Surefire 60 round AR mags?

[45Badger]

Anybody play with these yet? There's a guy selling them for $90 delivered over on SH and it got me thinking (dangerous, I know). How well do they work/function? Any issues? Thanks!

[tim]

There was a thread about these a few months back if i remember correctly. The complaint I remember was cost. Might be worth the search if nobody replies to this one.

[samginko]

Tromix had these couple of months ago, I think cheaper. Reviews are 60rds good, 100rds crap.

45badger, are you ordering some more 45acp bullets? I need one to two thousand rds for reloading.

[Pat]

I saw a guy at the range yesterday with one of these. He really liked it, and said that he was going to buy a couple of their 100 rounds mags. Didn't know they had 100 round mags...

[DonT]

OK can someone enlighten me on these as I am confused This seems to happen a lot at my age.

Here is my confusion and correct me if I am wrong:
A large percentage of malfunctions in any magazine fed weapon can be traced back the magazine.
30 round AR mags (quality ones) can be bought for $15 to $20 each

So a 60 round surefire can be had for ~$90.00

And a C-Mag that holds 100 rounds are going for ~$250 (not the Korean imports)

So for $80 tops I can have 4 quality 30 round mags holding a total of 120 rounds of ammo. If one malfunctions I drop it, insert a new one and continue fireing, if it malfunctions drop it, insert a new one and continue firing. The likehood of having all 4 mags malfunction is close to zero so ammo could always be moved from one of the bad mags to the good one.

With a Surefire I have 60 (or 100 rounds if you have the bigger one) and if it malfunctions, maybe I was able to afford a second, drop it insert a new one and continue, if it malfunctions, fix bayonet and charge or use the weapon as a single shot.

With the Cmag I know I am only gonna afford on so if it pukes out cause I forgot to douse with graphite again use weapon as a single shot or hit em with the mag and hope for the best.

Now I agree I am removing the "fun factor" by using stock 30 round mags but if you take that out of the equation, logistically, why is there such an interest in these high capacity mags? No matter how you cut it you end up with more shots, less cost and reduce the chance of a weapon stopping malfunction...

As I said I am probably missing something very basic so please educamate me....

DonT

[clemmac]

OK can someone enlighten me on these as I am confused This seems to happen a lot at my age.

Here is my confusion and correct me if I am wrong:
A large percentage of malfunctions in any magazine fed weapon can be traced back the magazine.
30 round AR mags (quality ones) can be bought for $15 to $20 each

So a 60 round surefire can be had for ~$90.00

And a C-Mag that holds 100 rounds are going for ~$250 (not the Korean imports)

So for $80 tops I can have 4 quality 30 round mags holding a total of 120 rounds of ammo. If one malfunctions I drop it, insert a new one and continue fireing, if it malfunctions drop it, insert a new one and continue firing. The likehood of having all 4 mags malfunction is close to zero so ammo could always be moved from one of the bad mags to the good one.

With a Surefire I have 60 (or 100 rounds if you have the bigger one) and if it malfunctions, maybe I was able to afford a second, drop it insert a new one and continue, if it malfunctions, fix bayonet and charge or use the weapon as a single shot.

With the Cmag I know I am only gonna afford on so if it pukes out cause I forgot to douse with graphite again use weapon as a single shot or hit em with the mag and hope for the best.

Now I agree I am removing the "fun factor" by using stock 30 round mags but if you take that out of the equation, logistically, why is there such an interest in these high capacity mags? No matter how you cut it you end up with more shots, less cost and reduce the chance of a weapon stopping malfunction...

As I said I am probably missing something very basic so please educamate me....

DonT

Not a thing wrong with your logic about cost, no argument there at all We NEED these magazines because they are BIG and BAD and NEW

These Surefire 60 shot mags work just fine for the most part, as one of the guys said above. The 100 shot magazines aren't doing as well. I've talked to a few guys who think that they'll be able to use these 60 shot magazines to good effect at some three gun shootin' matches, so maybe they'll come in handy there ?

So, don't worry about advancing age ....... much

[45Badger]

OK can someone enlighten me on these as I am confused This seems to happen a lot at my age.

Here is my confusion and correct me if I am wrong:
A large percentage of malfunctions in any magazine fed weapon can be traced back the magazine.
30 round AR mags (quality ones) can be bought for $15 to $20 each

So a 60 round surefire can be had for ~$90.00

And a C-Mag that holds 100 rounds are going for ~$250 (not the Korean imports)

So for $80 tops I can have 4 quality 30 round mags holding a total of 120 rounds of ammo. If one malfunctions I drop it, insert a new one and continue fireing, if it malfunctions drop it, insert a new one and continue firing. The likehood of having all 4 mags malfunction is close to zero so ammo could always be moved from one of the bad mags to the good one.

With a Surefire I have 60 (or 100 rounds if you have the bigger one) and if it malfunctions, maybe I was able to afford a second, drop it insert a new one and continue, if it malfunctions, fix bayonet and charge or use the weapon as a single shot.

With the Cmag I know I am only gonna afford on so if it pukes out cause I forgot to douse with graphite again use weapon as a single shot or hit em with the mag and hope for the best.

Now I agree I am removing the "fun factor" by using stock 30 round mags but if you take that out of the equation, logistically, why is there such an interest in these high capacity mags? No matter how you cut it you end up with more shots, less cost and reduce the chance of a weapon stopping malfunction...

As I said I am probably missing something very basic so please educamate me....

DonT

If I have to post Sam up on the roof to take out Zombies with a scoped AR, I want him to have sufficient mag capacity . It's not about need .

[clemmac]

Here's the thread from before Christmas

viewtopic.php?f=26&t=26869&p=311057#p311057

[timwarner]

I'd say the surefire's are gamer material.

I like my beta mag for prairie dogs prone. Beats the hell out of a 20 rounder, when the 30+ ones are too long.

If I did 3-gun I would be all over a couple 60's and 100's.

[crbutler]

Tim is really right on with this. The whole reason they came up with the surefire mags was for 3 gun competition. They are trying to expand the interval between reloads, and there are more than a few stages that require 40 or so shots to complete, add in the misses and make ups, and that is why they are using a 60 round or 100 round mag. Stages are won over the 2 seconds or so that the mag change takes. Real world? Probably not, but this is competition... Much more important!

The Cmag was originally a military application that wasn't quite all that it was hoped to be reliability wise. I think it was originally thought of as a way to get SAW performance out of the average rifleman. The koreans were OK with it, I was told that the Rangers and US SOF were not so impressed in Kuwait/Iraq back in the 90's. The 30 rounders are pretty much debugged and relatively cheap, so why mess with it?

[Pat]

Cool about the game shooting. But what about S.D.? Would you you trust these higher round mags for self defense in your home?

[45Badger]

Cool about the game shooting. But what about S.D.? Would you you trust these higher round mags for self defense in your home?

That's what social work 870s are made for

[samginko]

Pinky on the belt loop + 60rds mag =

[Meta-Prometheus]

These 60 and 100 round Surefire magazines are okay if you are doing 3-gun competition or you are just using them at the range or wherever for fun. However for serious use you will want to stick with the standard 30 round magazines.

[UnaStamus]

The SureFire magazines were specifically designed for Law Enforcement and Military use. There is an added benefit to training and competition, but they're ancillary. Here's the breakdown of why they were made and how they were designed to be used:

60rd - This is primarily a LEO magazine for squad car carbines. In active shooter scenarios like a school shooting or bank robbery shootout, Many officers are only loaded with a single 30rd magazine. Few officers are carrying a spare magazine on their person. In my county, I am one of only two officers in the entire county of 8 agencies (7 PDs and 1 sheriff's office) that carries a spare AR mag on my person at all times. I have a mag pouch on my duty belt, as does the other guy who works in the neighboring city. This is pretty common across the board. Most agencies provide extra magazines, but in the form of a Go-Bag, or a magazine that the officer needs to remember to grab out of their squad bag or glove box and throw it in their pocket. Most don't remember. So, to counter this problem, you issue a 60rd magazine. The dimensions are only slightly longer than a standard 30rd magazine, so it's not overly cumbersome for a patrol officer to yield.

100rd - This is a military oriented magazine designed for response to ambush, or for use with an IAR/Infantry Automatic Rifle. The ambush response/defense portion relates to rounds downrange. Tactically, the best defense to an ambush already in progress is to lay down a high volume of suppressive return fire to drive the enemy behind cover or to force them to retreat. With 30rd magazines, you run out of ammunition quickly. With a 100rd magazine, you can keep a much longer sustained rate of fire. The recommended SOP for this magazine is to have one issued to each soldier, and that is the primary patrol/mission magazine that sits in the gun. Once that thing is gone, you then reload with 30rd mags. Additionally, the USMC has adopted an IAR weapon (in the form of an HK416 variant), and instead of using a drum mag, they can use a standard box magazine. Drum magazines take up a lot more space on your gear, whereas box magazines do not.

My agency has been doing a T&E on a 60rd magazine, and so far we have somewhere between 1200-1500rds through it with no malfunctions. I plan on getting that round count up to 3000-5000rds before we approve it for full issue into our duty cars. If we do use it, that will be a huge asset to the patrol officers. I still believe in having a second mag, since there is much truth to the concept of "two is one, and one is none". However, 60rds is better than 30rds.