With the scarcity of PMags, might we actually consider using...TAPCO!?

Dukkake

Dukkake

Member
EE Expired
Rating - 100%
26   0   0
Location
Durham Region, Ontario
So I just picked up a few Tapco AR-15 mags, after about a week of humming and hawing. Obviously anything Tapco is generally highly suspect but so far they seem pretty solid, and I've been looking into it and these genII mags are apparently not too bad. Considering they're about half the price of a PMAG right now, I just had to try them out. At first inspection they seem solid enough, follower travels really well and aside from a little bit of excess plastic on one feed lip (easily removed with an exacto) they appear to be well manufactured. One other thing I noticed is that they're not pinned, so the 5-round limiter must be internal. Fit and drop-free are spot on, no wiggle and no hang-ups. Only real major problem I see is the floor plate doesn't appear to be easily removable for cleaning. I think the standard version has a slot to push up the floor plate lock but this 5-rounder doesn't, presumably so that it can't be modified. Ideally they shouldn't get dirty enough for feed issues at the range but I'm more concerned about cleaning possible plastic shavings out of it.

I'm curious to know if anyone else has had experience with these mags and if they're actually better than you would expect from Tapco. If so, maybe they'll help fill the gap left by Pmags for now.

I know it's not the most extensive, but I did find this torture test on them and they supposedly functioned so well that even this guy was surprised. Worth a look anyway: http://www.gunn-fighter.com/tapcomag.html
 
While they're not a PMAG, for the price - they're certainly an affordable alternative. I had a pair but sold them because I didn't like the internal limiter and not being able to disassemble them for maintenance. But again, that's just me. I'm also a Magpul whore. ;)
 
Yeah it's looking like the only way to take off the floor plate for cleaning/upgrading would be to modify it in such a way that it would become illegal by defeating the permanence of the limiter. The upshot I suppose is no ugly rivet, but I'd still feel better being able to clean it properly.
 
Dukkake said:
Yeah it's looking like the only way to take off the floor plate for cleaning/upgrading would be to modify it in such a way that it would become illegal by defeating the permanence of the limiter. The upshot I suppose is no ugly rivet, but I'd still feel better being able to clean it properly.
Click to expand...

It's not often that you do, but when you do... the crap I got out of two of my PMAGs after one particularly dirty range session was just unbelievable.
 
blaxsun said:
It's not often that you do, but when you do... the crap I got out of two of my PMAGs after one particularly dirty range session was just unbelievable.
Click to expand...

Yeah true enough. I was also hoping to paint one of them so I guess I'll have to just tape the heck out of the thing to keep paint out of the internals. Too bad I couldn't just find some FDE ones
 
Double check with Farmboy. Yesterday, he had $18.99 PMag somethings as a special offer when you checked out with an order.
 
Its not that PMAGS are scarce, quite the opposite. If I had unlimited funds, I could have bought hundreds, maybe more, in the last couple of weeks. The problem, some will claim, is supply and demand. While commercial supply is tight right now, private supply is ample. What we are seeing is profiteering, nothing more. There must be literally millions of them in private hands, so to say the supply is low, is not so, in my opinion. But if thats what the market will bear, so be it. Until people stop paying high prices, or commercial supply comes back, thats were they will stay.

If you want them bad enough, be prepared to pay, at the moment. I don't have any AR Tapco's, but have a couple SKS and Mini 14 mags, and they are a pretty good alternative. Most AR mags I have are old school Colt 20 and 30 rounders, and those are just fine for me.
 
Repro77 said:
Its not that PMAGS are scarce, quite the opposite. If I had unlimited funds, I could have bought hundreds, maybe more, in the last couple of weeks.
Click to expand...

Sure, and probably driven the price through the roof in the process. The fact is you don't - and you didn't - so it's kind of moot. :D

rivetc78 said:
Pmags are like diamonds.
They are only valuable because the supply is controlled.
Click to expand...

They're valuable because they're great magazines. There's ample supply of alternatives (polymer and metal), so that kind of torpedoes your "diamond" theory. :rolleyes:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom