Gen3 20 rd Pmag WTF!

Stealthy · May 8, 2013

Hey guys,
So i recently got in an order of 20rd Gen3 Pmags that i was pretty excited about.. And when i was test fitting them in my AR, i found that if the bolt isn't locked back, i have to WHACK the mags to get them locked in. And they have to be driven home from the start if you want to slide the mags in slow and push them until they click... good luck.

After you Whack them in, they do feed and everything cycles properly.. but in comparison; My Gen2 20rd pmags slide in and lock wayyy easier, and so do the 30rd gen2 mags i have. The difference is night and day between mag changes with the two...

...What gives? The stamp on my mags looks like they were made march 2013. Should i be looking to send back my mags or is this just the "fitment" of the new and improved gen3 pmag20 ?

Tacticalglobe · May 8, 2013

My AR's are the same with the Gen2's. Don't have any Gen3's and won't spend the money one them.
I personally don't like Pmags.

I have tons of GI mags from the sand and they have never let me down.

jrumann59 · May 9, 2013

Stealthy said:
Hey guys,
So i recently got in an order of 20rd Gen3 Pmags that i was pretty excited about.. And when i was test fitting them in my AR, i found that if the bolt isn't locked back, i have to WHACK the mags to get them locked in. And they have to be driven home from the start if you want to slide the mags in slow and push them until they click... good luck.

After you Whack them in, they do feed and everything cycles properly.. but in comparison; My Gen2 20rd pmags slide in and lock wayyy easier, and so do the 30rd gen2 mags i have. The difference is night and day between mag changes with the two...

...What gives? The stamp on my mags looks like they were made march 2013. Should i be looking to send back my mags or is this just the "fitment" of the new and improved gen3 pmag20 ?

In the army I was always taught to whack them on closed bolts so I do that out of habit with my p-mags.

mopar92 · May 9, 2013

Take two rounds out try again.

Nemesis · May 9, 2013

make sure youre only putting in 20 rounds...pmags have extra play in them to allow easier insertion on a closed bolt, however you can squeeze another round in...doing so will remove that play and cause this issue

sailskidrive · May 9, 2013

I just tried some Gen 3 tweny rounders NIB on the ARs I could easily get too. They worked fine in the four guns I tried them in.

What lower do you have? I tried Spikes forged, POF billet, Black Rain Ordnance billet, and a Tactical Innovations billet.

OH IT'S KINO · May 9, 2013

I down load my AR mags -2 for this reason.

MauiWowie · May 9, 2013

I'll take them if you don't want them. I have GI mags to trade if needed

Captnstabn · May 9, 2013

Stealthy said:
Hey guys,
So i recently got in an order of 20rd Gen3 Pmags that i was pretty excited about.. And when i was test fitting them in my AR, i found that if the bolt isn't locked back, i have to WHACK the mags to get them locked in. And they have to be driven home from the start if you want to slide the mags in slow and push them until they click... good luck.

After you Whack them in, they do feed and everything cycles properly.. but in comparison; My Gen2 20rd pmags slide in and lock wayyy easier, and so do the 30rd gen2 mags i have. The difference is night and day between mag changes with the two...

...What gives? The stamp on my mags looks like they were made march 2013. Should i be looking to send back my mags or is this just the "fitment" of the new and improved gen3 pmag20 ?

The new gen3 20s are made with the same spring as a 30rd mag. The older "g2" 20s are a cut down spring, which is why a lot of them had issues locking the bolt back.

The spring tension is a lot higher now, which is why it's more difficult to get seated. But at the same time, it has enough strength to push up the BHO and lock the bolt back on an empty mag.

Stealthy · May 9, 2013

OH IT'S KINO said:
I down load my AR mags -2 for this reason.

All the fitment i've tried so far is with 1 , ONE, round in the magazine...

I haven't even tried getting a fully loaded one to lock in.
Also Regarding "whacking" magazines in.. yea you're supposed to, and yea i give all my mags a whack.. but seriously.. you have to WHACK! these hard enough that (not to sound like a ***** or anything...but) if you put in and took out a mag 3 times whacking it in each time, your palm will actually be sore. Really.

I don't think the problem is the spring at all.. i think magpul increased the geometry.. or total overall length of the top part of the magazine that locks into the receiver. No idea why.. probably as someone mentioned to help with locking the bolt back....

So far i've only tried these in my Head Down billet lower. In the next few days or week i'll try them out in a CMMG lower and Colt Lower. I only have my Head Down billet handy.

Any thoughts on whether i should contact Magpul about this?

jrumann59 · May 9, 2013

I do not have any 20 round gen 3 but I just did 30 rounder fully loaded with no issues and if you slapping it so hard you are hurting your hand you may have a magwell issue. I see you have a head down some on here will tell you their QC is not that good, I had one of their lowers and was not impressed. It is very possibly the mag catch location is out of spec or bolt channel is out of spec.

Gen3 20 rd Pmag WTF!

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