Drums, drums, drums. I love drum magazines. Drum mags for hold more rounds than average mags in a relatively compact package that doesn’t stick crazy far below the bottom of the gun. Today’s drum of choice is the latest to come out of Magpul. This specific drum is the Magpul D-50 PCC. PCC stands for pistol caliber carbine.
PCC stands for pistol caliber carbine, and this drum is specifically designed for PCCs that use Glock magazines. It is separate from the standard D-50, which is designed for handguns. This bad boy brings you 50 rounds of 9mm to your favorite pistol caliber carbine. It packs them in a relatively short and sweet package that hearkens back to the world of the Thompson submachine gun.
Why is it PCC-specific?
That’s the big question. Why not just shove the standard D-50 into your PCC and let it rip? There are two reasons why: ergonomics and reliability. Since reliability is more important, we’ll touch on that.
The tower of a drum magazine designed for Glock pistols is fairly long, and it’s designed to be stuck into a pistol grip, not a rifle’s magwell. Because it’s overly long, it can rock back and forth in a PCC or braced pistol. Sometimes this creates an issue, and other times it’s not a big deal. But if you are using the rifle for a more important task, it’s just not worth dealing with. The D-50 PCC uses a shorter tower and is designed to work only with rifle platforms based on Glock kits, not with Glock pistols.
Also, the longer tower makes the magazine longer as a whole, and in a rifle, it is wasted space. That space keeps you from establishing a nice, low-prone position. You can get nice and low with the D-50 PCC drum.
Will this work in all PCCs? It depends. Guns like the KelTec SUB-2000 utilize a pistol grip to house the magazines. The D-50 PCC will not fit into the SUB-2000, and you should use the standard D-50. Anytime the PCC uses a magazine in the grip, then you can use the standard D50. Most of the time, if the magwell is forward of the pistol grip, you will use the D-50 PCC.
That being said, that’s not always 100% accurate. For example, the Kriss Vector uses a magwell forward of the pistol grip, but it completely houses a standard Glock mag. Therefore you need the standard GL9. Your best bet is to examine the gun and how it houses the magazine before you invest your dinero.
Why a drum?
Why would you want a drum magazine? Cause this is America, and more rounds are better than fewer rounds. Who wants to restrict themselves to less ammo when more is available? Freedom is always more than enough reason.
If you want a more practical explanation, then we can dive into that. If you are rocking a 9mm carbine for home defense, then 50 rounds are certainly better than 30 rounds. You can’t carry a reload in your underwear, so why not bring all the ammo you can to the gunfight?
I’d think PCC competitors would like something like the D-50 PCC. I often see them running these crazy extensions on their magazines, so I imagine capacity is king, and the D50 grants that without the uber-longer magazines.
The Magpul D-50 PCC Run Down
As the name implies, this mag holds 50 rounds of 9mm. Loading won’t break the thumbs…much. A lever must be manipulated upward to make the follower recess. Then you drop the rounds in, release the lever, and then hit the lever again. Repeat until it’s full.
Loading goes smoothly until the last ten rounds or so. Then you are loading one round per lever press, or sometimes two presses for one round. Those last ten rounds are sticklers. Once loaded, it was off to the range!
I brought my Aero Precision EPC and dropped it on, and let it rip! It took a lot less time to shoot the 50 rounds than it did to load, and it was a lot more fun. I reloaded and hit it again, and again, and again. My thumbs developed biceps, and I didn’t run into a flaw in the reliability department.
How does the Magpul D-50 PCC handle?
Fifty rounds weigh more than 30 rounds, and the drum itself isn’t the lightest magazine. You can most certainly feel the extra weight, but since it’s at the center of the gun, it’s not a big deal. It might tire you out on patrol, but who takes a PCC on patrol? The D-50 PCC is also super low profile.
It’s a lower profile than most extended Glock magazines. You can get low, and it doesn’t get in your way as you move and groove. The handling of the rifle remains unchanged. One of my favorite features of the Magpul D-50 PCC is the rear window. It’s a small, transparent window that allows you to quickly get an idea of how much ammo you have left on tap.
Keeping It Clean
Drums are fairly complicated devices. They require proper maintenance to keep running, and Magpul advises cleaning the drum roughly every 1000 rounds. It’s easy to take the drum apart for cleaning. Pop off the four rear tabs, then undo four smaller tabs, and you take off the rear of the mag and access the guts. Once stripped apart, it’s easy to clean out the rails and insides.
The D-50 PCC, and all of Magpul’s drums, can be left loaded without issue. You don’t have to unwind anything, just load ’em and leave ’em. I have several of these drums and keep them loaded all the time. I’ve yet to run into any issues in doing so. Magpul cracked the code for drum magazines. If you are rocking and rolling with a Glock pattern PCC, then the D-50 PCC is the gun for you.
