Why buy dozens of AR magazines?

I just traded away a bunch of my good 30 rounders for another safe and sold the rest or traded for 20 rounders.

The bandoleers that came with the 5.56 ammo from Vietnam holds the 20 round mags. I just fell more comfortable with them, and besides, it's getting damn expensive to feed 20 rounders, never mind 30s and 40s.

When I want to do shooting for accuracy, not for bang and boom, I use the neutered Mass 10 round mags from Bushmaster and take my time. Stopping to refill the mags and shoooting the crap with someone is part of the fun.
 
depicts said:
When I want to do shooting for accuracy, not for bang and boom, I use the neutered Mass 10 round mags from Bushmaster and take my time. Stopping to refill the mags and shoooting the crap with someone is part of the fun.
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i do the same thing. when im shooting to zero or for best accuracy ill use a 10 round mag.
 
dwarven1 said:
And now that brings up the next question.

If the 30s are the normal battle load, why are there 20 round mags in existence? I understand that the 20s can be more reliable, but other than the obvious round count, is there a reason for preferring one to the other? Availability of mag pouches for the different sizes?
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The 30s came later. Initially 20s were largest produced and fielded by the Army. I prefer the 20s when shooting off a bench or in service rifle. I keep the 30s for social occasions (and zombies).
 
dwarven1 said:
I keep seeing comments from people who want to buy 10, 20, 30 or more AR magazines.

I'm curious: why? Do they wear out that quick, or do you need that many for large action shoots of some kind? Or do you just want a lot loaded and on hand for the coming zombie apocalypse?

I'm not trying to be a smartass here, I'm just wondering if I'm missing something and should be buying more myself. I'm not expecting to go into combat any time soon, so I'd think that 5 or 10 mags should do me fine... but then, I freely admit I don't know it all. Yet.

Thanks for any light you can shed on the subject.
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It's called hoarding magazines. It's fun. It allows you to have mags loaded all the time, have spares for friends, etc. I have at least 16 or so of the things for my AR, and probably about that many for the AK. They're also relatively cheap and available, so why NOT have a dozen or two? [grin] I have like 2 loaded up with Hornady TAP 75 gr, and two more loaded up with XM-193. I typically use the 20s though when farting around at the range. 20s are good to have on hand for prone shooting, shooting off a rest, etc. Most of my mags are 30 rounders, though.

-Mike
 
Dench said:
you and lens both mentioned slings and large sized magazines getting in the way. i dont undertsand how thats happening. do you have the sling tight to your body while prone? that could be the problem right there if thats what your doing.
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I tend to use the "Hasty sling" position. The extended mag for the 10/22 sticks right out where I want to put my left hand to support the rifle.
 
Dench said:
THE SAGE HAS SPOKEN!
Second_Picture.gif


seriously guys, if your shooting your AR with a 30 round magazine in it and your afraid the mags going to touch then ground then you need to learn the basic shooting postions. go join the military or something, shesh! civilians!

in the above photo he has 3-4.5 inches of clearance from the bottom of the mag to the ground. id love to see how lens and fsorrent are doing it, that would be a pretty funny demonstration.

kisses for everyone[kiss], no hate intended!
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Notice this is the range prone position.

If you ever saw Vietnam footage, the proper combat prone position is to burrow 6 inches beneath the ground, stick the muzzle over the cover and spray 20-30 rounds down range, one handed.

Seriously though, when you are receiving incoming fire, those extra inches the 20 rounder gives you, will be appreciated!
 
Big Daddy 45acp said:
Seriously though, when you are receiving incoming fire, those extra inches the 20 rounder gives you, will be appreciated!
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to bad the army doesnt issue 20 round magazines anymore. id rather have 10 more rounds in the magazine then have 2 less inches of magazine.
 
FWIW I have 3 shoulder strap mag pouches with 4 - 30 round AK mags in each, for a total of 360 rounds ready in case SHTF.
They stay loaded in case SHTF and are reloaded after range trips.

For some reason though I don't shoot my 40 round mags and don't keep any drums loaded.[thinking]
 
Big Daddy 45, I remember my dad saying that he NEVER loaded a M16 mag in Vietnam, they always came loaded right up for you. SO yeh, I guess they were "disposable" in that sense. I personally have a couple dozen, just cause they are cheap and I won't run out or parts if I need them down the road. I use them for both .223 and .50Beo. The 6.5G takes special mags, although you can put a few rounds in a regular mag and it will work fine.
 
I prefer the 20s at the range, but then I tend to only load 5-10 rounds at a time... it encourages me to shoot slow and conserve my precious ammo. It is more comfortable when prone, but thanks to Dench's instruction, I'm going to have to try the 30 again. [grin]

dwarven1 said:
Not owning an AR (yet) and never having shot one (or maybe once; I don't remember) I really don't have any idea of how far out a 30 round mag sticks out.
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Ross - PM if you'd like to stop by Riverside to try out an A2 match AR with both 20 and 30 rounders. I think I have some Appleseed targets around here somewhere [smile]
 
Dench is wise indeed - prone shooting is not a PITA with a 30-round magazine if done correctly and mag changes in the prone just require some practice. The 20's do indeed allow for some extra earth hugging room. I'm trying to rebuild my AR-15 mag stocks to the levels of my M-14 supply, (I have 30) or my Uzi stash of 50. The reason I believe one can't have too many mags have been articulated here. For me it comes down to convenience as well. I like to sit and watch TV or listen to music and load mags - especially for a shoot. Those who have run into me at the NES Members Shoots have seen me haul in ammo cans full of loaded magazines for all my weapons - especially for the SOCOM-16 and the UZi. Now, I have 16 loaded 30's and 10 loaded 20's for my coming AR-15 build and am trying to stockpile more for the upcoming car shoot. [wink]
 
I have a bunch of mags because I'm still young, 22, and plan on shooting til I kick the bucket. If I lose, break, or give away some mags to buddies in the next 80 years I'll still have plenty. I'm also stuck in NY and preban mags aren't being made anymore so I better get them while I can. I commonly pass the mags I purchase along for sale here to help people in MA out.
 
Actually depending on your arm length the 30's COULD hit the ground more easily. So shorter people might have an issue with them. Personally, I can't even remember how many shots in I am into a 20rnd mag, so a 30 just confuses things for me. It was amazing how many times I heard a "click" at the end of 10 rounds at the appleseed because I lost track of where I was.
 
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned one of my main reasons for hoarding them yet.....future generations! When my boys are old enough I'm sure, the AR platform being a staple in most collections, that they will each have one.....who knows what kinds of mags we'll be able to buy in another 10-15 years.

I also have made sort of a "hobby" out of refinishing them. I actually enjoy collecting a small batch of older ones (both 30s and 20s) and spending some time cleaning them up, and sprucing them up with new springs, MagPul followers, and a coat of dry moly lube spray to make them a nice even dark gray color.

When I pack up to hit the range I only take 3-5 mags with me. Another "hobby" of mine in down time is loading ammo onto strippers and packing them into bandoliers. When I'm at the range, I usually only zip 10 rounds at a time into my mags to make me slow down and enjoy it. Of course, it just feels DAMN GOOD to blast away a full 30 rounder or two rapid fire every once in a while....
 
I have 35 mags loaded with M193,25 mags loaded with XM855,10 mags loaded with BH Mk262 and 20 mags with M855 and M856.Every 3 months I rotate all the above into differant mags so they will feed reliably when the time comes.

So I NEED a lot of mags,almost 200 30 round mags just to be able to rotate my TEOTWAWKI ammo.Then I need more mags for parts if the other mags springs weaken or lips get bent.

I only bring one 20 round mag to the range though,go figure..

[wink]
 
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I have almost 50 AR mags and will be buying more.Who knows what is going to happen in november.
 
It's this simple:

The GFW's and the politicos they elect don't want you to have "Large Capacity Feeding Devices."

What other reason do you need?
 
Dench said:
THE SAGE HAS SPOKEN!
Second_Picture.gif


seriously guys, if your shooting your AR with a 30 round magazine in it and your afraid the mags going to touch then ground then you need to learn the basic shooting postions. go join the military or something, shesh! civilians!

in the above photo he has 3-4.5 inches of clearance from the bottom of the mag to the ground. id love to see how lens and fsorrent are doing it, that would be a pretty funny demonstration.

kisses for everyone[kiss], no hate intended!
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Benny Cooley, in his DVD on mastering the AR recommends using the 30 round mag as a mono pod. I was a little skeptical, but tried it and found the mag makes a great support with no fedding problems.
 
Gammon said:
Benny Cooley, in his DVD on mastering the AR recommends using the 30 round mag as a mono pod. I was a little skeptical, but tried it and found the mag makes a great support with no fedding problems.
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eh... i would really put a lot of emphasis on not doing that. the rifles going to act like a see-saw (or however thats spelt) since the pivot point is now in the middle of the rifle. your also going to cuase heavy, heavy wear on your magazine catch button. if your going to use a bipod, you should have it as forward as possible on the rifle, not in the center.
 
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dwarven1 said:
I keep seeing comments from people who want to buy 10, 20, 30 or more AR magazines.

I'm curious: why?
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Some people look at a bunch of AR magazines for sale and ask "Why?".

I look at a bunch of AR magazines for sale and ask, "Are they cheaper by the gross?".

[smile]
 

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