Swiss Arms PE90 Magazine Connector Tabs that catch on Mag Pouches and Gear

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Cover 6

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How do you carry your Swiss mags?

What are you using for your mag pouches that fit these unique sized mags or do you cut off the tabs that allow you to snap mags together as i noticed the tabs catch on materiel and pouch inner lining?

Do you use single pouches or double stack? Any brands that fit well or for singles or doubles

I have seen mags where the connector tabs were ground off to avoid snagging on gear or webbing. I guess you can snap 2 together and then grind off the protruding tabs on the one mag to fit a double mag pouch but who wants to butcher their mags
 
I have 10 mags for my Swiss, I cut all of the connecting lugs off long ago. My magazines see a fair amount of abuse so their not ever getting sold anyway. With the lugs the magazines are HUGE, and I really dislike them, I use HSGI double Taco's, with great success. I have no idea how they would work with the lugs still attached. I find running the two mags connected to be very awkward, one mag is always in the way, on the left it bulges out and get's in the way of the bolt release while under stress, and on the right side it interferes with the charging handle while under stress. I found the best way the eliminate this was cutting off the lugs.

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try finding pouches for ak mags,

I don't cut the tabs off at all, they are a brilliant design and work as intended.
 
dizzy said:
I don't cut the tabs off at all, they are a brilliant design and work as intended.
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I agree, they work as intended, but are more for utility purposes and get in the way when trying to run tactical carbine drills. I'm not saying it can't be done, but I haven't found anyone who can change mags on a Swiss this quickly with two mags coupled together. Especially when the second mag runs out, then they start fumbling the brick sized magazine change out of their pouch and they really slow down.


And here is another video from an Advanced Carbine Course I took, there was myself and another Swiss Arms user on the course. The other guy used the lugs and ran the magazines coupled together. In this drill we are both faced with the same double feed malfunction. The guy who coupled his mags is first on the video from about 0:00 through to 0:25, then skip to about 1:14 and you'll see myself run the drill with un-coupled mags, and chopped off lugs.


To be honest, even the instructor of the course suggested I attempt to run the mags coupled together, and he may read this and offer his own say, but I personally find them very awkward when coupled, and I thought over the 2 day course the guy with the coupled mags was slowed down and hindered by them far more then they helped. Bottom line is you do what works for you.
 
Some guys can shoot a tiny little ball in a tiny little hole from a long ways away, others, can't its all about dexterity and practice.
 
Don't they say it takes 10,000 times doing something before it becomes natural?
If that's the case I'd like to know how many times you've done those reloads Steve!?:cool:
 
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Mauser GDog said:
Someday, someday I will have a pile a glorious gear like yours Steve.
The taco pouches are a "buy once cry once" product, wouldn't you agree? :D
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Patience young padawan patience.....
Yes definitely buy once cry once.

Mauser GDog said:
Don't they say it takes 10,000 times doing something before it becomes natural?
If that's the case I'd like to know how many times you've done those reloads Steve!?:cool:
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Dry fire or simply dry practice makes up for a lot. As to how many times??? I'd say well over 5000 before I felt quick enough to record and share it on here, I just wanted everyone who didn't know to see that rock and lock or not, these magazines can be changed very quickly, perhaps saying I've done it 10,000 times is pushing it but it's definitely possible. I do around 20-30 minutes of dry practice each evening. I have some scaled to size silhouette targets on the wall, and practice getting a sight picture, lots of magazine changes, and since the advanced carbine course, tons of malfunction drills.

Kampfhamster said:
Get rid of these stupid connector-things. They just get stuck in the mag pouches.

Coupling the magazines is overrated.
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See, even Switzerland agrees!!!!
 
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Good info. Thanks

For those that removed the coupling tabs, how did you do it: with a dremel or grinder so as to not damage or crack the Body?

Steve, How do you find going prone when you double the mags (whether coupled) or using single mag pouches stacked? I find it bulky but not unmanageable

Chris, i like the radel mags too.... When are you getting more in please?

Kampfhamster, how do you vs the Army train: coupled or non coupled? is it typical for Army members to remove the coupling tabs as i thought it may be frowned upon by management as to modifying equipment? What pouches do you use?
 
the swiss have lost many good contracts to platforms that take AR mags, for two reasons, tabs and rock n lock. its a big issue. using the swiss mags require retraining and equipment mods, two things which cost a lot of money.
 
how is the AK-style mag release a disadvantage? It's not much slower and it doesn't really in the army or the police anyway.

AR magazine normally suck, they're too easily damaged. But yes, Swissarms did lose contracts because they couldn't take AR-mags, so it does make sense to have to be able to use AR-mags.

@Cover 6: I used a metal saw and a chisel, works just fine.

The basic training is done without coupling magazines. In a later stage of the recruit training they're free to chose. But it's rarely used since they are really big that way.
 
Kampfhamster said:
how is the AK-style mag release a disadvantage?
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If guys have been trained on the AR platform it takes a lot of money in ammo and a lot of time to retrain. For the bean counters this all ads up.

Its the same reason guys hate bullpups, they have trained on AR's and can't make the minor adjustments necessary to do quick mag changes, when the mag is moved closer to the body.

Rock'n'lock works great, has for AK's forever, however the American market does not like it, its all about what they cut their teeth on.
 
We knocked them off with a chisel and hammer. Most guys kept two coupled for use on the gun. Always tape them together, you can't rely on lugs to keep the extra mag on.
 
Cover 6 said:
Good info. Thanks

For those that removed the coupling tabs, how did you do it: with a dremel or grinder so as to not damage or crack the Body?

Steve, How do you find going prone when you double the mags (whether coupled) or using single mag pouches stacked? I find it bulky but not unmanageable

Chris, i like the radel mags too.... When are you getting more in please?

Kampfhamster, how do you vs the Army train: coupled or non coupled? is it typical for Army members to remove the coupling tabs as i thought it may be frowned upon by management as to modifying equipment? What pouches do you use?
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I removed them with a hack saw!!!! Scratched my mags a bit, but dude, they get thrown all over the place during drills, they often get stepped on, and are tough enough that you can drive over them with a f350, who cares if I scratched them! not me! I've had good results with all colors of CANAM mags.

Going prone with double mags on my chest is interesting to say the least. If I am running drills where there will be a lot of prone I sometimes use just the battle belt. It's tough to get low enough to get a proper cheek weld with double stacked mags on my chest, and it's almost impossible to shoot off the magazine as a mono pod.

Kampfhamster said:
AR magazine normally suck, they're too easily damaged. But yes, Swissarms did lose contracts because they couldn't take AR-mags, so it does make sense to have to be able to use AR-mags.
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I agree STANAG Mags are no where near as robust, durable, or reliable as the proprietary mags used in the SAN rifles. Magazines have been an inherent problem with AR`s since they were designed. Only recently have P-mags began to address these issues.

I was under the impression that while accepting STANAG magazines was important, what really killed the SAN rifles for most military and law enforcement contracts was the price. I could be wrong (it wouldn`t be the first time)
 
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Steve is very very fast at mag changes with his Swiss, and he obviously works very hard at it to stay proficient. But I have to say, I was so impressed by the speed that the coupled mags afforded the other Swiss user during the course that I am seriously considering a Redi-Mod for my AR.

I think Big Red's post summarizes the best use of those coupled mags. One coupled set on the gun, the others hacked off and stored.
 
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