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Posted: 5/1/2011 12:01:17 AM EDT
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I got a few FDE non-window pmags not too long ago and I'm not convinced they aren't fakes. They came in a ziplock type bag with the cardboard backer. That part appears legit. They're the right shade of FDE as well so no issue there. But they look like the older style and compared to my new windowed ones that I KNOW are real the finish quality seems a little lower. The seams don't look as "neat" and right at the feed lips there are some seams that don't look too great. They look rough and unfinished compared to the newer style. Wasn't sure if this was just a result of improvements by Magpul as they adjusted their products or if this is an indication of a fake.
I'll see if I can get some pics up. Good windowed ones: Shows cutout for bolt. (notch) 
Feed Lip 
Spine 
Questionable ones: Notch area 
Feed lip 
Spine 
And a general image of excess material 
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I'm not surprised since the performance plastic raw material cost is easily less than $0.08 per mag. The tooling however is what makes It or breaks. Unfortunately, in the mold-making industry good and bad equipment is out there to copycat almost anything, and make it look like the real thing. Of course it was a matter of time for somebody to fake the PMag IMHO. It's easier to dupe a polymer mag than it is a Metal mag, because metal mags have an additional step - the finishing/coating process. For polymer mags, you just need to get close to the raw material specs, dead-on for the color, and then cheaper mold-making equipment to mass produce it...for less startup costs than for metal mags.
This is not to say that MagPul started up this way, and I don't think so. MagPul has alway exemplified top-notch engineering (which is what ya pay for really), and so their raw materials engineering, mold-making equipment, and other processes were never designed to be cheap or fly-by-night operations. But if this turns out to be truly from MagPul, I also wouldn't be surprised if they had to outsource some of the manufacturing. Who knows??? Be interesting to see what MagPul says about your mag. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
| I just checked a dozen of mine (non-Rev M, FDE window) and they all look similar to the one you are questioning. All mine came drom Brownells so I am completely confident they are factory mags. I only have a few Rev-M mags, but they look a little cleaner. I think your mags are real. |
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Maybe in the height of production their QC slipped a little bit.
I know there is copy european pmags but they look a little different... Gmag |
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I just checked a dozen of mine (non-Rev M, FDE window) and they all look similar to the one you are questioning. All mine came drom Brownells so I am completely confident they are factory mags. I only have a few Rev-M mags, but they look a little cleaner. I think your mags are real. Thanks for your reply. I didn't have any older ones to compare to. Maybe on this run it was time to clean the molds or something. |
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I just checked a dozen of mine (non-Rev M, FDE window) and they all look similar to the one you are questioning. All mine came drom Brownells so I am completely confident they are factory mags. I only have a few Rev-M mags, but they look a little cleaner. I think your mags are real. Thanks for your reply. I didn't have any older ones to compare to. Maybe on this run it was time to clean the molds or something. I'll take some pics in a little while to show you, but they look like yours. |
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does it function? I've got several that look like that and they all function fine. These were produced during a time when they were probably running machines 24/7 They seem smooth when loading or pushing down on the follower. I loaded a few up and cycled a few rounds and that seemed of as well. You make a good point about the 24/7. From what I've read on here there was a time that PMAGs were in short supply so that sounds plausible. I've only started getting PMAGS in the last 3 mos. so I've not had issue finding them. I haven't had them out at the range yet to test them while firing. Quoted:
They look just like my old non rev m pmags that I have in black and od. They function perfectly, so the scruff never bothered me, just flashing from the molds. Ya, the looks aren't that important if they function. I was just concerned because I've had cheap Chinese stuff in the past and I wanted to make sure that this wasn't the case here. I could always take some very fine sandpaper and clean up the edges to make sure there aren't any function issues. |
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Looks like someone tried dying them, I just three brand new 20rd pmags and they have a deep burn mark in them like someone pressed a soldering iron against it. Looks like the QC is going downhill That burn mark is a self trimming gate, part of the manufacturing process. It has no ill effect on performance or durabilty. What's your arguement for our quality going down hill? |
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Looks like someone tried dying them, I just three brand new 20rd pmags and they have a deep burn mark in them like someone pressed a soldering iron against it. Looks like the QC is going downhill That burn mark is a self trimming gate, part of the manufacturing process. It has no ill effect on performance or durabilty. What's your arguement for our quality going down hill? The mark is horrible looking, my 30 rounders dont have that, and there are absolutly NO marks on any of my Lancer mags which is why I dont understand why they are there. Now this has nothing to do with "quality" but the 20 rounders are very smooth while the 30 rounders I have have a rougher texture which you can see in this picture... 
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Looks like someone tried dying them, I just three brand new 20rd pmags and they have a deep burn mark in them like someone pressed a soldering iron against it. Looks like the QC is going downhill That burn mark is a self trimming gate, part of the manufacturing process. It has no ill effect on performance or durabilty. What's your arguement for our quality going down hill? The mark is horrible looking, my 30 rounders dont have that, and there are absolutly NO marks on any of my Lancer mags which is why I dont understand why they are there. Now this has nothing to do with "quality" but the 20 rounders are very smooth while the 30 rounders I have have a rougher texture which you can see in this picture... http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g165/InfiniteGrim/IMG_1462.jpg Really? 
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Looks like someone tried dying them, I just three brand new 20rd pmags and they have a deep burn mark in them like someone pressed a soldering iron against it. Looks like the QC is going downhill That burn mark is a self trimming gate, part of the manufacturing process. It has no ill effect on performance or durabilty. What's your arguement for our quality going down hill? The mark is horrible looking, my 30 rounders dont have that, and there are absolutly NO marks on any of my Lancer mags which is why I dont understand why they are there. Now this has nothing to do with "quality" but the 20 rounders are very smooth while the 30 rounders I have have a rougher texture which you can see in this picture... http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g165/InfiniteGrim/IMG_1462.jpg Really?
Looks like every 20rder I've ever seen. Maybe you should band saw it? |
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They look like the real deal to me. There's a bit of flashing that may have been missed in trimming. Give us a call and we'll repace them if there a concern. Cheers. If they look gtg to you and the rest of the gang then I think we should be good. If they appear to be off when they hit the range then I'll send them in. Quoted:
Looks like someone tried dying them, I just three brand new 20rd pmags and they have a deep burn mark in them like someone pressed a soldering iron against it. Looks like the QC is going downhill These are EXACTLY the same color as my "for sure" mags. And my newer mags are much better so to me that says the QC is going up. |
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They look like the real deal to me. There's a bit of flashing that may have been missed in trimming. Give us a call and we'll repace them if there a concern. Cheers. If they look gtg to you and the rest of the gang then I think we should be good. If they appear to be off when they hit the range then I'll send them in. Quoted:
Looks like someone tried dying them, I just three brand new 20rd pmags and they have a deep burn mark in them like someone pressed a soldering iron against it. Looks like the QC is going downhill These are EXACTLY the same color as my "for sure" mags. And my newer mags are much better so to me that says the QC is going up. I was looking at the middle section looks like a different color for some reason. Quoted:
I was expecting some big burnt mark on the side of the mag. If that is what you're talking about you should just find a different mag that looks pretty. Like bdawg998 said, all my 20rd pmags look just like that. It almost goes all the way through! They are my first 20rd pmags, no other polymer mag I have touched looked had anythign even like that! |
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They look like the real deal to me. There's a bit of flashing that may have been missed in trimming. Give us a call and we'll repace them if there a concern. Cheers. If they look gtg to you and the rest of the gang then I think we should be good. If they appear to be off when they hit the range then I'll send them in. Quoted:
Looks like someone tried dying them, I just three brand new 20rd pmags and they have a deep burn mark in them like someone pressed a soldering iron against it. Looks like the QC is going downhill These are EXACTLY the same color as my "for sure" mags. And my newer mags are much better so to me that says the QC is going up. I was looking at the middle section looks like a different color for some reason. Quoted:
I was expecting some big burnt mark on the side of the mag. If that is what you're talking about you should just find a different mag that looks pretty. Like bdawg998 said, all my 20rd pmags look just like that. It almost goes all the way through! They are my first 20rd pmags, no other polymer mag I have touched looked had anythign even like that! Probably my crappy picture taking. 
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Looks like someone tried dying them, I just three brand new 20rd pmags and they have a deep burn mark in them like someone pressed a soldering iron against it. Looks like the QC is going downhill That burn mark is a self trimming gate, part of the manufacturing process. It has no ill effect on performance or durabilty. What's your arguement for our quality going down hill? The mark is horrible looking, my 30 rounders dont have that, and there are absolutly NO marks on any of my Lancer mags which is why I dont understand why they are there. Now this has nothing to do with "quality" but the 20 rounders are very smooth while the 30 rounders I have have a rougher texture which you can see in this picture... http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g165/InfiniteGrim/IMG_1462.jpg I just got a 20 rounder that looked just like that. the cover doesn't snap on to the base either. do only the new 30 rounders have that? |
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Looks like someone tried dying them, I just three brand new 20rd pmags and they have a deep burn mark in them like someone pressed a soldering iron against it. Looks like the QC is going downhill That burn mark is a self trimming gate, part of the manufacturing process. It has no ill effect on performance or durabilty. What's your arguement for our quality going down hill? The mark is horrible looking, my 30 rounders dont have that, and there are absolutly NO marks on any of my Lancer mags which is why I dont understand why they are there. Now this has nothing to do with "quality" but the 20 rounders are very smooth while the 30 rounders I have have a rougher texture which you can see in this picture... http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g165/InfiniteGrim/IMG_1462.jpg Looking horrible is subjective. I'm glad you're saying it's nothing to do with quality in the recent post. The first post you made tossed our"QC on the chop block. You don't see the self trimming gates on Lancers because they are a different brand, we're not related therefore we don't operate together. The 30's and 20's have different sheen is due to different textures in the mold. Rest assured, the 1mm x 3mm abrased area in purley cosmentic and again has no ill effect on performance or durabilty. While I'd like to offer you replacements, they too will have the itsy bitsy abrased mark. |
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So is all of this thread about the appearance of the plastic surface or a failure to trim plastic flash that has no effect on performance? I don't have a problem with some discussions of cosmetic defects on rifles, but a plastic magazine? Any injection molded plastic (I assume these are but have no idea) is going to have flashing that needs to be trimmed and is going vary some and the surface of the plastic can vary in appearance. <––––-worked in a plastic factory
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So is all of this thread about the appearance of the plastic surface or a failure to trim plastic flash that has no effect on performance? I don't have a problem with some discussions of cosmetic defects on rifles, but a plastic magazine? Any injection molded plastic (I assume these are but have no idea) is going to have flashing that needs to be trimmed and is going vary some and the surface of the plastic can vary in appearance. <––––-worked in a plastic factory I think the OP just wanted to make sure he didn't buy fake pmags. |
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So is all of this thread about the appearance of the plastic surface or a failure to trim plastic flash that has no effect on performance? I don't have a problem with some discussions of cosmetic defects on rifles, but a plastic magazine? Any injection molded plastic (I assume these are but have no idea) is going to have flashing that needs to be trimmed and is going vary some and the surface of the plastic can vary in appearance. <––––-worked in a plastic factory I was only concerned with it because, by comparison to my newer pmags, they looked significantly less "finished." ALL of my new ones look neat and clean and ALL of my older ones look a bit less "clean." Because of that I just wanted to verify that they were not fakes. I paid about $7 each for them coupled with the looks (by comparison) I had to ask. From the input here they seem to be real and once I have an opportunity to check them at the range that should solidify that. Confidence in your equipment is always a big deal. The last thing you want to be thinking about when it counts is if your gear is going to work. These mags will eventually get used and I didn't want any doubts that they were what they were supposed to be. And I have NOT worked in a plastics factory.
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