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
