New US Army M16 "Tan" Magazine
I first mentioned the new “Tan” M16/M4 magazine back in June.
The Program Executive Office (PEO) Soldier agency has just blogged about it …
“With the improved magazines, we’re taking weapons reliability up another notch,” said LTC Chris Lehner, Product Manager Individual Weapons. “By incorporating a heavier, more corrosion resistant spring, along with a new follower design that does not tilt inside the casing, our engineers were able to develop a magazine that presents a round to the weapon with even greater stability. Increased magazine reliability results in overall improved weapon system performance.”
…
“Soldiers can remember it like this: ‘Tan – is the plan. Green – start to lean. Black – take it back,’” said LTC Lehner. “While the improved magazines increase reliability to an even greater degree, the new magazines by no means reduce the importance of Soldiers keeping their weapons clean and lubricated appropriately for the environment. Also, Soldiers must be proficient on conducting immediate action (SPORTS) if their weapon has a stoppage.”
The Army has also developed a nifty tool to check if the feed lips are worn out. It is kind of a no-go gauge for magazines. If this does not already exist for civilians or law enforcement, I imagine it would be a popular accessory.
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I have five of these improved "unavailable to the public" mags that I have been testing.
(I'll soon be sending some photos to Steve so he can post them if he so desires.)
First of all, the body and floorplate is exactly the same that Brownell's has always used on their mil-spec magazines.
But more importantly is that it's not just the follower that's different in the "new" magazines but the magazine spring as well. The tan follower will ONLY work with the new spring and the old style spring will NOT work with the new follower.
Up until now the magazine spring was fifteen coils of approximately 1.675" x 0.675".
The new spring is fourteen coils of approximately 1.955" x 0.500".
The old springs were contained in the rear of the mag body and the large rib (groove?) in the side kept the coils from moving forward.
But new spring is narrower and longer so its coils are free to float anywhere inside the entire body.
The new spring is attached to the follower in the middle as opposed to closer towards the rear as before. The decreases the propensity for the nose of the follower to tip downwards as compared to the green GI follower.
The biggest differences in the follower are:
the first round (when fully loaded) now feeds from the left.
the shape of the "cartridge" molded in the follower
the sides are reshaped to increase stability at the tip of the follower while making it muck easier to remove/replace for cleaning.
the front and rear skirts are now full width like the Magpul followers but they have zero taper so there is no side-to-side tipping.
So the new follower seems to offer all of the benefits of the Magpul design with the added benefit of better distribution of spring force.
However I have noticed one flaw that keeps it from being the best.
Both the black and green USGI followers as well as the black/gray British and all versions of the Magpul followers have a narrowed vertical channel in the front skirt. The channel creates two bearing edges at the front corners that reduce the contact surface.
The new tan follower has a full width, completely flat front skirt. If the magazine gets dirty either from outside dirt or from powder/gas fouling friction will therefore increase.
So far I've experienced zero malfunctions with any of the five I own.
When new they felt smoother than both GI green and Magpul followers both when loading and when just pushing the follower down with my fingers. The tan followers depressed easily and there was zero feeling of any tipping in any direction. In fact I took a long 0.25" dowel and pushed down from the very front of the follower and could easily push it to the bottom and then back up with no binding whatsoever anywhere.
However, after about 20 loadings and firings each they no longer feel any smoother than any of my well used Magpul replacement followers. And you can see rub marks on the front skirt caused by friction inside the magazine body.
So while I really do like the new spring (especially its new attachment point) and the ease of follower removal/replacement is great I don't see all the greatness previously bantered about by PM Soldier Weapons.
If Magpul would incorporate the new spring (and attachment point) in it's replacement followers it would be the hands down best available.
Just my observations and opinions. YMMV
We are the manufacture of the Lip Wear Tool. Just looking for some feed back on the tool.