To amplify that some countries tend to use few magazines, a soldier in the former USSR was issued three AK mags during basic training, and that is all he was likely to see for the duration of his two year enlistment.
It's the US who started the wholesale consumption of magazines in combat with the M16. The original concept was to hand out mags in combat fully loaded and to eject the used ones as spent onto the ground. That fantasy got hammered by logistical reality and never happened. Unfortunately, the magazines didn't get redesigned and we have suffered ever since with the cheap junk metal mags. What we got were ten or more issued up front, with more in base camp. And our web gear sprouted mag pouches exponentially.
If it's ok to dump a mag in competition for a few ticks of a second improvement in time, or a short lived confrontation on the street, then go for it. Over months of use in combat, tho, with limited resupply other than expired teammates surrounding you in your fighting position, maybe not. You won't find more magazines just lying around after a mile hike to a new position, and the system doesn't ship more mags with ammo - you get stripper clips in the bandoliers.
Not mags.
So, having them drop free isn't so much help when you need to place it in an empty pouch for future reuse. That's where competition, a street shooting, and combat differ. The rules don't apply across the board. If my mags shot out like greased lightning to land in the mud every time, I would disable that little spring at the first opportunity.
There is a different remedy, and it also addresses stoppages - relieve the grips so that you can grab the mag and extract it. That is considered a CCW enhancement in some quarters.
https://www.google.com/search?q=mag...SJ2AXW14DwDg&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1024&bih=515
Drop free mags is another one of those things that seem ok at first thought, but later prove to be less than beneficial in other circumstances.
