Today, our intrepid Smyth Busters, Brownells Gun Techs Caleb Savant and Steve Ostrem, take on a nugget of wisdom frequently passed around among AR-15 shooters, namely: Resting the magazine on the ground while you’re shooting will cause your AR-15 to malfunction. Will it? The answer is…. it might or it might not. A rifle with a properly in-spec lower receiver and a good-quality mil-spec magazine will probably function just fine when you use the mag as an impromptu monopod. Steve’s done it many times, and so did Caleb when he was in the Army. But if the rifle and/or the mag are out-of-spec a little too much, putting the weight of the gun on the magazine can cause it to protrude too far into the receiver, rub on the bolt, and cause cycling problems. If you have a good-quality rifle and magazines, you’re unlikely to have a problem. Of course, the only way to be sure is to take your rifle to the range and test it before you see the elephant! So this myth is NOT entirely a myth and so it’s NOT busted.
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Just don't do it.
Make it a habit to not do it.
Me and my buddy went to the range yesterday and I fired a few magazines with no problem. Then he got sat down and started shooting and it would malfunction after every first shot. Take the mag out and rack the chamber and try again. Well after doing that like 6 or 7 times the magazine broke, you can hear a spring bouncing around in there when you shake it and it quit feeding rounds into the gun…. I thought maybe it was just that magazine so I loaded a different on and let him shoot again and he had the same problem. So I got back on the gun and I emptied the magazine with no problem so I figured it was something he was doing…. I asked him if he was resting the gun on the magazine or something and he said yes. I told him to try shooting again but don't rest the gun on the magazine and guess what, he fired 20 rounds with no problems. So in my gun you definitely can't rest the gun on the magazine.
Oh and we were using my AR chambered in 7.62×39 using duramag stainless steel 20 round magazines.
Wow you guys cover everything I Google lol
Great video
Never had an issue when doing it but I use new pmags
Routinely doing it can cause premature wear on the magazine latch hole in the mag. That, or a badly worn mag latch on the gun can allow the mag to slip up in the well enough to drag on the BCG and cause malfunctions. That's been my experience at least.
Elvis rules
Nice glock is with mrmasterglock on wickr I just got mine from him, it glock19
That wouldn't be a problem if you use PMAG gen 3
Huh….yeah when I went to the law enforcement academy for police training they actually taught us to use the magazine as a makeshift “monopod” for long range shooting. Seemed like the most important part was to make sure you didn’t push forward or lean into the rifle to much, as it had potential for causing a Failure to feed.
The question is why would you do that, with the risk of it falling over? Must be the same type of morons that put their laptops and phones at the edge of the table and cry when it falls over.
People often rag on the forward assist. But one of the major (and many) reasons it was added was due to pressure from resting on the magazine causing the BCG to ride on the feed lips and not fully chamber rounds.
If yours fails with the magazine resting on the ground as a monopod, fix it.
Thank you, gentlemen. Another sage tidbit to put in the back pocket.
Did it a lot. Didn’t notice any more issues than normal?
here in nySTATE i cant have anything but a 10rd anyways so i cant rest it on the mag to shoot if i wanted to!!!
Saw the mean comments video, n I just wanna say I appreciate y'all's expertise and info videos very professional and helpful,👌✌🤙
That moment when the Army tells its soldiers to jam the magazine into a sandbag when on the qualifying range…
Have you heard of any problems with magpul magazines?
I did this all the time when firing prone. GI 30 round mags had a stamped 'Crescent' that prevented over-insertion. I always opened it up a bit more; Just to be sure. Never had an issue on the A1 and A2 over a 36 year career.
Love this series. Dispelling fudd lore one short at a time.
The only time ive seen malfunctions is with metal mags that were dropped and damaged to the point they would interfere with the bolt because they could ride too high in the magwell.
If you rub the magazine three times, the AR-15 genie will appear and grant you no wishes.
Never had problems with mine. Spike's lower, and Gen 2 Pmags. Runs like a champ. Would bet my life on the gun running without issue, so long as I'm the one maintaining it. Only failures I've had were from some ammo where QC let some cartridges with too little powder in a case leave the factory.
Short answer: Maybe
Long answer: Watch the video
I always rest the mag on the ground and it works fine.
I’ve not had a problem with it before
what kind of moron would do that?
Better QC in army is debatable
Will polymer magazines wear from contacting the metal from mag release cause I gear that about Glocks with aftermarket metal Mag release?
Great videos to watch
I'd be more curious how it affects accuracy and sight "zero".
If it affects function, you'll know about it right away. Binary yes/no.
Sights and accuracy are not as obvious.
In communist states it’s not an issue. 10 round mags don’t stick out far enough to really be a problem… ☹️
Put a thin coat of blue locktite on the bolt and cure in oven for 30 min at 350. Slicks the bolt up and it will not jam. Oh, that sucker is hot once you pull it out.
Straightforward and completely logical answer: It depends.
So blaming out of spec guns or magazines is somehow equal to a design issue? Sorry. You can rest on the magazine without issue.
Nothing matches the QC on the hair in this video
It's real easy- you'd better not. Marines don't for 2 reasons:
1- Its lazy and your more stable applying better shooting fundamentals
C- If your a sorry son of a bitch that is using a GI mag with a green, or Heaven forbid- Black follower, you will experience mag related failures and using them as a rest will increase this failure rate.
4- Use a premium magazine
2- Green crayons are my favorite
So you tube you are blocking my comments. I can assure you that i am not scared of your punk asses and when this all get's straightened out BY THE LAWFUL PEOPLE, of which I am one, WE will find you and hold you accountable for your treasonous treachery. And everyone will be purged. No excuses like, I was just doing what I was told. That didn't work for the german prison guards in ww 2 and won't work for you. Guaranteed
If you have a malfunction while resting the gun on the magazine, try using P-Mag 30 round magazines. They have a little extra room than the standard mil-spec magazines. I had this issue and solved it with P-Mags. They’re cheap online, but can be pricey at a gun shop.
Does anyone know if magpul and lancer mags are ok to do this with or is it individual mags that malfunction?
Your coffee's cold, guys. Better warm it up.