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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Why Ranger plates? (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 2/23/2007 4:27:35 AM EDT
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I'm new to the ARs and got a set of Ranger plates and Magpul rubber thingies to try out. Tried the Ranger plates and found out I lose I or 2 rounds on a Brownell 30 rd. mag. Could not get them to work with my 20s. Even with a Magpul follower I did not feel confident with the full capacity. The rubber pulls seems to provide protection and some handling benefits without compromising capacity or reliability and they work with 30s and 20s. What am I missing about the Ranger plates? |
The Ranger way and the AR15.com way are usually about 180 degrees apart. I'm surprised you havn't been flamed to a cinder. 
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I replaced Ranger Roll with Ranger Plate from another thread. Ranger Roll According to leo6223, if the word Ranger is anywhere in the title, it can only be used or done by Rangers, everyone else is just posing. |
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I never have understood what the ranger plates do better tahn a roll of gutted 550 cord with a clipped zip tie in it. The 550 method makes for a sturdy yet flexible pull tab on the mag that is much lower profile and allows the mags to fit in a satndard pouch. I can also make about 100 550 pulls for the price of 3 'Ranger Plates.' |
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Ranger plates were designed by Magpul to separate the Ninja wannabee members of police SWAT teams across the country from their (read that as YOUR) money. More reasonable members of society are happy with either duct tape and string or the original Magpul if you want something easy to use and neat. True rangers just use their teeth (or those of anyone who gets in their way too often). |
| I've never used Ranger plates, never even heard of them untill 2 years ago. But I traded for three mags a month ago that had them. I'll tell you where they work well. If you have a tactical bag with deep mag pockets these things really work quickly. 55 Gord works well in Mags and you can snap them shut, but I'm going to use the three R plates I have in the tactical bag. |
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Ranger plates are expensive, but a great product. Back in the day, my unit used gutted 550 and 100mph tape to achieve the same thing. But the Ranger Plates do some things that the 550 cord does not. 1. They add a nice bumper to the bottom of the magazine, protecting the lips that secure the floor plate. Under fire, mag changes don't always allow the luxury of removing the spent mag, placing it in a dump pouch and replacing it with a fresh one. Often times, that first mag drops to the ground and is retrieved later. 2. The Ranger Plates always stay upright and provide an always grab-able loop. This allows you to retrieve a mag from a pouch without even looking. Muscle memory pays dividens in combat. 550 cord and 100mph tape provide a loop, but there is no structure to it and it often becomes squished down against the floor plate when a pouch lid is closed tightly over it. When wearing gloves, it can sometimes be difficult to catch the looped 550 cord. If I was back in the sandbox today, I would have Ranger Plates on every one of my mags. As a civie, I have them on all my mags anyway. I consider them a great investment and superior to the tried and true 550 cord. |
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i used ranger plates when i was in the sand box. 1. because they stick up, unlike 550 cord which lies limp and is hard to grip in a hurry with gloves on. 2. because I can. 3. any amount of money i can spend that could on a product that could mean life of death, I'm spending. (what is your life worth?) 4. and to quote a ranger buddy of mine "ya gotta feel solid when ya whack somebody". |
The name Ranger Plate comes from way back in 2000 when a Ranger unit tested the original Magpul and said they made the mag too thick to fit into the Ranger RACK system. The Ranger unit liked the Magpul when used but it needed to fit into the pouches so we set about developing a floorplate loop which got the term the Ranger's floorplate during this process. The name stuck and that is that. |
Before we released the Ranger Plate we told a number of instructors and units about the round limitation due to the USGI design and all said SOP was to load 28 anyway so this was a non issue. |
Another photo of a Mall Ninja using a Ranger plate. This wannbee just finished 3 days of house to house fighting in Fallujah only to show of his rifle for gun porn.  If you do not like our stuff, then don't use it. That is why we have a sixty day, no questions asked, return policy. We however will continue to build items for those in the photo above. Bandering around terms like mall ninja just because they use different equipment is ignorant. |
Thanks for making your magplates. |
Hey! I never mentioned anything about malls! A bit touchy aren't we? I thought the question so dumb that it required a dumb response. I thought the response was so evidently intended to be humorous that it didn't need a smiley attached. Apparently I was wrong.... FWIW, I think your products are generally excellent, use them, and recommend them to others. |
good one |
Back this up. and dont give me shit about you know some guy who fought somewhere sometime and he said to load to 28rds. I would like to hear about your first hand experience with GI issued mags failing when loaded to 30rds under combat conditions. i see what the Magpul rep posted but in a decade of service and combat on 3 continents in all kinds of joint environments i have NEVER seen anyone load 28rds. the guys who load 28rds are usually the same ones who hang their knives upside down and think the 5.56 tumbles through the air like a football. |
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Down loading has been beat to death here a million times. I don't know many people who don't down load anymore. This statement make me think your a little old school, not a bad thing. "i have NEVER seen anyone load 28rds. the guys who load 28rds are usually the same ones who hang their knives upside down and think the 5.56 tumbles through the air like a football. " |
We do not post who uses our products unless it is public information. After seven years of naysayers we are still here and shipping more product than ever to units and individuals that do some very difficult jobs in protecting us. We know who they are and are humbled to be supplying them with equipment they feel is nessesary. Old School is fine if it keeps you alive. At the same time ignoring anything new just because you never have done it differently is ignorant. I hated this ignorance with a passion while I was serving. Whenever I asked "why are we doing it this way?" the reply was usally "Because we have ALWAYS done it this way". Sometimes I found out the good reason for doing something a particular way other times I found the reason for the method had long since gone and yet the proccdure was still in place. So yes I can get a little touchy on this sometimes. |
I will not go into particular active units SOPs but there are lots of serious units whose SOP is to load 28 rounds in a mag. A quick sample of the A list military instructors will have a sizable amount saying load 28 rounds. Pat Rogers even said this in a SWAT magazine story a little while back. This SOP has to do with keeping the same muscle memory in loading a full mag as opposed to a partially full one. The second round is removed to place the first round in the stack on the right side. On the PMag we extended the length to fit the full 30 rounds with some room to seat fully loaded with the same pressure as partly full. |
Okay, I understand the point of downloading mags (and I do it), but I don't understand this at all. Why does it matter what side the first round in the mag feeds from? The rifle doesn't care. Supersition? Tradition? What is it? |
Hey, where do I get one of those 300 round mags?  BTW, CJ's explanation is is exactly why I download by two. |
That's what I'm getting at, there doesn't seem to be any logical reason to want the first round on the right side of the mag. The system is designed to feed from both sides of the magazine. That's the definition of a double stack, two position feed magazine. To say that one side is "preferred" is just silly. |
It has something to do with the roataion of the bolt is my guess. |
I hate to name drop, but Pat Rogers and Larry Vickers both advocate loading with 28 rounds and I'd bet $100 Ken Hackathorn recommends it as well. I put 100% faith in what Larry has to say. |
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Hey, I'm learning a lot from all the paths. What I get is that the Ranger plates and the rubber pull thingies from Magpull are functionally interchangeable. One is easily removable, cheap, grabbable, protects the bottom and allows you to load 30 if you want to. Another one is not easily removable, not as cheap, grabbable but differently (hole in other axis), also protects the bottom and goes to 28. Didn't know about the Ranger RACK system. Good to know that the plates were designed for a specific application. I was curious why Magpull would produce both products. So thanks. Back to writing emails on MD SB43. |
The primary mission of the Ranger Plate is to add the loop without any extra bulk on the sides of the magazine. It actually only makes you lose one round (28 is just the SOP), it has to do that to have a locking floorplate which is a must with a grab loop attached. We build both because those who like the Ranger generally do not like the Magpul and reversed. |
OK, so who are they?? 28 vs. 30 rounds....sounds about as exciting as Ham Slice vs. Meatloaf.(or grey vs. orange followers) 
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Pat Rogers and Larry Vickers. |
| Intresting....I found some stuff about Larry quite easily from the link. (not so easy to find Pat's beliefs) Larry says not to keep mags loaded which I find intresting as the AR15.com "experts" say it is OK. He also says the M16 30 round mag was designed to only take 28 rounds. ( I thought Troy(remember him??)always said the exact opposite) He also seems to be a big fan of OEM (I asume he means USGI mags) as well as H&K M16 mags. No mention of C Products or Magpul...... |
Pat did a story in SWAT magazine (FEB 2006) called "Magazine Redux - Making life eaiser 28 rounds at a time". www.swatmag.com/archive_2006/img/feb06_toc.jpg They don't have the text of the story on the website but you get an idea from the title. |
Try this: 28 Rounds and Lubrication |
[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Why Ranger plates? (Page 1 of 2)
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