Air Force Relied on Army Test Results to Choose PMAG

The U.S. Air Force used the results from a 2015 U.S. Army test of commercial magazines to make its decision to replace Army magazines with Magpul’s Gen 3 PMAG, according to Air Force officials.

The Air Force put out guidance in July that all government-issued M16/M4 magazines – including the Army’s new Enhanced Performance Magazine – will be replaced by the Magpul PMAG. The announcement occurred in the “USAF AUTHORIZED SMALL ARMS and LIGHT WEAPONS (SA/LW) ACCESSORIES (as of 28 July 17).”

Military.com asked the Air Force how it came to the decision to choose the PMAG, and it sent the following response:

“When pursuing any capability based requirement, and before conducting any tests, the Air Force will first work closely with our joint partners to see if they have conducted any testing,” said Vicki Stein, a spokeswoman for Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center.

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“In this instance, we utilized the U.S. Army Aberdeen Test Center's M855A1 Conformance Testing on Commercial Magazines to make our decision.”

Military.com contacted Program Executive Office Soldier for comment on this but has not received a response yet.

In May, the Army announced it was planning to evaluate how well the service’s M4 and M4A1 carbines perform using a polymer magazine as part of a Solder Enhancement Program project that was approved in February, according to Army weapons officials at the NDIA’s Armaments Systems Forum.

What is interesting is that the Army test report on commercial magazines that the Air Force used to make its decision is dated Jan. 2015, according to Stein. U.S. Army TACOM didn't unveil its new Enhanced Performance Magazine until 2016.

The Air Force should be commended for using the Army’s existing test data rather than conducting a redundant test to make its decision.

The question that remains unanswered is why didn’t the Army come to the same conclusion as the Air Force and choose the PMAG when it appears that the service’s own test data shows the PMAG as the top performer.

Soldiers have used PMAGs in their weapons in combat for years because of their proven reliability.

Marine Corps Systems Command in December released a message which authorized the PMAG polymer magazine for use in the M27 infantry automatic rifle as well as in M16A4 rifle and M4 carbine.

Air Force officials did say that the Army Enhanced Magazine is also still authorized for use.

But the Air Force guidance on magazines states that 1005-01-615-5169 (Black) and 1005-01-659-7086 (Tan) Magpul – Gen 3 Polymer Magazine (PMAG) with window will replace 1005-01-630-9508 through attrition. The 1005-01-630-9508 is the Enhanced Performance Magazine (tan mag w/blue follower) the latest U.S. Army magazine.

The PMAG will also replace 1005-01-561-7200 MAGAZINE, CARTRIDGE (tan follower) and 1005-00-921-5004 MAGAZINE, CARTRIDGE (green follower), the document states.