User Panel
Posted: 9/18/2021 11:12:23 AM EDT
Good morning all. I have probably more than 100 magazines and most of them are unused and still in their wrap.
But whenever I see deals for magazines, I am tempted to buy more. Is there any realm of reason that I should buy more? What do you think about this vice? |
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No.. unless you are investing to resell after a ban, or planning on supplying your friends / family.
if you have cash to spend on items for your stockpile.. might be a good time to look at your entire situation, and start stocking up on items you are lacking. |
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I've got like 2-3 boxes of magazines, metal and magpul, still in the wrapper. I don't know how many magazines I have in the ammo cans, loaded and unloaded. I see those 10 packs and get tempted, but decided I'm not going to hump all that in a SHTF anyway.
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Quoted: No.. unless you are investing to resell after a ban, or planning on supplying your friends / family. if you have cash to spend on items for your stockpile.. might be a good time to look at your entire situation, and start stocking up on items you are lacking. View Quote Agreed. Food and water are pretty important. |
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Fill them up, if it’s more than you can carry then it’s probably safe to stop…
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Quoted: So.....there was this thing that happened starting in 1994. View Quote Those of us who lived through the 94 ban know all to well the pain and struggle of trying to find magazines. These are still the salad days of mags and I buy what I can when I can. They are so cheap, you can pick up a couple without even thinking about it. God forbid another ban is passed, I will have a good personal stash and have a nice little pile to make some $$. |
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I Easley have 100+ Glock mags hundreds of magpuls and metal mags. the one I need to stock up on are sr25 mags.
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Yep buy more. When they are no longer available is too late.
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Only if you have somewhere safe and secret to store them, and don't tell the world that you have them.
When they become NFA items (if over 3 round capacity), and the NFA tax is increased to $2,000 you may, or may not be glad that you have them. |
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If you have them for personal use I wouldn’t bother, those will last several lifetimes.
I’d focus on other stuff like replacement parts. |
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Is there ever enough? Magazines right now are widely available and cheap, I say buy.
It's one of the few parts that aren't out of stock at the moment and backordered. |
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Quoted: I've got like 2-3 boxes of magazines, metal and magpul, still in the wrapper. I don't know how many magazines I have in the ammo cans, loaded and unloaded. I see those 10 packs and get tempted, but decided I'm not going to hump all that in a SHTF anyway. View Quote I was thinking more about selling them during the next ban. |
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After inventory, for no good reason I bought a case of PMAGs. Call it an investment. Or an abundance of caution regarding the future...
Paladin ETA: https://www.armsunlimited.com/Magpul-PMAG-30-Round-GEN-M2-223-556-AR15-Magazine-p/mag571-case.htm |
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After you have a case of mags, anything less is just not interesting.
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Quoted: I was thinking more about selling them during the next ban. View Quote The amount of (AR, Glock, etc) mags that exist in the wild today compared to 1994 is WAY higher. There’s gotta be billions of high capacity magazines out there just sitting factory new in closets/basements. I don’t believe a pmag or G17 mag will be worth a $100. IMO You’re better off grabbing a few dozen extra followers/springs, critical gun parts, reloading equipment, etc |
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Quoted: After inventory, for no good reason I bought a case of PMAGs. Call it an investment. Or an abundance of caution regarding the future... Paladin ETA: https://www.armsunlimited.com/Magpul-PMAG-30-Round-GEN-M2-223-556-AR15-Magazine-p/mag571-case.htm View Quote $825 |
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To me it breaks down to gun count. 100 for 10-15 rifles isnt really a good start 100 for 1-2 is probably A-ok
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the truth is nobody knows the future. So buy what makes you feel good.
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Buy enough to last your lifetime. Maybe a few more for feels.
Ammo is more important. |
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Quoted: That’s exactly what has been teasing me! Is that a good deal? View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes And then some..... |
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Unless you're neckbearding mags to resell in the event of a ban, I don't see any good reason to accumulate more at 100. Even then you might not get far. COVID + Biden might have depleted guns and ammo but unlike prior years, mags more or less remained in stock throughout. That tells me the country is absolutely awash in mags from the Obama era.
I'd put the money toward more ammo and more range time. That or upgrade your hardware. Swap the Holosuns for something go-to-war grade, that sort of thing. |
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Quoted: And then some..... I have about 100 GI that I won’t even use and I’m tempted to buy some! |
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Oh well. Better mags anyway: |
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Quoted: GI mags are fine and all but you can’t argue with the bullet presentation/feed angle and the toughness of a Pmag. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: Don't see how P-mags are better than Okay. GI mags are fine and all but you can’t argue with the bullet presentation/feed angle and the toughness of a Pmag. "USGI mags have outlasted all of the other brands. We use UGSI (Brownell's with tan follower) and on a mag for mag basis, they have outlasted Pmags and a few of the other mags that we get from mfg'ers with new weapons. We don't have to worry about various generations with different weapons like the MR556, SCAR, F2000, Tavor or a couple of others that use AR15/M4 magazines." Real life magazine test |
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Quoted: GI mags are fine and all but you can’t argue with the bullet presentation/feed angle and the toughness of a Pmag. View Quote Gen 3 pmags are garbage, they don’t work in half my lowers…. Magpul followers are the tits though. You can’t beat the seating click of a GI mag What is “bullet presentation”? |
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Quoted: Gen 3 pmags are garbage, they don’t work in half my lowers…. Magpul followers are the tits though. You seat beat the seating click of a GI mag What is “bullet presentation”? View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: GI mags are fine and all but you can’t argue with the bullet presentation/feed angle and the toughness of a Pmag. Gen 3 pmags are garbage, they don’t work in half my lowers…. Magpul followers are the tits though. You seat beat the seating click of a GI mag What is “bullet presentation”? Half your lowers are garbage. There is actually a spec to the magwell of an AR. Gen M3s work in a proper AR. Insert a magazine in a lower and ease the bolt forward until the tip of the bullet barely makes contact with the feedramp. Do it with a Pmag and a GI mag. GI mags hit at rhe bottom of the ramp, Pmags hit right at the top. |
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Quoted: Half your lowers are garbage. There is actually a spec to the magwell of an AR. Gen M3s work in a proper AR. Insert a magazine in a lower and ease the bolt forward until the tip of the bullet barely makes contact with the feedramp. Do it with a Pmag and a GI mag. GI mags hit at rhe bottom of the ramp, Pmags hit right at the top. View Quote Lol, I guess I should dump my KAC, DD, BCM and Colt lowers that wont seat the Gen 3 pmag properly. That way I can be sure the 2 dozen Gen 3 pmags I have in plastic will get used at some point. Magpul makes some nice stuff, but defending their M3 PMAGs as perfect is pretty rich. Mags are built to work around the gun, not the other way around. I didn’t realize “presentation angle” meant anything when you “ease the bolt forward” considering no AR-15 bolt is ever eased forward when you’re actually shooting it. |
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If you feel that you need to, sure.
I personally don't. People can scream AWB all they want, but the 100 that I have still in the wrap and not including the ones that are being used, is more than enough for me. |
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Quoted: Lol, I guess I should dump my KAC, DD, BCM and Colt lowers that wont seat the Gen 3 pmag properly. That way I can be sure the 2 dozen Gen 3 pmags I have in plastic will get used at some point. Magpul makes some nice stuff, but defending their M3 PMAGs as perfect is pretty rich. Mags are built to work around the gun, not the other way around. I didn’t realize “presentation angle” meant anything when you “ease the bolt forward” considering no AR-15 bolt is ever eased forward when you’re actually shooting it. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: Half your lowers are garbage. There is actually a spec to the magwell of an AR. Gen M3s work in a proper AR. Insert a magazine in a lower and ease the bolt forward until the tip of the bullet barely makes contact with the feedramp. Do it with a Pmag and a GI mag. GI mags hit at rhe bottom of the ramp, Pmags hit right at the top. Lol, I guess I should dump my KAC, DD, BCM and Colt lowers that wont seat the Gen 3 pmag properly. That way I can be sure the 2 dozen Gen 3 pmags I have in plastic will get used at some point. Magpul makes some nice stuff, but defending their M3 PMAGs as perfect is pretty rich. Mags are built to work around the gun, not the other way around. I didn’t realize “presentation angle” meant anything when you “ease the bolt forward” considering no AR-15 bolt is ever eased forward when you’re actually shooting it. You can do whatever you want but I don’t keep out of spec lowers. I never said an M3 was perfect, but they are better at feeding and are tougher than GI mags. |
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Quoted: You can do whatever you want but I don’t keep out of spec lowers. I never said an M3 was perfect, but they are better at feeding and are tougher than GI mags. View Quote You can do whatever you want but I don’t use out of spec magazines. ETA: I also wouldn’t buy a car merely because my favorite floor mats fit in it… |
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Quoted: You can do whatever you want but I don’t use out of spec magazines. ETA: I also wouldn’t buy a car merely because my favorite floor mats fit in it… View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: You can do whatever you want but I don’t keep out of spec lowers. I never said an M3 was perfect, but they are better at feeding and are tougher than GI mags. You can do whatever you want but I don’t use out of spec magazines. ETA: I also wouldn’t buy a car merely because my favorite floor mats fit in it… Gen M3 Pmags are are issued mags in our military, the UK, most every police department, they’ve been around for a decade now. If they were that out of spec, someone would have said something by now, but they’re only selling more and more and more. |
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Quoted: Gen M3 Pmags are are issued mags in our military, the UK, most every police department, they’ve been around for a decade now. If they were that out of spec, someone would have said something by now, but they’re only selling more and more and more. View Quote You didn’t need to post this. It was already clear you’re susceptible to big marketing and a “iTs WhAt ThE tROoPs CaRrY” kinda guy. |
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Quoted: I was thinking more about selling them during the next ban. View Quote The only problem with this logic is if ownership is banned and parts/rebuild kits are also banned. California fixed this with their last set of laws passed so you’d be sittting on a bunch of illegal magazines no one wants because no one is allowed to possess them legally. |
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Quoted: The only problem with this logic is if ownership is banned and parts/rebuild kits are also banned. California fixed this with their last set of laws passed so you’d be sitting on a bunch of illegal magazines no one wants because no one is allowed to possess them legally. View Quote With all the "lessons learned" from previous bans, I have no doubt that the next proposed national ban will prohibit transfer. I.e. people will be grandfathered to possess them but will not be allowed to sell / give / gift them to others. Magazines are a really easy and "feel good" thing to buy, but people really need to be honest with themselves about how many they, personally, will ever need in their lifetime (or their children's lifetime), and consider the possibility that they may not be able to transfer them to others in the future. I lived through the '94 ban and paid $70-$100 for Glock and SIG mags, and $20 for used GI mags. But everyone should really consider whether they need several hundred mags of one type when they generally only use 10-20 (at the most) in a range session or class, and have probably only seen a couple break in all the time they've been shooting. It reminds me of people that say they are "preppers," and their preparations consist of having 15 ARs and a pallet of ammo, but they've never taken a trauma medicine course, studied how to store food for the long haul, don't have a fitness regimen, and can't navigate without a cell phone. Take a look at your overall plan, such as buying, organizing, and storing critical parts, taking a training course (the equivalent of buying maybe 30-50 mags), etc. It's easy and tempting to order more mags, but looking at what things are hard to get right now might be a better indication of what you might really need in the future. |
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I'd say take a pause and buy a cmmg lower parts kit instead(it's everything but the lower itself). You're more likely to need that.
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Mags last pretty good.
I have a set of 5 Pmags that have been dropped counless times and fed about 10,000 rounds and they’re all gtg. I have a bunch of GI mags that I have used over the years that have fed probably 20,000 rounds, and aside from the handful that got got dented, they’re all fine too. In 20 years I’ve probably shot an honest 50K rounds from my ARs in training and competition with little to no regard for taking care of magazines and I have ruined maybe 10. Maybe. |
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Right now, there are magazines that are drying up, like good Colt-pattern 9mm magazines and high-cap magazines for Para P-series guns.
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Is there any reason NOT to keep buying magazines? I've started picking up a couple here and there whenever I see them and tossing them in the box at my house. Figure they are expendable and I might as well stock up while they are cheap and available. But I don't have hundreds of them. Yet...
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No.
Functionally, you need a minimum of 3 30's, and 2 20's, and you're set for practical usage for life. Getting more for purpose makes sense, if you have a bando you want to keep loaded with 4 more, and if you want to have a complete spare set. And you want some 10's or 40's to flesh it out a bit more. So I can see getting up to as many as 20 or so mixed mags. Once you get past that, then unless it's for investment or resell purpose, it's pretty much just a waste of money; IMHO. And if you are buying them for resell during the next crisis, so has everyone else been too. Note how cheap they still are. Even now. The likelyhood of those turning into a windfall value isnt high. At some point, it will be like going to that neighborhood garage sale where family members are trying to sell still on wrapper cheap full sized flashlights that the dad bought 100 of, that nobody wants. . |
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Quoted: Lol, I guess I should dump my KAC, DD, BCM and Colt lowers that wont seat the Gen 3 pmag properly. That way I can be sure the 2 dozen Gen 3 pmags I have in plastic will get used at some point. Magpul makes some nice stuff, but defending their M3 PMAGs as perfect is pretty rich. Mags are built to work around the gun, not the other way around. I didn't realize "presentation angle" meant anything when you "ease the bolt forward" considering no AR-15 bolt is ever eased forward when you're actually shooting it. View Quote There was some loose tolerances in the AR lowers not found in m-16/4 lowers. |
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Magazines should be considered disposable
Buy and stack deep Assuming your other bases are covered |
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I am about at the same place as the OP. However I have three kids and have an AR for each of them. That being said I think 100 is "probably" plenty to store back. Get your self 10 more for actually using and call it good unless you just like to collect mags. I keep a "reference box" of mags so friends can try them out in there rifles. Have 3 mags of lots of different kinds. The only thing I really want right now is a better supply of straight body 20 round mags. I just really like them for practicing and general shooting with friend....plus my kids us less ammo if they have to reload more often.
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