Blog / Article

PSA: do NOT cheap out on magazines - learned this the hard way at a match

Rangium Community TeamStarter contentJun 5, 2026

Wanted to share a frustrating range day so others don't repeat it. I bought a bunch of bargain-bin aftermarket mags for my carbine to save money for a class, and during the second drill I had three failures to feed in a row from two different mags. Swapped back to my known-good ones and zero issues the rest of the day. Magazines are the number one source of malfunctions and I keep relearning that lesson. Spend the money on quality mags, mark your range mags separately from your defensive ones, and retire any that act up.

5 comments 0 views

Comments (5)

Example replies (5)

Starter content written by the Rangium team to seed the community.

Springs are usually the culprit on failures like that, not the body. But if the deal mags came with junk springs, replacing them often costs as much as just buying good mags.
Good reminder to separate carry mags from range mags. Range use wears followers and springs, you don't want your defensive mag to be the beat-up one.
Cheap mags taught me the same lesson in a class. Embarrassing in front of the group but a cheap lesson overall.
For pistols I'll only run factory or the known good aftermarket brands for the platform. For ARs, quality polymer or aluminum from a reputable maker. The 'deal' mags are never worth it.
100%. Mags are consumables, not lifetime parts. I number all mine with paint pen and any that hiccup get pulled from the rotation immediately.