After years of testing and use in the field, the United States Marine Corps officially adopted the Magpul Gen M3 PMAG Window magazine for use in the M4/M16/M27/M249 platforms. In fact, if I understand the information correctly, the Magpul magazines are now the only authorized magazines for combat operations.
As many of you likely recognize, this is a fairly big announcement for Magpul. Not only does it mean ongoing revenue from government sales, but it also validates the company’s years of research and development of its polymer bodied magazines.
The USMC authorized two versions of the magazine: the windowed 30 round Gen 3 M3 PMAG in black and the same magazine in coyote.
These Magpul magazines are the latest iteration of the company’s AR magazines. They have a wide range of features that represent lessons learned from combat operations as well as tweaks to ensure they work with all possible weapon platforms. For example, in addition to the weapon systems used by the US Marines, the mags will run reliably in the FN SCAR MK16 and British SA-80.
Magpul designed these magazines with an overtravel stop on the spine of the magazine to help eliminate the possibility of a malfunction from shoving a magazine too hard and far into the gun under the extreme stress of a firefight. I’ve always found the Magpul followers to be top-notch, and they work very well with the internal geometry of the magazine body to prevent any follower tilt while providing constant feeding. A USGI-spec stainless steel spring is used to keep the follower moving.
At the bottom of the body, Magpul updated the original floorplate with one that offers improved resistance to damage when dropped onto a hard surface. In addition to being stronger, the new floorplate is narrower. This means it can fit into those multi-magazine pouches on a plate carrier much easier.
For storage, the magazines come with a dust cover that caps the top of the magazine. This keeps debris from getting into the magazine and gumming up the works. These dust covers can be used on fully loaded magazines to protect the top rounds and pop off easily should you need to get them into action quickly.
Of course, these magazines are all made in the United States of America.
