straight ar mags vs curced
- Thread starter wyldr
- Start date
The rounds have a taper to them, so stacking them on top of eachother necessitates the curve of the magazines. However, when the capacity is only 5 or 10, that curve is negligible so the magazine can be flat. 7.62x39 tapers a bit more aggressively, hence the banana shape to those magazines
Yes but the original m16 usgi mags were 20 round straight walls were they not? thus the taper should be negligible up to at least 20 rounds.
I believe I read that a 20 round curved mag is simply a cut down 30 round mag where the need is far greater. Is this a popular belief?
I believe I read that a 20 round curved mag is simply a cut down 30 round mag where the need is far greater. Is this a popular belief?
For me I do a lot of prone and bench shooting so I find the 30 round pattern a real, severe pain in the a$$... I find the 30 round mags require taller bags, taller bi-pods and more rifle movement to change. Thus, I only use LAR mags and 20 round pattern P-mags, as I find them more compact, easier to use, allow lower bags and lower bi-pods.
In a country where a 20 round and a 30 round body are ignorantly and stupidly pinned to the same 5 rounds, it doesn't matter. Even if they were not pinned I'd still keep a lot more 20 round body mags for the way I shoot.
In a country where a 20 round and a 30 round body are ignorantly and stupidly pinned to the same 5 rounds, it doesn't matter. Even if they were not pinned I'd still keep a lot more 20 round body mags for the way I shoot.
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Ar180shooter
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No, not really. There are other ways of accommodating the taper in the cartridges without using a curved magazine.
Look at the base of the magazine and notice how the spine of the magazine is longer than the front. This is to allow the follower and rounds to tilt as the magazine is loaded, placing the rounds at the bottom of the magazine on an angle compared to the feed lips. This only works on the 20's as a 30 round magazine would have to allow the follower to tilt more, possibly compromising reliability. The advantage to curved magazines is you can increase capacity and use anti-tilt followers which will not bind with the magazine as the older style followers sometimes will.
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Phat Eagle
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When I'm prone/bench rest I use LAR15 or 5/7 round Beowulf mags (same profile as a standard 20 rounder). For me the monopod mag is less steady than using my elbows and wrapping the sling.
When shooting CQB or 3 gun I only use aluminum 5/10 Beowulf mags. They're the same size as a 30 rounder, and don't get lost or stuck in my mag pouches the way a LAR15 mag does. I tried running extensions on my LAR15s, and found the aluminum ones from S&J were best, but they're heavy.
When shooting CQB or 3 gun I only use aluminum 5/10 Beowulf mags. They're the same size as a 30 rounder, and don't get lost or stuck in my mag pouches the way a LAR15 mag does. I tried running extensions on my LAR15s, and found the aluminum ones from S&J were best, but they're heavy.
No such thing as 30 plus round mags until long after Viet Nam. The curve is about shooting prone, not storing 'em or the very small taper of the cartridge. Said cartridges are no stacked on top of each other either.
As mentioned, it's moot anyway.
As mentioned, it's moot anyway.
How does the curve help for prone shooting?
I have around 40 5/30 mags, 4 5/20, a couple LAR mags and one AA Beowulf mag (30 round 223 body size). I find that for most of my shooting at the range I prefer the 5/20 for shooting off the bags and just general ease of use. I use the 5/30 for standing and playing around and find that I don't use the LAR or Beowulf mags that often. I just don't really care about more capacity for most days at the range. I don't just go out to blast off as many rounds as I can in the shortest period possible so the Beowulf and LAR mags don't get used much. I do wish we could just run our mags at their designed capacity and not worry about this silliness but even then I would still use the 5/20's the most I think.
I think the reason I have so many 5/30 mags is mostly that they are cheaper and I keep hoping that some day I'll be allowed to reverse the neutering that was so wrongly done to them. I've used 30 round mags at their correct capacity and it is fun but it sure will get expensive keeping them full on the days you go more to make noise than to actually make groups or hit the gongs without missing.
wrong and wrong. 30 round mags were around during and even before Vietnam, The only reason they weren't used by the military was because very few of the existing designs at the time were reliable, They were all over the civi market. another factor of course is military doctrine. In all the previous wars around the world rifle magazines were still in the 5-10 range, most countries were still using bolt guns until after Korea. Vietnam was the first conflict where anybody encountered AKs with 30 round banana mags. Heck the 60s was when everyone first started coming out of the 5-10 zone into the 20 round zone. The US fielded 20 round mags even though 30 round mags were already around for the same reason civilians have drum mags while the military still uses 30 rounders. They didn't see it as necessary, nor practical.
Though yes the rounds aren't technically stacked on top of each other the tapir of the round is still a factor. regardless of how they are stacked, they are stacked so the tapir will always be a factor.
The curve of the mag is not to facilitate prone. It is to facilitate the tapir of the rounds. as someone else has shown above there are there ways to facilitate it such as the slanted bottom on some 20 round magazines. The problem is beyond 20 rounds the tilt of the follower caused by the tapir on the rounds will begin to cause it to bind with the magazine body. It also means that the spring will be applying more pressure on one side of the cartridges than the other and at a steep angle which can cause stoppages. The curvature of the magazine is to facilitate the tilting of the follower as more rounds are loaded into the magazine.
BattleRife
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Not sure why you're referencing Vietnam, but the 30 round mags were available late in the war. This photo is dated 1971, these guys appear to be issued the early 30's with the smooth curve:
And the curve is very much about compensating for the taper. Where do you get your info?!?
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Greenhorse six
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Magpul just started making the curved 20 rounders and drop the straight ones , if that means anything.
