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Posted: 11/27/2025 12:45:58 AM EDT
| I want to buy some Lancers and now is a good time. There seems to be lots of different shades or what ever. Are some better than others? |
| 1st gun are reputed to work well in the KP-15, the current version apparently do not - but there are Magpul T-Mags if you like keeping .300 Eldest Son out of your chamber. |
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| I've been using them since @2010, and every one has functioned flawlessly. I haven't bought Magpul since about 2012, replaced all of them with the olive drab clear Lancer L5awm. I had a couple of the Magpul mags crack along the spine, never had that with the Lancers. I started using them exclusively from then on. I've got all of the ones I bought way back as well as the ones I've bought more recently, fully loaded, no cracks. I do shoot the top couple of rounds out of them every few years. |
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Originally Posted By lazyengineer: 5.56 current gen - yes. 1st gen ones are... ok. Thr .308 mags are... ok. But the 5.56 mags, I have the whole rainbow. They all work fine. https://i.postimg.cc/dV7LnK7x/20230920_120627.jpg They all work fine, but IIRC, someone did some destructive testing years ago, and confirmed that the opaque plastic ones hold up to abuse better than the translucent/transparent ones (different types of plastic. The opaque ones can withstand more abuse before cracking/breaking). |
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Originally Posted By bluemax_1: They all work fine, but IIRC, someone did some destructive testing years ago, and confirmed that the opaque plastic ones hold up to abuse better than the translucent/transparent ones (different types of plastic. The opaque ones can withstand more abuse before cracking/breaking). Originally Posted By bluemax_1: Originally Posted By lazyengineer: 5.56 current gen - yes. 1st gen ones are... ok. Thr .308 mags are... ok. But the 5.56 mags, I have the whole rainbow. They all work fine. https://i.postimg.cc/dV7LnK7x/20230920_120627.jpg They all work fine, but IIRC, someone did some destructive testing years ago, and confirmed that the opaque plastic ones hold up to abuse better than the translucent/transparent ones (different types of plastic. The opaque ones can withstand more abuse before cracking/breaking). That's generally the case w/ all transparent plastics. TANSTAAFL. |
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Originally Posted By APBullet: I want to buy some Lancers and now is a good time. There seems to be lots of different shades or what ever. Are some better than others? |
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Originally Posted By bluemax_1: They all work fine, but IIRC, someone did some destructive testing years ago, and confirmed that the opaque plastic ones hold up to abuse better than the translucent/transparent ones (different types of plastic. The opaque ones can withstand more abuse before cracking/breaking). Originally Posted By bluemax_1: Originally Posted By lazyengineer: 5.56 current gen - yes. 1st gen ones are... ok. Thr .308 mags are... ok. But the 5.56 mags, I have the whole rainbow. They all work fine. https://i.postimg.cc/dV7LnK7x/20230920_120627.jpg They all work fine, but IIRC, someone did some destructive testing years ago, and confirmed that the opaque plastic ones hold up to abuse better than the translucent/transparent ones (different types of plastic. The opaque ones can withstand more abuse before cracking/breaking). The Unscientific Magazine test a decade or two ago, where the Lancers beat all other mags, were using the translucent smoke ones. I don't recall this other test, but the Transucent ones still won in that remarkable test thread here. I've never had one fail. The secret to the Lancer is the steel lips/top section. That's where all the work is. The plastic body isn't as important. I find the clearer units have user value to me and my own usage vs the non-clear ones. Not during actual fire, rarely do you look at the magazine mid-usage to determine rounds remaining once in action. Heck, the only place that actually matters is in the last rounds up in magwell, that you can't see anyway. The value is in the handling. Being able to confirm round count during loading, and confirm round count and round type later during handling; type of ammo, primers status, etc - I find very convenient with translucent units. Some of minehave a high round count and long service life, and still run perfectly. I use Lancers (and even ETS; which aren't bad AR mags, though their pistol mags suck) almost exclusively now. Whenever I find myself using a dark mag, I don't care for the experience as much. How many rounds do I actually have? Donno? Are they all the same? Donno. Did I overload to 31 rounds? Donno. |
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I am issued Lancer mags and I get malfunctions fairly often with them. I have had zero issues with gen 3 Pmags. For what it's worth, Centrifuge training (VCQB) is against them. They have analyzed 9500 shooting videos. They say almost everytime there is a rifle malfunction, they are using Lancer mags. If you ask me, Lancer are range toys, Pmags are actual duty mags. |
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I have literally dozens of thousands of rounds through Lancers with only one issue. Out of the wrap I got one that the steel lip wasn’t seated properly. Lancer asked me to to take a bunch of pictures for them to figure out what happened. They sent me a care package in return that was well beyond what I would have ever expected. I only have a few hundred through their 308 magazines but no issues so far. I’m one of the guys that got sticky followers in 308 PMAGS that they told to lubricate the inside of the magazine body before every range trip, so I run Lancers in my SFAR exclusively. |
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Originally Posted By bluemax_1: They all work fine, but IIRC, someone did some destructive testing years ago, and confirmed that the opaque plastic ones hold up to abuse better than the translucent/transparent ones (different types of plastic. The opaque ones can withstand more abuse before cracking/breaking). |
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Originally Posted By lazyengineer: The Unscientific Magazine test a decade or two ago, where the Lancers beat all other mags, were using the translucent smoke ones. I don't recall this other test, but the Transucent ones still won in that remarkable test thread here. I've never had one fail. The secret to the Lancer is the steel lips/top section. That's where all the work is. The plastic body isn't as important. I find the clearer units have user value to me and my own usage vs the non-clear ones. Not during actual fire, rarely do you look at the magazine mid-usage to determine rounds remaining once in action. Heck, the only place that actually matters is in the last rounds up in magwell, that you can't see anyway. The value is in the handling. Being able to confirm round count during loading, and confirm round count and round type later during handling; type of ammo, primers status, etc - I find very convenient with translucent units. Some of minehave a high round count and long service life, and still run perfectly. I use Lancers (and even ETS; which aren't bad AR mags, though their pistol mags suck) almost exclusively now. Whenever I find myself using a dark mag, I don't care for the experience as much. How many rounds do I actually have? Donno? Are they all the same? Donno. Did I overload to 31 rounds? Donno. Agree on the handling and round type/count. I use only two types of ammo for "real world" stuff and the rest of the random ammo is for training. They make it easy. All mine are 10s (perfect for target shooting) and 30s, all smoke. |
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Originally Posted By Tug153: I am issued Lancer mags and I get malfunctions fairly often with them. I have had zero issues with gen 3 Pmags. For what it's worth, Centrifuge training (VCQB) is against them. They have analyzed 9500 shooting videos. They say almost everytime there is a rifle malfunction, they are using Lancer mags. If you ask me, Lancer are range toys, Pmags are actual duty mags. Any link to that info from VCQB? Not doubting you, just curious to hear why, etc.. I've never had issues with Pmags, Lancers or even aluminum USGI with magpul followers so I'm always looking for reasons to favor one over the other for serious use. |
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I have probably 30-40 Lancer mags and twice as many PMags. Neither have given me any issues though I haven't abused them. ETS mags have also run well, though the clips eventually bend and don't stay on. I have Lancers in all the translucent colors as well as the .308 ones in translucent smoke. |
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Originally Posted By AK-12: I have probably 30-40 Lancer mags and twice as many PMags. Neither have given me any issues though I haven't abused them. ETS mags have also run well, though the clips eventually bend and don't stay on. I have Lancers in all the translucent colors as well as the .308 ones in translucent smoke. pretty much. though I will say i don't think Lancer .308 are worth it. ETSare underappreciated, I actually really like them, at least for range use. if going to Afghanistan next week- Lancer 5.56. |
| I would never take a Lancer over a PMag. I've retired both 5.56 and .308 Lancers due to failures to feed. |
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Originally Posted By lew: I would never take a Lancer over a PMag. I've retired both 5.56 and .308 Lancers due to failures to feed. I haven't. I shoot thousands of rounds. Of a wide spectrum of power and quality. Guess I'm lucky. I've seen Pmags split when dropped. Never seen a Lancer split when dropped. |
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Originally Posted By lazyengineer: I haven't. I shoot thousands of rounds. Of a wide spectrum of power and quality. Guess I'm lucky. I've seen Pmags split when dropped. Never seen a Lancer split when dropped. |
Id rather have AL mags over lancers 10 Years of Magazine Usage and Wear |
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Originally Posted By backbencher: 1st gun are reputed to work well in the KP-15, the current version apparently do not - but there are Magpul T-Mags if you like keeping .300 Eldest Son out of your chamber. Heh. IIRC Lancers did the best in the "Unscientific Magazine Test." |
| Back when Magpul Gen 2's came out I bought into them. They would not drop free from a Bravo Company magwell, nor a CMMG. I switched to Lancers and have been happy. The Lancers fit more magwells than Magpuls. However, my round count is low, so I can't really comment on durability. |
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| I've never had an issue with the Lancers ( ODG transparent ). I've had my 10 since 2015. They function perfectly. My Pmags gen 1 through gen 3 I have. I only had two of the fail, but I took it as a sign they were all eventually headed that direction. One of the mags was the main mag I used shooting out here in the yard, but I did rotate them to a point. It was a gen 3, feed lips split. One of the ones I kept loaded split in the same spot, rear of mag. It was a gen 2, but it was newer than some of the gen 3s. It split while sitting on a shelf, where it was loaded and never used. |
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Originally Posted By TheQuadfather: Doesn’t mean you’re wrong though… Originally Posted By TheQuadfather: Originally Posted By Mike_Golf: All of mine suck but that's not a popular opinion.  Doesn’t mean you’re wrong though… Also doesn't mean that simply saying "all of mine suck" helps figure what might be wrong with them in his example. |
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I have Pmags of which the follower can get in front of the bolt catch pawl and slow down a reload, but the translucent Lancers flex more and do not seem to contain rounds as securely. Knock-on-wood no actual malfunctions from the polymer magazines yet (looking at you, Brownells). I give the edge to Pmags, but will get Lancers if there is a better deal. |
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I've had two Lancers fail, both due to the steel feedlips/wrap. Must've had a bad heat treat, because both took a nasty drop and the feed lips got mangled on one and the entire steel wrap came off the second. I've had PMAGs take the same fall and were still fine. So that's all I get for 5.56 |
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Originally Posted By WriterClarke: I've had two Lancers fail, both due to the steel feedlips/wrap. Must've had a bad heat treat, because both took a nasty drop and the feed lips got mangled on one and the entire steel wrap came off the second. I've had PMAGs take the same fall and were still fine. So that's all I get for 5.56 Interesting. I have no doubt the truthfullness of the experience, but that's the exact opposite of typical and the main reason Lancers are so popular. It's well known loaded P-Mags spine crack when hit the deck just so, and the steel lancer lips generally don't - the whole point of the construction. So I'm curious if this was a particularly high fall or something? Lancer bodies do flex a bit more, but in practice that tends to be a non-item, as the lips are what matters,and those are steel, and can take a hit better than plastic - typically. And so Lancers are thinner mags, that fit in the kit better. Stacking PMags is less appealing, because of the fat baseplates - depending on what your system is for magazine storage. Every drop test I've seen (and there's been a few) show Lancers outlasting and outperforming PMags in terms of durability. In some cases a loaded Lancer might spit a couple more rounds than a loaded PMag when dropped just so; is the only time I've seen a P-mag "outperform" a Lancer in testing. OK - that's not a meaningful failure to me, and is preferred to me; vs a perminantly damaged magazine body. Of course, to repeat, both mags are entirely serviceable and acceptable for any service. I'll run a PMag just fine with full confidence. But when it comes to what I buy, I actually buy ETS as my range beaters (underappreciated mags actually), and Lancers as my baseline usage mags. |
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