Anyone have any experience with Hexmag mags for AR15
- Thread starter Kingfish
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I've used them a bunch. Like any other polymer mag (MFT, Troy) and about the same as magpul...little less robust but I've never had a failure with one. I think they're a little better than the Troy mags. If you can get them cheap then go for it. If you're paying close to magpul, then probably not.
What's your preference for "bet your life on it" mags for an AR?
If I have any mags that malfunction or don't perform, I destroy them. A lot of people will sell them, which is shitty, but I won't do that. Happens in commieland, I know for a fact.
Most polymer mags outside of Mil use, tend to perform just fine. People don't get them as dirty or abuse the crap out of them. The biggest thing I've seen is loading them up to max and keeping them loaded a long time. Doesn't really hurt the springs but what it does do is deform or bulge the top...that's why magpul has that lid. Cracks are another common thing I see...usually because a loaded mag falls out of a safe or something or someone realized he can shove just one or two more rounds in a mag and thinks, "wow, I have a 32 round Mag", which is not the case.
Magpuls are the only polymer mags that can be procured...like as an approved accessory; may have changed in the last few years but I don't follow weapons acquisitions much any more. Some of the others might have an NSN but you can get an NSN for an acorn if you know the process. I don't think Thermold are GI anymore.
Most polymer mags outside of Mil use, tend to perform just fine. People don't get them as dirty or abuse the crap out of them. The biggest thing I've seen is loading them up to max and keeping them loaded a long time. Doesn't really hurt the springs but what it does do is deform or bulge the top...that's why magpul has that lid. Cracks are another common thing I see...usually because a loaded mag falls out of a safe or something or someone realized he can shove just one or two more rounds in a mag and thinks, "wow, I have a 32 round Mag", which is not the case.
Magpuls are the only polymer mags that can be procured...like as an approved accessory; may have changed in the last few years but I don't follow weapons acquisitions much any more. Some of the others might have an NSN but you can get an NSN for an acorn if you know the process. I don't think Thermold are GI anymore.
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I second the hell out of GI aluminum mags! With one little thing!!! Take a file and file about a 45° angle at the front of the magazine. That way the case mouth can't get hung up there, which can happen. I have only used GI since forever! Learned the bevel trick from Jerry!
Love me some OK mags!!!!
The old 20 round Adventure line and Colt mags were the worst for not being beveled, and the front of the mag wasn't cut down at all. I bet a good 1/3 of malfunction and jams experienced in Nam were a direct result of this. In 1990s Denver P.D. started an urban rifle program, and the requirements for the rifle was Colt 16", a fixed stock and 20 round magazines. Some of the rifles struggled with their requirements of no malfunctions for 200 rounds to be approved. I showed the guy responsible for their rifle program this little trick, and almost all rifles would pass. We also used to blend down the feed ramps into the upper receiver, which directly became copied as the M4 ramp we know today. Guy named John Cook showed me how to do this in 1996 and I showed the Armalite sponsored shooters the mod in 1997 and told the Colt Armorer in late 1997 about the mod. I also made a jig to drill the lower receivers for a detent pin, so the Denver guys could run a push pin for take down instead of the screw type pin Colt used to have on LE and Civilian guns. Still have one!
The old 20 round Adventure line and Colt mags were the worst for not being beveled, and the front of the mag wasn't cut down at all. I bet a good 1/3 of malfunction and jams experienced in Nam were a direct result of this. In 1990s Denver P.D. started an urban rifle program, and the requirements for the rifle was Colt 16", a fixed stock and 20 round magazines. Some of the rifles struggled with their requirements of no malfunctions for 200 rounds to be approved. I showed the guy responsible for their rifle program this little trick, and almost all rifles would pass. We also used to blend down the feed ramps into the upper receiver, which directly became copied as the M4 ramp we know today. Guy named John Cook showed me how to do this in 1996 and I showed the Armalite sponsored shooters the mod in 1997 and told the Colt Armorer in late 1997 about the mod. I also made a jig to drill the lower receivers for a detent pin, so the Denver guys could run a push pin for take down instead of the screw type pin Colt used to have on LE and Civilian guns. Still have one!
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As to the OP. I bought a Gen 2 heavy duty Hexmag at Atwoods out of curiosity. Several people in different forae were talking about what crap they were. Said they would start bulging and puke out the rounds. For 8.99 I figured I’d find out for myself. I loaded it full and layed it on the dresser. Every week or when it caught my attention I would pick it up and chuck it across the room, pick it up and reseat the rounds to the back on my heel then put it back on the dresser. After two or three months I took it to the range and had my protege mag dump it through his carbine. It ran like a top. Of course it’s a sample of one but it’s good enough for this armchair commando. I still like the storage caps on the Magpuls, but the Hexmags seem the equal of any other good poly mags except probably Lancers. I’d like to have two or three dozen nitrided stainless mags with the good anti-tilt followers but other things are higher up on the list.
I say buy this, never have to ask questions again. Probably one of the only times in life you’ll find that cheap=good.
I thought about using a 20rd Hexmag in an AR10, but when I loaded it that thing felt like it was about to bust apart so I never actually used it. My 20rd Magpuls seem to be much better made.
I think Okay has to be making those for Brownells. The gray are exactly like GI mags. The Brownells disappeared for a short while right around when Okay announced they weren't making mags anymore. I think maybe they worked out a deal or Brownells invested and bought the Okay tooling or something. Just me speculating...at any rate, they are identical to GI mags. I bought one of the 100 pc cases for testing and they all run like a top. Can't beat 'em.
That makes sense now. I didn't know that...but I bet it's unmarked ones. Okay and Colt's are what we usually got but we've received cases of plain Jane mags...only have a date and a code. They work fine. I was just digging through some mag and pulled a couple no-namers, one dated 05 and one dated 09.
