Magpul PMAG plastic longevity?

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Scout21

Scout21

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I've long wondered how well the plastic that Magpul uses for their PMAGs holds up over time. I've also long thought about a bulk buy so that I have an ample supply to use and pass down in the case of an all out >10 round mag ban.

The Magpul PMAG is by far my favorite AR magazine. In fact, I believe it's the only AR magazine that I currently still own. Never a single issue that I could reasonably blame the magazine for. I'd really like to stick to them over a metal magazine.

As great as they are, I'm concerned about their shelf life. I'd hate to stock up just to find a brittle and weakened magazine or, even worse, a crumbly heap of plastic 50 years from now. Aluminum mags from the Vietnam era still run great, I wonder if PMAGs will last that long.
 
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No way to tell for a few more years. No plastic likes heat or light. Stored in a climate contoled closet, probably last indefinitely. I've got plastic fishing lures from the 1960's that still work. Also got some that disintegrated from being left out.
I've got loaded Pmags that are almost 10yrs old now and still like new.
 
I still have 2 of the pmags the company sent me from a shipment for my old unit to test, from when they first came out but before they were available on the open market. I want to say this was around 2007. They have been used a lot and they still work fine.
 
Scout21 said:
I've long wondered how well the plastic that Magpul uses for their PMAGs holds up over time.
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I have had some for more than a decade and they have held up.

I have some Colt 20 round mags that have held up since Vietnam though and expect them to still be going once the plastic breaks.

Magpul are certainly better than most other plastic mags I have used. With the exception of part plastic, part metal magazines. Glock mags, for example.
 
I have Gen 1 magazines from 2008 or 09 that still work. They cost me well over what they go for now and have "patent pending" on the side. By comparison, I threw out the last of my Magpul enhanced aluminum issued mags about 6 months ago when 3 of those had pinch failures.
 
Scout21 said:
Are you saying that Magpul made aluminum magazines, or did you just use Magpul internals with an aluminum G.I. magazine?
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Magpul enhanced magazines were aluminum magazines that were issued with the Magpul 4way anti-tilt follower. It was the Army's attempt to fix weapon malfunctions without replacing millions of magazines with Pmags. It did a pretty good job for awhile.

Scout21 said:
What's a "pinch failure"?
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Just a term I use when aluminum magazines deform to the point where the follower and spring do not move freely inside the body anymore. In the three I had, the follower was stuck toward the bottom of full magazines and the ammo could literally be poured out the top.
 
OP is using a 50 year time horizon! Makes me rethink my long term planning.

If I was trying to plan out AR’s being operational for the next 50 years, I’d buy both PMAGS for use now and use over the next 20 years. Id buy aluminum mags, and an extra follower and spring per mag and just put them away for if/when the PMAGS broke/wore out and Magpul would not replace them….

But if you are thinking mags, you should be thinking guns too…especially parts like bolts and barrels, springs and widgets. Maybe an extra complete upper per gun? And an extra BCG and barrel as well?

Don’t get me started on ammo….

:thumbdown: :thumbup:
 
I'll make sure ta' leave the location on THR.
I've already requested my cherokee be my coffin, pushed off the highest point above Telluride.

TBA
:rofl:​
 
hso said:
Apples and Armadillos...there's far more complexity to whatever you're accessing THR with AND the endless developments and tech changes.
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Sure, but not my point. I am simply framing the idea that my hard earned money, over time, has done better buying ammo, guns, or magazines than most anything else in the consumer goods world.

My point is that much in the firearms world, especially if one does not buy junk, lasts a long time, and you generally get your money’s worth from the items. And often, they have some significant residual value for a long time
after the purchase. This is a magazine thread, so sticking with that, I have a box full of unopened PMAGS I bought 10 years ago. The main fear I ever had with them was being outlawed, not being outdated by tech updates. If they made pulse laser guns tomorrow, my AR’s and PMAGS will still work well 20 years from now with a bit of PM and proper storage.

Maybe a cell phone I bought at the same time would work, but it certainly wouldn’t be worth anything to anyone should I put it up for sale.
 
I don't worry about it.
Normal storage/usage.........I'll be dead from old age before they wear out/degrade
 
ALL plastics have a finite life span ,as the materials NEVER cease curing . Newer advanced polymers will endure decades provided there's NO defect in the forming process or material . What kills plastics is excessive heat and Sunlight ( Ultraviolet ) degrades near anything given along enough exposure .

MY basis for comment ,comes from direct involvement within the Composites Industry ,as in Aerospace Material Engineer for over #3 decades .
Pryor to that complete chemical analysis ,while obtaining My PhD. in Organic chemistry , Polymer disciplines . Along with a Masters in Structural Engineering . So you know I'm Not talking out the backside .
 
I've a few gen 1 P-Mags from around 2010 that live in my truck.
They still work after countless extreme heat and cold cycles that come from living in the back seat of a pickup truck.

They're kept outta sunlight so that certainly helps.
 
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