The Army has ordered that soldiers may use only government-issued magazines with their M4 carbines, a move that effectively bans one of the most dependable and widely used commercial-made magazines on today’s battlefield.
The past decade of war has spawned a wave of innovation in the commercial soldier weapons and equipment market. As a result, trigger-pullers in the Army, Marines and various service special operations communities now go to war armed with commercially designed kit that’s been tested under the most extreme combat conditions.
Near the top of such advancements is the PMAG polymer M4 magazine, introduced by Magpul Industries Corp. in 2007. Its rugged design has made it as one of the top performers in the small-arms accessory arena, according to combat veterans who credit the PMAG with drastically improving the reliability of the M4.
Now, I can understand the need to throttle back on personally acquired COTS gear in the name of standardization, for one thing, but if PMAGs function in all M4s then isn’t that, by definition, standardized?
I bet there’s a money trail somewhere. Someone’s been cut out of the process.
Anyone in the Army care to weigh in?
Typical chicken shit headquarters reaction. . .what can you expect when the Sergeant Major of the Army wants to make the uniform regulation punitive.
This smacks of politics. The only time that COTS gear gets significant negative attention is when it works better than the gear issued by the service. On the Marine side, we saw this over-and-over again on everything from ass-packs to zippers. Follow the money from the magazine manufacturer to their lobbyist to the House/Senate Armed Services Committee to the particular command that started this. Also, this was not started through a phone conversation, someone typed out an email.
I do not want to sound like a raging conspiracy theorist, but for us logistics/supply types, the machine works against us from getting the gear that the operators actually want.
My question would be, if the PMAGs are better and they improve performance of the weapon WHY ARE THEY NOT THE GOVERNMENT-ISSUED ITEMS? They need to get rid of this political bs already. If something makes it better for our guys in the field then cost should have very little to do with making the decision.
Nevermind the massive waste of money that'll occur because the massive number of those mags that were purchased will no longer be used. Can we get someone to file a Fraud, Waste, and Abuse charge against the moron that made this decision?
TB:
Good point.
Ever wonder what happenes when a PMag hits a hot SAW? Ya, flying plastic.
Not BS, it's a safety thing.