{"id":110982,"date":"2019-06-04T12:33:10","date_gmt":"2019-06-04T16:33:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/digest\/?p=110982"},"modified":"2019-06-04T12:33:10","modified_gmt":"2023-09-05T23:22:18","slug":"drumroll-please-the-case-for-high-capacity-magazines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/drumroll-please-the-case-for-high-capacity-magazines\/","title":{"rendered":"Drumroll Please: The Case for High-Capacity Magazines"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Drumroll<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Editor\u2019s Note:\u00a0<\/strong>The following is a syndicated article by author Ed Combs that first appeared in USCCA\u2019s Concealed Carry Magazine Volume 15, Issue 5 July 2018 under the title, \u201cDrumroll Please.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the most\ncontentious aspects of our modern and widely diverse \u201cgun culture\u201d is that a\ncertain kind of very well-intentioned individual will select a single\ngun-rights issue and enthusiastically surrender it to the opposition. He\u2019ll\nhold it up as cultural capital, as a strong social signal that broadcasts how\nsensible he is to any anti-gunner within earshot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

See, this fellow is\neminently reasonable: He loves his Second Amendment rights, sure, but he\u2019s not\nsome nut job like you see on the internet. It\u2019s not like he believes a guy\nshould be allowed to just hop online and buy a 75-round magazine for his rifle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who needs that <\/em>for\nhunting?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This technique only\nserves to hand over proverbial inches that become proverbial miles, and folks\nwho do so can wind up with some pretty ugly names hung around their necks.\n\u201cFudd\u201d \u2014 a reference to the hapless twill-clad hunter of cartoon fame \u2014 is one\nof the nicer ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apart from hunting\nhaving literally nothing to do with the Second Amendment to the United States\nConstitution, the folks who fall into this trap are fundamentally missing the\npoint when it comes to magazines that hold more than five rounds. When it comes\nto armed self-defense, rounds on-board is the name of the game, and depending\non the situation, a magazine that allows you to fire 30 or more times without\nreloading can easily mean the difference between security and ruin for you and\nyours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ON THE HIGH SIDE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s get some definitions down: A \u201chigh-capacity\u201d magazine is a magazine that is of higher-than-standard capacity for the platform. As such, a 17-round magazine for a Glock 17 <\/a>is not a \u201chigh-capacity magazine,\u201d nor is a 30-round AR magazine. They\u2019re standard-capacity magazines, as they\u2019re the size of magazine the platform is supposed to use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though most true \u201ctommies\u201d are aftermarket models, there are a few OEM (original equipment manufacturer) high-capacity magazines, specifically for the Glock 9mm and .40 S&W pistols. The 9mm version was originally designed for the Glock 18, which is a full-auto version of the Glock 17 designed for very specific military applications.\u00a0 As far as I can tell, the 22-round .40-cal version was made simply because the 33-round mags for the 18 fit the 17, 19<\/a> and 26<\/a>, and when shooters saw the hi-cap for the 9mm, they wanted one for the .40.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the private\ncitizen, such magazines can play extremely important roles in the areas of home\nand vehicle defense. While not necessarily well-suited to in-gun concealed\ncarry, they can quickly turn a compact sidearm into something far more than the\nsimple sum of its parts, with a 30-plus-rounder eliminating a magazine change\nfrom a circumstance that calls for lots of shooting. They can also really shine\nas backup magazines when carried vertically on the belt (if your personal\nsituation calls for that kind of ammo loadout).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before you scoff and\nask why in the world anyone would need or even want such a thing, step back and\nlook at what\u2019s happened in this country over the last 10 years. Step back and\nask yourself whether the $35 invested in a 33-round magazine capable of running\nin your Glock 17, 19 or 26 would be money well-spent. Ask yourself whether such\na magazine could make the difference between life and death in a circumstance\nsuch as a riot, a mass civil disturbance or some other kind of mob attack that,\nlet\u2019s be honest, is becoming a lot more common than in the past. Securing a\nhigh-capacity magazine \u2014 or 10 \u2014 compatible with your carry gun would be a wise\nmove.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Atop your personal sidearm, let\u2019s not forget the multitude of firearms on the market that are designed around several common pistol mags, including the Glock 17\/18\/19\/26 and the Beretta 92<\/a>. Kel-Tec\u2019s Sub-2000 <\/a>series of folding carbines is popular among Americans looking to source discreet, powerful pistol-cal options, and Ruger\u2019s PC Carbine is also an excellent shooter and ships with a Glock magazine adapter. Though any of these will function with standard-capacity magazines, they really shine with true hi-caps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE GENUINE ARTICLE?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I caught a little\nflak by declaring in a past column that shooters should only purchase OEM\nmagazines. I received multiple emails regaling me with tales of how wonderful\nsuch-and-such brand magazines are, how flawlessly they function, you name it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, the truth is,\nfor the most part, I agree. In my defense, that advice was directed at those\nwho are new to shooting and carrying concealed and who are often tempted to\ntake the cheapest possible path. For the beginner, it usually is worth sticking\nto OEM mags. After a shooter\u2019s a little more seasoned, though, it can make a\nlot of sense to start looking at other options, and other options often mean\nhigher round counts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few aftermarket, non-OEM models I\u2019ve assessed and found to be excellent are those from Elite Tactical Systems<\/a>. They are American-made, extremely durable and proved themselves to be extremely reliable. Equally importantly, they don\u2019t just offer the \u201cnormal\u201d and \u201cenormous\u201d sizes like the factory. Though they offer factory-sized models, they also offer mid-range mags as well, such as a 22-rounder for the G17\/19\/26. They offer extended mags for other sidearms as well, right down to the little ol\u2019 Glock 42<\/a> and 43<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

PICKY EATERS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Specifically, within the realm of concealed carry, it can seem counterintuitive to look for a longer magazine. It completely throws off the profile of a pistol and makes a gun basically impossible to conceal, but that isn\u2019t what we\u2019re talking about here. What the extended magazine offers you is the opportunity to transform that concealed carry pistol into almost more of a battle rifle, at least as far as ammunition capacity is concerned. The good news is that certain pistols lend themselves very well to this. The bad news is that some do not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The double-stack\nGlock platform offers compatibility with OEM and aftermarket \u201cbig sticks,\u201d\nwhile the 1911 is notoriously difficult to get to run with anything above about\n10 rounds. I\u2019m not going to get into the mechanics of why this is; I\u2019m just\ngoing to tell you that the first person to make an ultimately reliable,\nnose-dive-free high-capacity 1911 magazine will have a hard time spending or even\ngiving away all the money he\u2019ll make.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other pistols can be hit-and-miss with aftermarket magazines. Back in the late \u201990s, I regularly shot a Ruger P89 <\/a>that functioned flawlessly with a 33-rounder bought at some long-forgotten gun show, while other units that looked identical weren\u2019t even worth the $11 for which they could be had. This is a perfect example of the most difficult aspect of some aftermarket hi-caps: Some of them will run like champs, and some of them will be actual garbage in your gun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like with standard-capacity magazines, the place to start looking is the online community dedicated to your specific model of pistol. If you haven\u2019t found it yet, just search GunsAmerica Digest<\/a> with the make and model of your gun and you will, in all likelihood, find at least one comm dedicated to it. This will be a good jumping-off point for figuring out which brands and models of \u201cextend-os\u201d have the highest chance of functioning properly in your personal gun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But what about that\nrifle you bought for home and self-defense? How do you go about sourcing\nquality \u201ccaptains\u201d for that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LONG GAME<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Purchasing a quality\nAR- or AK-pattern rifle is as wise an investment as a private citizen can make,\nand never forget that magazines are technically considered a \u201cconsumable\u201d part\nof these weapons systems. In short, buy about a zillion standard-capacity\nmagazines for your rifle, because a) those mags wear out, and b) those mags\nhave powerful enemies in high places. Atop your normal-capacity 30-rounders for\nthat AR or AK, you might consider acquiring magazines sufficient to turn that\nregular old modern sporting rifle into a \u201csentry gun\u201d of sorts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Magpul, well known for its standard-capacity magazines, offers selections for the AR platform all the way up to the PMAG D-60<\/a>, a 60-round drum that allows you to rig your AR almost more like a light machine gun than a carbine. As with high-capacity pistol magazines, removing a reload from the equation when you\u2019re trying to stop an attack can be lifesaving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On a very different note, SureFire (yes, that SureFire, the flashlight company) manufactures what are known as \u201ccasket mags<\/a>\u201d \u2014 60- and 100-round AR magazines that are only slightly longer than traditional 30-rounders but that are thicker and hold two or three times as many rounds. Either setup is going to be better than a traditional 30-rounder if you find yourself in a high-volume gunfight, and if you think some politicians don\u2019t like 30-round mags, well, let\u2019s just say companies like SureFire don\u2019t get any points for innovation or creativity in Chuck, Nancy or Dianne\u2019s books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If Kalashnikov-pattern rifles are your idea of a good time, you\u2019ll have almost as many options as your \u201cStoner\u201d friends. Several Eastern Bloc nations (and South Korea) still produce Cold-War-era-pattern drum magazines like the one pictured above, mostly imported by Century<\/a>. I\u2019ve had very good luck with these, but I would caution you against the 40- and 60-round units that look like normal AK magazines stretched out to twice their normal length.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In my experience,\nwhen it comes to AK mags, it\u2019s safe to go lower<\/em> than standard capacity\nwithout experiencing problems, such as the ubiquitous 20-round \u201ctanker\u201d mags.\nAs soon as you try to jam more than 30 rounds into the rifle without using a\nspecifically engineered drum magazine, though, you\u2019re asking for trouble. Even\nif the magazine functions properly, as some of the Bulgarian models usually do,\nbear in mind that significantly longer magazines will make maneuvering the\nrifle far more difficult, hence the \u201ctanker\u201d designation for the 20-rounders.\n(When it comes to elbow room, tanks and tracked guns are down there with\nsubmarines.) Moreover, firing from a prone position with an extremely long\nmagazine will require that you sharply cant the rifle to one side. If you\u2019re a\n\u201cfriend of Mikhail,\u201d my advice is to stick to the drums if you\u2019re going to\nstray north of the standard-capacity 30s. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE RIGHT TOOL FOR THE JOB<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Again, it can be easy for a certain kind of individual to doubt or even mock why someone might ever want magazines that hold more rounds than a human has fingers and toes, but a simple scan of the national headlines should answer any lingering questions. Remember those tens of thousands of communists, anarchists, globalists and other terrorists I mentioned back in my Legally Armed Citizen column? They speak very plainly of their plans to destroy this nation and anyone who gets in their way. If you think they\u2019re going to go easy on you because you were such a kind, agreeable chap when they demanded you divest of firearms and components they find distasteful, you\u2019ll be in for a terrible series of terrible surprises if they ever get to your residence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A firearm,\nspecifically a firearm that is capable of firing dozens of times between\nreloads, is the only tool that can empower a single citizen to effectively yet\nresponsibly defend him or herself against a violent mob (which likely has\nsomething to do with why specific politicians hate your guns and magazines so\nmuch). As violent mobs are a certain political persuasion\u2019s weapon of choice,\nit seems a no-brainer that anyone who owns a rifle or pistol capable of\naccepting hi-caps should be looking to procure several if he or she hasn\u2019t\nalready.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a nation beset by\nenemies foreign and domestic, it escapes me why some responsibly armed\nAmericans would be opposed to the right tools in the right hands. We\u2019re all at\nleast supposedly in this together as Second Amendment advocates, so let\u2019s start\nacting like it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SOURCES<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n