The AR-15 comes with a plethora of accessories. There’s an almost never-ending list of things you can buy for your AR, from scopes to lasers to slings to chest rigs and much more.
Yes, you can spend a lot of time personalizing your rifle with all of the latest features. A magazine, on the other hand, is an essential component. Your gun isn’t a gun if it doesn’t have a magazine.
You might be wondering how much variety magazines can actually provide. Actually, there’s a lot more than you might imagine. When you consider all of the alternatives, picking the appropriate magazine for you might be downright intimidating.
Let’s have a look at the best AR-15 magazines on the market right now and see which one is the best fit for you.
Best Magazines for AR-15
- Magpul GEN M2 MOE 30-Round Magazine
- Magpul – PMAG D-60 223/5.56
- Brownells – AR-15 Magazine 5.56 mm
- Hexmag Series 2
- Lancer Systems Translucent Smoke Magazine 30-RD
Magpul GEN M2 MOE 30-Round Magazine
Magpul is a renowned magazine company that is often regarded as the best in the industry. That is why you will see their name on our list several times. The Magpul GEN M2 MOE is a well-made and simple-to-use magazine. It makes magazines that don’t lick out of high-quality materials. Polymer and metal magazines, made of aluminum or steel and polymer, are the two types of magazines available.
The Magpul GEN M2 MOE 30-Round Magazine is designed for AR-15 rifles in.223 and 5.56 calibers. The magazine is extremely tough and suitable for competition and conflict. The magazine works flawlessly even when fully loaded for extended periods of time.
The single-body magazine is corrosion-resistant and self-lubricating. For added strength and longevity, the molded polymer magazine is fiber-reinforced. This assures that the follower’s performance is unaffected while in use.
It enables unimpeded round stack movement for smooth operation thanks to its constant internal curve. For stack stabilization, it also has an anti-tilt follower. This avoids bottlenecks such as bolt-over-head and nose-diving and any gun owner understands the value of that.
For best performance, the stainless-steel spring is heat-treated and stress-relieved. The magazine is heat resistant, allowing for lengthy bursts of full-auto fire. Furthermore, you may clean the magazine with most solvents and bore cleaners without causing any damage.
Magpul – PMAG D-60 223/5.56
On our list, this is the AR 15 magazine with the most capacity. The Magpul AR-15 PMAG D-60 is also available in.223 and 5.56 calibers.
The magazine is built of light materials that make it portable, sturdy, and dependable. The polymer magazine works with both M4 and AR-15 rifles. It has a larger capacity of 60 rounds of.223 or 5.56 ammo than previous PMAG models.
The PMAG D-60 has a larger capacity than its predecessors, allowing it to hold twice as many rounds and removing the need for frequent reloads. The magazine’s height becomes easy to manage for easier storage and prone shooting because to its unique drum arrangement.
Marking becomes simple with the paint pen dot matrix. Use the Mag Level method to quickly determine the magazine capacity of your rifle.
The simplicity of this magazine is what makes it stand out and why you should include it in your catalog. Few magazines are as easy to use as this one.
Brownells – AR-15 Magazine 5.56 mm
Brownells is a true industry pioneer, having been founded at the start of the second World War. It is a leading manufacturer and seller of weapon accessories, as well as gun parts, equipment, and gunsmithing tools.
To make its magazines, the company uses a combination of fiberglass polymer and chrome-silicon. Because of the high quality of its products, the US military buys magazines from this company. Clearly, the military only purchases the greatest fighting equipment on the market.
For all of its products, the producer adheres to the most modern magazine requirements. It also credits the same machines it uses during production for the consistent quality of its products. As a result, it is able to provide guns that are both affordable and of high quality.
Brownells magazines are designed to provide your AR-15 more firepower, accuracy, and overall quality. Furthermore, they are well-known for their dependability. Life is too short, according to the business, to rely on low-cost, low-quality AR magazines.
The Brownells AR-15 Magazine is designed to feed your battle-ready AR-15 consistently, allowing you to make shots after shots. The 5.56mm magazine ensures that your rifle is fed correctly and consistently.
The magazine’s dependability ensures that it will operate for you whenever you want it to. It’s made to take a hammering in battle. The manufacturer has put the magazine through a series of testing to ensure that it is reliable and of high quality.
Hexmag Series 2
Hexmag magazines are unique in that they feature eight different follower and floorplate colors, as opposed to four fairly conventional body colors.
The Hex ID color system makes it simple to tell what sort of ammo you have loaded, which is useful whether you’re storing the mag for later use or carrying multiple types of ammo in the same holster or chest rig.
Hexmag also produces great 10- and 15-round magazines with the same dimensions as a 30-round magazine.
These magazines is an excellent choice for anyone looking to practice with a different type of magazine or who plans to relocate to an AR-friendly area.
Lancer Systems Translucent Smoke Magazine 30-RD
These lightweight polymer magazines can withstand severe handling.They can also survive harsh conditions such as full-auto fire and heat during tactical operations. Their durability and strength make them premium, top-of-the-line magazines that should totally be on your radar.
The feed lips have a wrap-around shape and are permanently linked to the magazine. The feed lips are sturdy and corrosion resistant, as they are made from one piece of precision-formed and hardened steel. They’re PTFE-coated as well.
The feed lips do not distort when a fully loaded handgun is stored for an extended period of time, allowing for smooth, painless, quick ammo transfer. And the heat resist AThe magazine can resist temperatures ranging from +1800 to -500 degrees Fahrenheit. It also handles heights well and It also avoids impairment when dropped from a height of 5 feet onto concrete while fully loaded.
The magazine has increased structural strength and offers a solid surface for easier grabbing thanks to its non-reflective shell with improved texture and molded-in ridges. It holds 30 rounds of ammo when fully loaded.
Why Do You Need Multiple AR15 Magazines?
There are numerous reasons why you should have additional AR-15 magazines available. However, for the vast majority of gun owners, it boils down to three factors.
To begin with, magazines are prone to breakage. Even the best magazines deteriorate over time, are trodden on, are dropped one too many times, and so on.
Magazines should be viewed as a consumable resource at the end of the day. They don’t last forever, and you’ll need to replace them if they start to malfunction.
The second problem is one of practicality. It takes a long time to reload the same magazine, especially if you’re at the range or competing.
Last but not least, spare magazines are always a good idea to have on hand in case of human mistake, emergency and self-defense scenarios, magazine failures, or any other unexpected event that could endanger your magazine and, as a result, your weapon.
There’s no such thing as too many magazines, so it’s a good thing they’re so easy to keep track of.
What Is A Good Magazine?
The most important question every potential consumer might have is: what makes a magazine worthwhile to purchase?
First and foremost, you should only read periodicals published by respectable publishers. That’s exactly what we’re doing with our to-do list.
This is due to the fact that there are a plethora of fly-by-night enterprises producing dubious magazines these days. We can’t endorse these low-quality choices in good conscience because they have poor tolerances and are produced with inferior materials.
Any responsible gun owner will prioritize obtaining magazines with a proven track record of dependability and functionality.
There are a slew of other issues that need to be addressed: When you press the mag release button, does the magazine fall out? Is it a good feeder? Is it possible to re-lock the bolt while it’s empty?
These are the questions you should ask yourself while reviewing any magazine, including ones you currently have. Any magazine that does not meet the minimum requirements should be discarded.
Polymer or Metal?
If we are discussing the best magazine for AR-15s, It would be foolish not to weigh in on this contentious issue that has raged for ages. Should you choose a polymer or metal magazine?
Regardless of differing viewpoints, there is only one truth: polymer and metal are both excellent choices, depending on the magazine you purchase and your shooting tastes.
They all have advantages and disadvantages, but the content should not be the decisive factor when purchasing a magazine.
The debate over whether metal or polymer magazines are better boils down to one feature: the feed lips.
These lips are found at the magazine’s open end, where the rounds enter the chamber. It’s also the most fragile component of the magazine, so it’s the most likely to cause problems.
The mag will be dangerously unreliable at best and completely non-functional at worst if a feed lip is bent out of position or damaged.
With a metal magazine, you’re unlikely to notice a damaged lip until the magazine stops working.
Unlike a metal magazine, it’s simple to inspect the condition of a polymer magazine. Furthermore, if the lip is bent, it will most likely snap back into place and will not deform permanently.
Yes, if you strike it hard enough, it will break. In most circumstances, though, if it seems decent, it’s safe to shoot.