What to look for in magazines?

[wct097]

I'm going to be picking up a couple EA lowers this weekend at the gun show. I figure that I'll keep my eyes open for magazines as well. I keep hearing people talk about magazines with green followers. What is the signifigance of a green follower? What brands should I look for? I figure I'll try to pick up at least one 30 and one 20.

[Shady]

Everything you ever wanted to know about AR Magazines is at:

http://magfaq.tripod.com/

Beware the popups.

[MrMurphy]

The Green Follower is the latest no-jam fix to make sure the magazine feeds properly. You can get any 30-rounder that's USGI and retrofit it (it's fairly cheap) but getting one with it already in place is even better. They went to the Green Follower at least 6 years back I think. Probably longer.

Any USGI (Army issue surplus) mag should be ok as long as it's visibly not beat up too much. Beware some Thermolds (Polymer) and other plastic mags, not all work properly.

Stay away (FAR AWAY) from USA brand magazines. Bad experiences with them abound.

[Ghosty]

Originally posted by MrMurphy
Stay away (FAR AWAY) from USA brand magazines. Bad experiences with them abound.

^2

The only mags I have are USA 20-rounders. I'm assuming they are bad for the gun, since they are steel, and the lower receiver is aluminum.

What are USGI mags made of(aluminum, plastic), and how can I tell they are USGI? How much do they cost for pre-bans?

[RepublicanMan]

I too have heard alot about the green follower being better....every mag I have has a black follower and I have yet (knock on wood) to have any misfeeds of any sort. I got out of the Army in 99 and to be honest with you I don't know what color the followers were in our issue mags but I do know that we did occasionally have mag related feeding issues on the ranges.

[nipperwolf]

Originally posted by MrMurphy


Stay away (FAR AWAY) from USA brand magazines. Bad experiences with them abound.
bought 3 a few years back when I first bought my bushy.
one worked fine.
one fed fine, but wouldn't hold bolt open after last shot.
the other, wouldn't work.
noticed the differnce in the lips compared to the 'mil-spec'(key word in magazines,along with USGI) mags I had that worked flawlessly.

I didn't have the net then to learn all this stuff back then!

sent all 3 mags back to USA. got back 3 different mags with slightly different lips. test results were the same;

one worked fine.
one fed fine, but wouldn't hold bolt open after last shot.
the other, wouldn't work.
;g

the only good thing was that they send you a neat t-shirt with the guitar ad printed on it. gave it to my guitar playing shootin' buddy.

[nipperwolf]

heres some pics comparing USGI,mil-spec,aluminum mags to USA mags.

the USGI mag is the lighter one.

notice the difference in lip design.

[nipperwolf]

another angle.

[Kcolg]

New USGI Green vs. Old USGI followers.

If you look at them there is a slight design difference in how they look as well as function. The green follower is plastic and puts a slightly different lift on the tip of the bullet as it is chambered allowing for a "very" slightly higher feed approach. ALso because it is plastic it does not have the hangup problem associtated with the older metal followers. GI's would complain that the metal follower would jam at an angle inside the mag body and hold the spring compressed just enough for the next round to not get picked up by the bolt. The military of course blammed this on the soldeirs not properly loading and "tapping" the back of the mag to seat all of the rounds before putting it into the weapon.

If you have older USGI mags and experience feeding problems you can purchase reconditioning kits that include new springs and the newer green followers.

I myself have about 2 dozen "old" USGI 20 rounders with old black metal followers and I have not had a problem with them at all. Same with the 20 or so newer green follower USGI mags I own. All have funcioned flawlessly for me.

[Alldowntheline]

Where can I find these "USGI" mags?

[mindonmatter]

Originally posted by Alldowntheline
Where can I find these "USGI" mags?

You can find them at guns shows. This place has them: http://www.ammoman.com/AR15MAG2.htm Also, this is a great place to get mags of every kind: http://ar15.com/forums/forum.html?b=7&f=24

[BoogerSnax]

I'm not even reading the responses.
What I've encountered is probl;ems with plastic magazines.
some work just fine.
some don't.
A little dremmeling on the lips might help.

I'd go strictly for metal ones.
Any problem I've ever seen at the range, with metal magazines, has been fixed with some needle nose pliers. Every time.