LR-308 Magazines

[Sanford]

Recently acquired a DPMS LR-308 and have been looking with little success for additional magazines. I saw these "MAG-TEC INDUSTRIES INC. - AR-STYLE .308 20-ROUND MAGAZINE" at Brownells described as:

"Rugged, All-Steel Construction; Fits A Wide Variety Of .308 Rifles

All-steel, straight body magazine is built to handle the punishment of tactical operations and service rifle competition. Delivers 20 rounds of .308/7.62mm NATO ammo reliably and consistently in AR-style .308 rifles from DPMS, Knights Armament Corp., Remington, and others listed below. Precision-formed, spot-welded body is kept to precise dimensions to ensure snag-free movement of the follower. Polished stainless steel follower further reduces drag for smooth flow of the round stack. Removable floor plate allows disassembly for cleaning or maintenance."

I ordered five to check out, received them last week so loaded them up and took them to the range yesterday with the following results:

Problem 1: They're too large to go into the mag well easily. They'll fit, but you have to be standing with your back to the wind and your nose pointing toward the north at exactly the same time as the second hand on your watch passes over 7. Okay, a bit of an exaggeration but they're certainly finicky and do take far too much fiddling about to load.

Problem 2: The first mag I fired didn't cause the bolt to lock to the rear when empty. Minor inconvenience, so moved on.

Problem 3: Second mag fired two shots then "click". Pulled back the charging handle and there was no round in the chamber. Released to chamber a round, fired one more shot then "click". Repeated every two or three rounds for the rest of the magazine. This mag also didn't cause the bolt to lock to the rear after firing the last round, although it did lock back when I pulled it back manually.

All five magazines exhibited problems one and two, and three of the five exhibited problem 3. Since these problems did not occur with the factory supplied mag or a couple of Pro Mags that I'd dragged up, I'm going to assume it's the magazines and not the rifle - so am sending them back.

Wanted to pass it on in case it was helpful to anyone else - standard YMMV disclaimers, etc.

 

[Sanford]

As I mentioned in the previous post, I also dragged up a couple of Pro Mags, identified as "DPMS LR-308 .308 (20) RD BLACK PHOSPHATE DPM-A1" magazines. With the exception of the logo on the base plate, these look and feel like the original DPMS factory mag. They fit the mag well and load into the rifle just fine. I did notice that the Pro Mags are more easy to load ammo into - the spring seems to be noticeably weaker - and that after about 10 rounds are loaded they rattle when bumped or shaken as if the rounds in the lower part of the magazine are loose. Even so, one of them worked just fine.

The other failed to chamber the last round in the magazine - instead I found it at a goofy angle with the bolt partly closed on it. Removed the mag, pulled the bolt back and dropped the round out of the bottom of the mag well. Gave it a look and it seemed okay and undamaged, so put it back in the mag to try again. As soon as I put the mag back in the well the round came loose and was rattling around in the receiver again. One more time, dropped the mag, put the round back in the mag, then very gently loaded the mag back in the well, closed the bolt, chambered the round, and fired it.

I'll be going back to look at that one closely to see if the ears are different than the working mags and if it looks like it can be adjusted to fix, though I think it's probably a symptom of the weak spring as well. Anyone else have any similar experiences with these, or any suggestions to attempt a fix?

PS - also watching for PMags, but haven't been able to find any in stock anywhere.

 

[Surveyor1653]

The problem you've had with the Pro Mag flavored mags is fairly common for quite a few mag models they produce, not just the ones for your rifle. You're better off watching and saving for either factory mags or PMags. The DPMS LR 308 is an SR25-patterned rifle so the PMags work great. There are other aftermarket manufacturers providing good mags for the SR25 receivers out there so you shouldn't have any issues finding brands better than the Pro Mags. Others may have experience with brands/models of mags that work just as well as factory or PMag models.

 

[pinkhamr]

I have never had much luck with Pro-Mag or MAG-TEC Mags - I stick with Factory DPMS for my LR-308. JMO

BTW, I have some spare 'as new' DPMS 19 Rounders and need some 10 Rounders - Anyone want to do some trading ?????

 

[Sanford]

If you don't find a trade for those DPMS 19 round mags let me know; still looking ... I have some PMags, but would still like to turn up a couple of the factory mags just for completeness.

As for the ProMags ... the problem seems to be the follower tilting and binding. For one thing, the finish on these is pretty rough both outside and inside the mag, and the other is that the follower is noticeably longer (front to back) than the DPMS follower, which looks like it could also be contributing to the problem. I'm supposed to be getting some replacements from ProMag that are newer manufacture that they say should cure the finish problem, will report back if/when they get here and I get out to try them.

 

[henschman]

I recently started a 308 project based on an LR-308... I think I'll hold out for the new Pmag 25LR mags to hit the shelves before I stock up on mags for it. Those look promising.

 

[pinkhamr]

Sanford, I will be in touch - Thanx.

henschman, I am looking for the 10 round, or 4 round mags for my .300 SAUM Upper. I have read that anything longer can cause feeding issues - Thanx though ......