The Great P Mag Shortage Of 2013

[timhernandez]

I bought 50 last year to send to my 'kids' deployed overseas. Sent them each 5, and have the rest sitting in my safe.

I am trying hard to avoid the temptation to start selling some of them at these inflated prices.

 

[Killian]

One of our distributors said they sold 125,000 PMAGS in 1 hour I believe the Thursday after the CT shooting.

Yeah, I read an article this morning quoting Brownell's where they said they sold 3.5 years worth of magazines in 72 hours. Any surplus stocks that built up over time when people weren't buying are g.o.n.e. I spoke with a firearms dealer near here a couple of hours ago who told me that his distributor is saying it could be June before he can ship any new semi auto rifles to him. It's bizarre.

Edit: I might as well cite my sources so that I won't be accused of making up figures. Here's the story on Brownell's. http://cnsnews.com/blog/gregory-gwy...s-more-three-years-worth-magazines-just-three

 

[BradN]

They are still out there. I just bought two. I am one lucky gunner .com.

 

[Ehtereon11B]

I just got back from one of my favored gun stores about an hour away. Ammo shelves bare, walls bare of nice rifles with only a handful of single shots left. Most of the pistol display cases empty. Looked more like they were moving. The last time they had PMAGs in stock was before the presidential debate. Went to order a new Marlin and their supplier was 4 WEEKS behind fulfilling orders.

 

[Isaac-1]

You know all this would be a moot point if all guns were sold with a reasonable minimum of 5 full size magazines

 

[Ryanxia]

Isaac-1

You know all this would be a moot point if all guns were sold with a reasonable minimum of 5 full size magazines

Most people don't stop at just 5 magazines. I think 60 per rifle is a good conservative number.

 

[Captains1911]

You know all this would be a moot point if all guns were sold with a reasonable minimum of 5 full size magazines

Ummmmm.....no. 5 mags per gun is not enough, not for me anyway. Which is why I've slowly been stocking up on AR, AK, and glock mags over the past 6 years or so....so I wouldn't have to worry about it when this sort of thing happened.

 

[12131]

You know all this would be a moot point if all guns were sold with a reasonable minimum of 5 full size magazines

Your "reasonable" differs from mine.

 

[EBK]

Not just Pmags, but all other brands, also. Nothing special about Pmags.

Not just mags but everything AR is gone. I checked all my normal online sites and cant even find a buffertube kit midway, brownells, centerfiresystems aim surplus, milsurpstuff.com, copes distributing and many others. GONE everything is gone. This is insane.

 

[USAF_Vet]

I had a quad rail in my Amazon wish list before the panic. A nice one for $30 or so, nothing too fancy, lot of good reviews. Checked a couple weeks ago, and the few hundred they had in stock were all gone.
Most Magpul accessories are sold out as well. Vertical grips, angles grips, bolt on rails, ergo grips are few and far between.

It's crazy. I just hope things settle down soon. I'd like to be able to afford to go shooting and have some ammo left over.

 

[scramasax]

I've always looked for deals on both ammo and magazines for the guns I own. Generally bought ammo by the case and magazines when ever I had the money for a deal. I don't know what the "magic number is for how many mags per gun. Just know I want to be able to load enough for a full day of shooting. Mileage varies per caliber, of course.

I wonder how they plan on handleing semi auto belt fed guns. With a loader the sky is the limit.

 

[justice06rr]

I was never issued a P mag either in training or in a combat zone. They might be the gold standard for civilian use, but they metal bodied mags have been in use for 40+ years. There has to be a reason for that.

The reason is more about military contracts and budgets, among others. I'm sure GI mags are good, but they also were chosen because they are cheap and disposable.

If you just compare a basic GI mag with a Pmag you can easily tell the difference.

Anyway, thanks for your service.

 

[Ehtereon11B]

USGI mags have come a long way since the PMAGs were introduced. You will rarely find the infamous green follower magazines in service. Most USGI mags have upgraded MAGPUL brown 4 way followers in the same steel USGI body. The followers give it almost the same reliable feeding as the PMAG. But any major bind in the steel body will through that reliability out the window.

The Marine Corps recently forbade their soldiers to use PMAGs (article in MarineTimes) because some PMAGs weren't fitting into the magazine of the M249 SAW, a crew served belt fed or SHTF magazine fed weapon. Seems like a giant kneejerk reaction for a minimal problem especially since Magpul redesigned the PMAG to work better in the SAW.

 

[VegasAR15]

PANIC: One Million AR-15 Magazines On Backorder
http://cnsnews.com/blog/gregory-gwyn-williams-jr/panic-one-million-ar-15-magazines-backorder

Hope everyone already got their backorders in.

 

[roadliner]

I was at a gun show recently to buy myself a christmas gift and was shocked at the prices for mags, both AR and AK's. I don't have near the quantities that a lot of you guys have, but I still have some of both types in the factory wrapping. I'll probably make it through this period, no matter how long it lasts.