[headedtotexas]

I have 20 round mags for my Mini 14 and M1A, but the standard magazine for the AR platform seems to be 30 rounds. Now is definitely not the time to be buying AR magazines, but that is what was thrust upon me. In the unlikely even that I get to choose, I have decided that the Magpul Pmag is right for me. Question is, 20 rounds or 30 round?

 

[Jeff F]

I find my Mini handier with a 20 for what I use it for. I do have a few 30's. I have mostly 30's for my AR's but only use them in training and to prove them. So far I weeded out a couple 30's that were not reliable. Most of the time when I do take an AR coyote hunting or for a truck gun I just use one of the 20 round magazines.

My AR's were bought mainly for possible social situations and if I ever knew I was going to get into a gunfight it would be 30 round mags all the way though I would not feel under gunned if all I had were 20's.

The main thing is to have reliable magazines and always have at least one spare on you at all times. Most, not all but most AR or Mini failures are magazine related in my experience. Same goes for sidearms.

 

[Indyarms]

i cant shoot an AR15 of the bench with anything bigger than a 5 or 10 rounder... so for load testing, and accuracy testing with multiple brands of ammo... its 10 or less...

apart from that, you will be shooting freehand, I presume. Are you able to drop an empty mag and reload a full one? Can you count to 19?? or would you prefer to count to 29?? if you wait till it goes CLICK... you shot one too many, and will have to fiddle**** around some...

Can your battle rig that you will be wearing be able to hold multiple magazines? 6 20 rounders, 4 30 rounders... same amount of ammo... whats the problem??? If *YOU GOTTA ASK* which to carry.... there is a bigger issue...

 

[sharky8js]

I have 1 10rnd, 3 20rnd, and a bunch of 30rnd, I preffer the 20rnd due to only 20rnds in a box. Anyone want to trade some 20's for my 30's? LOL!!
30's are easier to find and usually cheeper. It's all prefferance

 

[headedtotexas]

I can do the math. What I'm trying to understand is why 30 rounds seems to be the standard for the AR platform where 20 is the standard for the Mini 14 and M14 platforms. While the AR platform is every bit as civilian as the Mini 14, it makes sense the the AR platform would follow its M16 heritage as a battle weapon and therefore tend toward higher capacity magazines.

 

[Jeff F]

The M16 started out with 20 round magazines when it was first fielded.

 

[woodstock]

When I first enlisted in the Army in '76 20 round mags were all we had. It was probably a year or two before we ever saw 30 round mags. I actually like the ergonomics of the 20 better but of course for battle, more is better.

 

[grumpy_old_man]

I can do the math. What I'm trying to understand is why 30 rounds seems to be the standard for the AR platform where 20 is the standard for the Mini 14 and M14 platforms. While the AR platform is every bit as civilian as the Mini 14, it makes sense the the AR platform would follow its M16 heritage as a battle weapon and therefore tend toward higher capacity magazines.

Main reason I see that the military went with the 30 over the 20 is that the M16 is first and foremost a selective fire weapon with a fire doctrine that emphasized FA fire at close range. So figure they average a 3-shot burst (as on the alpha deuce) for each aimed burst at an enemy soldier. Then you get 10 bursts rather than 6-2/3 bursts.

FWIW, I like the 20 round mags since I can get lower to the ground in the prone firing position, but did stock up on the Magpul 30's just because they were what Academy had on hand. If they get any more in, they will be 30's so I'll buy those. Just a pity that my Thermold 20's don't lock the bolt back - if not for that they'd be perfect and I'd try to track down a few more of them. CProducts 20 shooters are some of my favorites, but I haven't seen those at a reasonable price for some time.

However for my M1A, it's 20 rounders pretty exclusively - except for the 4x 25 bangers I ordered in early Jan, because I couldn't find any more 20 rounders.

All the best,
Grumpy

 

[Carbine85]

I have mostly 30 round mags but seldom use them. I use 10 & 20 round mags at the range. the 30's get in the way when bench shooting.

 

[headedtotexas]

30s look like they would get in the way of shooting prone too. True?

 

[usmc0341]

We (the entire Marine Corps) shoot prone every year at 500 for qualification and the 30 rounders don't get in the way..

TO caveat off of that though. I use 20 rounders when I'm shooting off of bipods with my DMR because it is much easier to change mags and correct malfunctions.

 

[headedtotexas]

Yeah, but you guys are Marines. There are a lot of things you guys can do that are virtually impossible for the rest of us. And of course I mean that with the utmost respect. I work with a few Marines. Rare breed. If you shoot 20s because you find them easier to change, I'm guessing it would make a big difference to me.

Normally I would just buy a few of each, decide which to keep and sell or store the rest. But these are strange times we live in and buying magazines isn't like it used to be.

 

[Jim Mac]

I like my 20 rounders. last time I took my nephew (whos never shot a gun) I took 1 20 round mag for the ar and a few .22 pistols and rifles. One thing I find is most folks at the range will keep pulling the trigger until it goes click. So with the 20 round mag the AR gets empty faster then the .22s get shot until empty. And for some reason, he liked reloading the tube in the mod. 60 marlin more than reloading a empty mag so the ammo lasted a little longer. jim

 

[swansonk]

I incline to 20-round magazines for both my Mini-14 and my AR. If they were full-auto or burst fire capable, I'd probably go with 30-rounders. For semi-auto, 20-round magazines just seem to be handier and quicker to reload.

 

[hottarod]

I use 10's at the range for sitting the bench and 20's for stand/move and shoot. It is too easy to go through ammo with the larger capacity magazines.

 

[headedtotexas]

I'm sold on 20s. Got several on order. Let the waiting game begin. Thanks guys.

 

[TxQuail]

I prefer 20 round magazines for the M14/M1A. I have a couple 25 round M14 magazines. When you put these loaded in the gun, the gun is a hoss. Those 5 extra rounds make a very pronounced presence in weight. You wouldn't think it would.

I prefer the 20 Round magazines in the Mini-14 for bench shooting. I have an AC-556 also, and I only use 30 round magazines for it. (Select Fire = 30 more fun).

On my AR-15's, I like my 20 Round Magazines for Bench Shooting or Hunting. For plinking in the country, a 30 Round Magazine is acceptable!

 

[BRL]

I use 10's at the range for sitting the bench and 20's for stand/move and shoot. It is too easy to go through ammo with the larger capacity magazines.

I'm sold on 20s. Got several on order. Let the waiting game begin. Thanks guys.

20 sounds like a reasonable amount, all I have right now is 30 rounders...

:lol:

Personally, I would like to have a few 10 rounders because I like shooting my AR at the ol' gravel pit, while sometimes resting it on whatever might be available there.

I just don't like the idea of my current President and some in the current Administration trying to limit us to 10 round magazines exclusively! :angry:

Nice .22-250 Remington 700 eh, doable rifle rest.

 

[Hcim101]

Bigger is not always better, aka 100 beta mags. It's really for what your intentions are, home defence, varmint shooting ect. 20 is good if your using a Scope and bipod, 30's sometimes can hit the ground if aiming at higher elevation, and pmags are longer than metal so keep that in mind. But 30's do offer the ability as a counter weight if you have a heavy bull barrel or hbar (18" plus) but its only effective if you use a forward grip since the mag is ahead of the hand guard.

 

[Kevin]

Question is, 20 rounds or 30 round?

I would buy an assortment of both.

Most of the magazine pouches on the market are designed for 30 round magazines.

If you go to ebay and look for m16 magazine ALICE pouches, you are going to mostly find pouches for 30 round magazines.

What I do, is load my 30 round magazines with 20 rounds. That way the spring does not compress.