Do We Really Need Umpteen Dozen Magazines?

[indyjs]

Do you need a car that goes faster than 55 mph ? A TV with more than one channel ? A living area bigger than a motel room ?
You are just a victim of a public education. Time to fix that

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Yes, the mag body can cease to exist. Didn't you see my photo? That's my Metalform magazine which suddenly ceased to exist at Iggle Crick range.

I see the picture, but what actually happened? Did the lip that holds the floor plate come off? Did just the floor plate break? Floor plates, springs, followers, that's all replaceable. I'm just trying to figure out how you'd actually damage a mag body beyond repair, and do so with enough regularity that its routine.

 

[Armed-N-Ready]

Well now THIS I can understand, I once saw people selling them for a buck each.

But how many damn mags do you really need?

Just get enough for your load bearing equipment plus two or three extra.

For my M14, that means 6 or 7.

OK thanks. How much ammo should I have, how many calories should I eat every day, and how many guns may I buy?

 

[cmc589]

I keep 5 for my 1911, about 7-8 for my 10/22, and the rest are internal magazine or tube fed. I feel like reloading .22 at the range is such a pain and .45 is not that much of a pain, but 5 makes it fine for range shooting.

 

[nucone]

Whenever someone else gets into the business of what I "need", my tyranny light starts flashing.

I decide what I need sometimes based upon what I want. I'm the ultimate authority on what I need and want, unless God somehow tells me otherwise, which sometimes I'm pretty sure he does!

...oh, and then there's my wife.

Well put!

 

[Kirk Freeman]

I see the picture, but what actually happened? Did the lip that holds the floor plate come off? Did just the floor plate break?

Shooting off hand, the floor plate fell off the magazine body and the spring, cartridge and follower all hit the deck.

Then the trombone sounded:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sC75aU47GRk[/ame]

I'm just trying to figure out how you'd actually damage a mag body beyond repair, and do so with enough regularity that its routine

Lemme see, from memory:

Boot stomping, fell three decks down a tower onto concrete, smashed one in a car door once (nearly cut in half), ric (or rock or something) hit my chest rig, loading and unloading, had one cease to exist during malf drills (came apart in my hands), etc.

 

[rhino]

Remind me never to handle any of your mags.

Thanks for THAT mental picture.

Hah! People pay extra for magazines covered in Essence of Rhino!

What kind of magazines and what kind of training are you guys doing where mags are 'consumables'? If your mags are getting so banged up as to be unusable, maybe its time to try a different brand.

Springs and followers wear, but the actual mag body?

I train with steel GI mags and use P-mags for actual carry. I've yet to damage a GI to the point it wouldn't function. Ditto for steel AK mags.

GI-type AR mags will eventually form cracks at the feedlips if you use them enough, especially if you are vigorous when you reload (as we all should be). As soon as the start to crack there, the lips will spread apart (that sounds dirty!) and the magazine will eventually start double feeding or even doing the classic "volcano eruption" when you reload with the bolt locked open.

I haven't destroyed any PMags . . . yet. I've had to retired several aluminum mil-spec mags over the years.

 

[N8RV]

Obamanomics 101

I'm still pretty new to my AR and am still trying to build up my necessary stores of mags and ammo. I'm still a lot shorter than where I really need to be for decent practice and training.

Therefore, since I know that a lot of you are big fans of Obama, it occurred to me that, under the guidelines of this administration and the entire concept of "redistribution," those of you with a whole lotta mags MUST share with the rest of us.

It's just not fair that you should have excess mags -- literally boxes and barrels full -- while the rest of us have only a few. It's only fair, after all.

Therefore, after the world ends tomorrow, all of you with more than 10 AR mags MUST send your excess mags to me. I will equitably distribute your ill-gotten gains to those less fortunate.

And, yes, this whole post should've been written in purple.

However, if you appreciate my Obama-esque approach to magazine redistribution, feel free to PM me for mailing instructions.

 

[superjoe76]

I cant think of a single reason to only have 1 magazine

Unless of course its the December 1997 issue of Playboy

 

[rhino]

Unless of course its the December 1997 issue of Playboy

I need the issue with Mimi Rogers (nekkid).

For the articles, of course.

 

[Cpt Caveman]

I need as many as I want!

 

[LockStocksAndBarrel]

Unless of course its the December 1997 issue of Playboy

That issue is going for $160. You could buy a lot of magazines with that magazine.

Yea, I Binged it.

 

[Beowulf]

What kind of magazines and what kind of training are you guys doing where mags are 'consumables'? If your mags are getting so banged up as to be unusable, maybe its time to try a different brand.

Springs and followers wear, but the actual mag body?

I train with steel GI mags and use P-mags for actual carry. I've yet to damage a GI to the point it wouldn't function. Ditto for steel AK mags.

I've never had a milspec AK mag fail, but I've certainly had GI aluminum AR mags fail. I've had to retire most of my original 30 rounders that I've had since the 90's due to unreliability.

I switched to all PMags and some cheap thermolds for my AR. Unfortunately my FS2000 only takes aluminum mags (damn stupid tight mag well), so I've also had to stock back up on aluminum mags. It's really annoying to have to have two different varieties of the same type of magazine. Almost annoying enough to make think about taking a dremel to the mag well of my FN.... almost (I may be crazy, but I'm not stupid enough to wreck a $2000 gun).

 

[jtmason15]

I agree with what others have said. You can never have too many magazines. If you only have 5 or so like you do, what if something happens where a couple of them have followers break and a couple have trashed springs or get cracked or bent. Then you are really screwed. You have basically a single shot weapon that should be a semi auto. The gun is pretty much useless if you do not have good quality mags in good numbers. You should always have reserves of magazines.

 

[churchmouse]

Have a butt load of mil-spec and as many Magpul. About half and half. They all run but I am leaning towards the Magpul.
Still do not have enough but through in the Socom 16 and we are at a whole new level of involvement.

 

[Principal Skinr]

I'm going with 10 mags per gun. That covers bug out, and I'll get a couple 10 round Pmags when they come out, for the range.

Of course, this all means I've got no mags, because my guns are all at the bottom of a lake, thanks to a tragic boating accident.

 

[Tombs]

I rarely bother to get more than the amount of a typical combat loadout worth of magazines, unless it's an obscure magazine for an obscure gun... Then yea, I'll hoard quite a few.

AR15 mags I've never been much concerned with, I've always opted for what will last vs what is the cheapest, and just bought what I could ever physically carry/use.

That's pretty much how I handle all magazine issues... Not much point in having more than you could ever carry. If you need more ammo, you may consider a bigger magazine. Things wear out, and there are competition shooters, I'm fully aware of. I'm unlikely to wear out anything in my lifetime though.

Well, you haven't been shooting enough. I shoot so much that my magazines can cease to exist . . . at any moment.

That would take all of a couple minutes to fix...
If you guys throw away every magazine that just has a spot weld give out on it, I'd be half tempted to ask you to mail them to me instead of trash them.

 

[Lobb40118]

I say buy as much as you can afford and want. I do not need any more than 10 of each type, but that is me.

 

[jmach]

I'm in the camp that says get what you are comfortable with, want and can afford.
Wear, tear, loss..they all make these things rebuildable at best, consumable at worst.
These may not always be available; what if the 10 round limit comes back around? (I'm guessing they will try).
What's a 30 round p-mag going to be worth, long term?
I know they are crazy priced now, just watched one go on e-bay for 127.50. yikes!
But long term... if we can hold onto our guns, and these hi cap mags, wouldn't it be great to pass on to our kids? Or have as a nest egg if needed in old age?
It would be like someone getting "Uncle Ray's" Thompson that he had packed away for the last 50+ years....pay-dirt!
And stuff is not getting any cheaper, so I'd consider it to be at least a decent investment at normal prices.

 

[rugertoter]

So, like the post says, do we really need all these magazines?

I go to the range, I have an AK and 5 30 round mags. I take care of them and they aren't going into battle, so I think they'll be OK for a number of years. I'm not seeing a need for more. I shoot a couple of mags, take a break and shoot some more soon thereafter.

I have numerous Glock and Sig mags for my Glock and Sig guns...I have more .45 single stack for my Kimber than I have for my Glock and Sigs simply because I've gotten a great deal on extra mags and loading 8 rounds over and over is a pain in the dupa.

With this new approaching "AWB" and the threat of losing out on the availability of purchasing them, we are seeing a buying frenzy.

Like the hard to get toys at Christmas and the post 9/11 anthrax scare, are we just unnecessarily hoarding because we have this built in instinct to have what we cannot get?

What say you, INGO-ers?

To me, its about having the right to own as many as you like. Who should care whether you need them or not...nobody's business.