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USMC using Magpul PMAGS
- Thread starter ChuckMK23
- Start date
Got a free magpul mag at the modern Marine expo last fall. They are nice. The follower is rock solid, the cover concept is pretty freaking sweet, and the fact that you don't have to determine how many rounds are in your magazine by guessing at the weight is nice too.
If only they made them in 6.8...
If only they made them in 6.8...
That would be very sweet! As you probably already know Magpul says there will never be a 6.8 version. The case diameter would require the mag wall to be too thin.
I think maybe the ground pounder thing does make a difference. There has been a tremendous amount of personal gear used on the ground in the sandbox. I don't think there has been too much thought given to it being a slippery slope. Every command is different but it seems to me the closer you get to the fire the less people care what is used vs what was issued. For the most part grunts on the ground only care about what works. Pistol and rifle mags, weapon slings, stocks and to a lesser degree (at least for the Marine Corps) sighting systems are good examples.
In Jimmy Carter's Marine Corps (pay attention gents hard times are coming again) we sometimes bought stuff with our own money just to keep our weapons up. We had a hell of a time keeping our M60's on line. Worn out parts were a constant problem. In Okinawa, new parts were hard as hell to come by thru normal channels. One day I found 6 brand new in the wrap M60 op rods at an Army-Navy Store out in Kinville. I bought them with my own money and didn't think anything about it.
We also bought ARVN rucksacks with our coin because what we were issued was shit. The ARVIN rucks were made in the US for the South Vietnamese but we had to buy them on the street. At the time we were still being issued the M1941 field pack. Yea 1941 means what you think it does and this was 1976.
This makes me think that the VBSS teams out there don't really get into sticky situations very often. If it works, it works. Who gives a shit what you look like? I'd gladly look like a gear queer if that gear helped me kill the enemy and get home alive. It's going to be hard for the enemy to laugh when he's dead.
If you're going to upgrade your mags ($75), you might as well upgrade your holster ($100), your boots ($150), your optics ($500), your stateroom mattress, etc, etc. Some guys do it- it's their money. It's just not a habit I want to get into.
This makes me think you didn't have a clue about the subject to begin with, and therefore shouldn't call people out with comments about being shot at.
SGLI is underwritten by a private insurance company. Uncle Sam is only on the hook for your $100K death gratuity payment (and funeral expenses). /casualtynerd
In the two years that I have been working in Casualty, we have not had a single (hostile) casualty report for a VBSS crew member. The guy that we did lose wishes that he had spent some of his own own money on a better life jacket.
The sailors who need the better gear are the SEALs (and they get whatever they want), and our FMF HM's. Outside of HM and SO, I can't think of a single rate that has been a combat casualty in over a year. We did have some medical corps folks get shot up, but that was not exactly "combat related".
I can say with 100% certainty that the helmet that the Marines works pretty damn well. I have had multiple PCR's over the past week were marines suffered a "gunshot wound to the head" and were treated for a "contusion and swelling around the eye". If you take an AK round to the grape, and only have a black eye and sore cheek bone, you are one lucky Mo-Fo (and you need a new helmet).
Mags yup. Holster maybe. Boots probably not. Optic? Nope, not if you have an ACOG in A'stan. Stateroom mattress? The people I'm talking about aren't sleeping in a stateroom or even on a mattress right now.
Plenty of guys already have PMAGs sitting around at home.
This makes me think you didn't have a clue about the subject to begin with, and therefore shouldn't call people out with comments about being shot at.
You're right, to be fair I have never been shot at. But, I'm definitely one of those people that doesn't mind buying myself better gear if it keeps my ass alive.
Stay in your lane (wrt VBSS). I'm assuming your experience consists of TBS and Primary. Nothing against that, but you're not an authority on "being shot at" or MIO.
hahahahaha awesome.