Question if anyone has experienced this....

I have three 30 round PMAG's.  I had been filling them 10 rounds at a time as that's the range rules at the range I shoot at most of the time.  However, I headed out to the deer lease last weekend, and filled the mags with 30 rounds.  The mags were difficult to get to stay in the gun with 30 rounds in it.  When troubleshooting, I put an empty mag in and had no issue, slides in easy and catches.  Full, and the magazine catch was having trouble fully engaging unless I really pushed the mag in hard until the stay on the mag cleared the catch.  With 10 rounds in it no problems.  All three mags did this empty and full.  No firing issues once I got the mag in.  Anyone else experience this with PMAG's?  I am going to buy a standard aluminum mag and see if I have the same issue before digging deeper on the mag catch.

That is normal on a fully loaded magazine. Try loading the mags with only 27 rounds.

No, the mags don't swell.  

Your experience is normal - it's the spring tension of the compressed spring.  All mags do this when inserted against a closed bolt.  Lock your bolt back and there won't be any resistance. Not a problem in the field, since the bolt will be locked back after the last round of the prior mag.

Why 27?  Why not 29 or 28?


OP - No, Pmags don't swell.  You are babying it, push mag firmly in and give a firm bump from the bottom to seat it.  You can download the mag like suggested, some LEO/mil guys do it too, (why it is easier with 10rds) but it isn't necessary.  Also, be careful not to load 31.  

TAP - RACK - ENGAGE

Not babying it nor loading 31.  27, 28, 30 rounds in it's very hard to get locked in.  Lazy is correct, open bolt and it's no issue.  Closed and it's a force to get it locked into place.  Going to replace the mag catch and see if it changes.

Aside from minor support to the economy, that will not accomplish anything.

With traditional military issue mags I only put 28 max. I have had seating and feeding issues with 29 and 30. With Pmags I have only had seating issue but nothing that a can of man didn't fix. I think some of the difference comes from the top of aluminum mags bending inwards over time. But assumption is the devil and you should avoid doing anything that could cause failure. Don't load 30 rounds. New military issue mags from brownells have the "bump" on the follower on the opposite side and **apparently** allow you to load 30 rounds in your 30 round mag.

Please
Send me your faulty mag catch for proper disposal

OP, you say lazy is correct, but then follow it up with saying you're going to replace your mag catch. These leads me to believe you are misunderstanding the situation. When the bolt is closed the top round in the mag hits the bolt before the mag is seated, so to seat the mag it has to push the rounds a little further in the mag. With the bolt open there is nothing in the way of the mag so of course it will slide right in. A full mag will not seat easily with the bolt closed, that is all there is to it. It had nothing to do with your mag catch

Whole lot of weak going on here.  30rd mags with 30rds in them - USGI mags, Pmags - open bolt, closed bolt doesn't matter - they seat in my guns every time.  Is it a little harder to do on a closed bolt, sure, but still should work.  

Take the mags apart reassemble.  Try the mags in another gun.  Try new mags.