let alone "green" followers. Personally, I think a stock grey/black D&H magazine is as good, if not better than any other magazine. I haven't had problems with my D&H magazines or thier followers, so I don't consider Magpul followers to be a "mandatory" upgrade.

I think you should consider the Tapco revitilizing kit for your magazines. Its very cost effective and provided you start with good magazines, they will be as functional and reliable as a stock D&H or NHTMG magazine even if the kit did come from Tapco. For 20.00 you get 10 springs/10 followers/10 dust covers in a paratrooper pouch, wich holds like 18 magazines and can attach to your belt. Some might say that USGI 30 round magazines with IMSI/Wolff springs and Magpul followers are better/more reliable than standard D&H/Okay/Brownells/Larsen etc magazines. I don't necessarily agree, but I give credit where credit is due. The improved springs/followers can make for a more reliable magazine, but I have found brand new USGI contract magazines to be 100% reliable and while the modifications are nice and could potentially help, I don't consider them mandatory. While I will have 24 Cproducts magazines with orange Magpul followers, I am not about to tear into 70+ magazines which have never given me any problems just to instal Magpul followers. While they can improve function/reliability, USGI 30's have been working well for years all over the world, even with "black" followers. The 12 magazines my friend carried into battle in Iraq looked abhorent, some of which had "black" followers. He reported they all workd 100% and he experienced no problems. Only you can decide whether its worth it or not....they are nice, but not mandatory for me.

Quoted: 25$ ain't bad...................IF it would come with an orange magpul follower!

I think the follower will be green (prototype color) or grey/gray on the SS mags.  I'd wait to see some reviews of the first production batch. (Actually I wouldn't, I've ordered some) The people I trust on the net have said they are great mags.  So I did so with confidence.  I don't need all the fingers on one hand to count the peole I trust on the net...


TS

no matter what, I'll never buy aluminmum mags again.  now that cproducts have SS and there are british sa80 and HKm4 mags, there's no excuse to use disposable mags over and over again.

Quoted: I think you should consider the Tapco revitilizing kit for your magazines. Its very cost effective and provided you start with good magazines, they will be as functional and reliable as a stock D&H or NHTMG magazine even if the kit did come from Tapco. For 20.00

Do you have a link for this product?

Quoted: no matter what, I'll never buy aluminmum mags again.  now that cproducts have SS and there are british sa80 and HKm4 mags, there's no excuse to use disposable mags over and over again.

The CProducts SS magazine come with a special follower based on the magpul. You can't change it, but there is no need to.

Quoted: Quoted: I think you should consider the Tapco revitilizing kit for your magazines. Its very cost effective and provided you start with good magazines, they will be as functional and reliable as a stock D&H or NHTMG magazine even if the kit did come from Tapco. For 20.00 Do you have a link for this product?

Also, go to CProducts and look at their mag kits.
There are so many variations, it becomes very confusing.
I'm considering CS spring and MagPul follower 3-pack kits for my refinished steel mags.