We recently purchased one of Magpul’s new PMAG D-60 magazines. The full details on the magazine can be read in a previous article, but as a reminder, the PMAG D-60 is a 60-round polymer drum magazine that is compatible with most STANAG 4179 weapon platforms, including the AR-15, M4/M16, SCAR Mk 16/16s, and HK416, among others.
To sate our curiosity, we pulled out a few other magazines of varying capacities to see how they compared in profile and size to the PMAG D-60. As a reference, Magpul lists the D-60 as being 4.1 in. at its widest, and 7.4 in. at its tallest.
First, we compared it to a standard PMAG GEN M3 magazine. Obviously, the drum component is quite a bit thicker than a standard 30-round capacity mag, however as expected the height of the two magazines was roughly equal, with the M3 coming in at about 7.25 in.
The width of the GEN M3 magazine is roughly .75 in.
Next, we took one of the PMAG 40 GEN M3 mags and sized it up against the D-60. The extra 10 round capacity brings it to a total length of about 9.5 in.
It shares the width of the standard GEN M3 magazine, which is roughly .75 in.
Our third pick was the SureFire High Capacity Magazine, 60-round, one of the most obvious magazines to compare against the D-60 do to their shared capacity. The SureFire magazine utilizes a coffin design, which adds noticeable increase in length and width over a standard AR-15 magazine.
The SureFire High Capacity Magazine, 60-round measures at a length of 8.7 in., and a width of about 1.375 in. This makes it noticeably lengthier than the D-60, even if it’s still comparatively thinner.
It’s undeniable that the PMAG D-60 is quite a bit thicker at the base than even the SureFire magazine, however that seems to be a decent compromise for remaining about as lengthy as a standard 30-round magazine. We’re eager to see what aftermarket magazine pouches and other accessories come out for the D-60 in the coming months.
Update: Due to a request from the readership, we went ahead and recorded the weights of the magazines loaded and unloaded. We used American Eagle 55 gr. FMJ cartridges to load each magazine.
Magpul PMAG GEN M3 30-round
4.9 oz empty
17.2 oz loaded
Magpul PMAG GEN M3 40-round
6.3 oz empty
22.6 oz loaded
SureFire High Capacity Magazine, 60-round
7.7 oz empty
32.1 oz loaded
Magpul PMAG D-60
20 oz empty
44.4 oz loaded
www.magpul.com/products/pmag-d60-ar-m4
Tags: Magpul
Got two arriving today from Aim Surplus.
No C Mag? Come on Eric.
Beta C mags cost a crazy amount of money and if you drop them they are like a confetti cracker; I think he hit the important notes.
What about unloaded or loaded weight comparisons? Primarily against the surefire, might as well do all of them though.
I’ll get to work on that, and have something for you guys soon.
If these were cheaper or held more, say, 75 rounds like an AK drum, I’d be all over it. As it stands I’ll stick to 40 rounders.
I generally avoid higher capacity mags because of feed issues associated with them. The Surefire 60rd mags were the first exception because Surefire makes a good product and doesn’t tend to release beta versions to the public. I have high hopes for the D60 as Magpul has a similar reliability/durability record and I have little doubt they will perform well. The easy with which one can disassemble and clean them has me the most interested. I love the Surefire 60s, but sometimes I feel like I need to pray before I disassemble them.
Get them while you can, a major ban push will come after the next election once the dnc sweeps the field due to Trump.
I’m thinking the USMC wants these for the M27, and were designed for that purpose.
I’m surprised magpul went with a drum system. Usually, they are on the leading edge of design and etc. I would have thought that they would do a 60,80, or 100 round polymer mag like the surefire, but in polymer. The Surefire is by far the one to beat, however the pmag 40 is good also. When going to drum mags, you get a lot more complicated, which means the drum mag is more liable to fail. Overall, I’m still not decided on the magpul drum. We will see how it works out.
Magpul had some coffin mag patents floating around
Yes we have a patent on a the 4 stack into 2 stack magazine. The design worked under lab conditions but in the field or after dropping the reliability was unacceptable to us.
The biggest things were surviving after a drop without the stack getting jumbled (the problems with coffin mags) and dirt/grit (the problem with drums). We played with just about every option at some point, but you can bowl a D60 across the range, get it dirty, and it still runs. So…it wasn’t without a lot of homework that we ended up with a drum.
Cool to know. Thank you for the response. If this drum works well I will definitely be buying some. Thank you.
60 rounds was determined by the Military to be the optimum magazine size for the Automatic Rifleman role. It is a balance between round capacity and size, bulk and weight.
So somebody is trying to get a contract to feed the new Automatic HK’s the Marines seem to have adopted. Smart thinking.
I can’t wait for the CA legal blocked 10 rounder drum mag !! Magpul take my money ! Hahahaha …..
I certainly intend to get a couple for myself.
However, the problem with drum magazines for military applications isn’t just reliability or weight it is also bulk.
Magpul has done an excellent job in keeping this as compact as possible. But you can probably carry 4 30rd mags in the same sized pouch that one of these will fit in.
In other words 120 rds instead of 60 rds in the same space on a vest. I look forward to seeing how it fares in field testing by the Marines.
TLB
DO YOU HAVE A DAILY EMAIL YOU COULD SEND?
Use environment drives the choice to a degree.
These are huge mags that affect your ability to maneuver, go prone, shoot over/around obstacles, etc.
2.8 pounds on the gun is a lot.
Going to need a lot of testing.
The only good drums were Russian until the D-60 arrived. It’s Swiss Watch quality, carries enough ammo to get most jobs done and lets you go lower than hicap sticks. My take is to empty the D-60 and then go to your SureFire 60 or your 40 rounders. If that doesn’t do it you probably deployed to the wrong address!
GPJ 1*