24 June 13
In Vietnam in 1968, I never saw a 30-round magazine for our M16s. We only had the 20-round variety. 30-rounders came along later.
Today, my preference for ARs, XCRs, SIG/556s, Tavors, ARXs, and a host of other rifles that accept AR magazines, is the standard, curved, 30-round variety. P-Mags work best, but steel ones are fine too. Even aluminum ones are mostly satisfactory. I like the fact that, due to the magazine’s inherent curvature, one can readily distinguish front from back in the dark. And, I like the fact that the magazine body is sufficiently long, so that there is a generous area in the lower half that the operator may securely grab when loading/reloading.
Most 30-round AR magazines can be mistakenly over-charged. That is, it is sometimes possible to put too many rounds in them. In fact, twenty-eight is the number of rounds most will hold comfortably. In any event, there needs to be a full centimeter of free depression on the top round in order for the magazine to be fully functional. Over-charged magazines typically will refuse to lock in place within the magazine well. And, when they do, the entire rifle will lock-up.
40-round magazines have been produced, but they make the rifle ponderous and difficult to fire from the prone position, and difficult to use in confined environments such as the interior of a car.
Likewise, the 20-round version, as noted above, is perfectly functional, but, when holding it during loading/reloading, one must grasp it in the “cup-and-saucer,” manner due to its shortness. Less secure and less satisfactory than the longer, 30-round variety.
With the current spate of in-place, and proposed, legislation, manufacturers have recently made reduced-capacity versions that are so short as to be mostly unusable. None are recommended. Such legislation is typically so poorly written as to be incomprehensible to an average citizen.
A solid, serviceable military rifle (like an AR), with an adequate reserve of ammunition readily at hand, makes a superb, and necessary, companion for the prudent. Every real American should have one, and know how to use it. In fact, most now do, despite the best efforts of liberal politicians to force us into compulsory helplessness and pathetic dependance upon them!
“Posterity, you will never know how much it cost the present generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will use it well. If you do not, we will repent in heaven that we ever took half the pains to preserve it”
John Adams
/John
