Magazines
From Airsoft Community Wiki
Magazines, also sometimes shortened to "Mag", or sometimes incorrectly known as a "clip", is a ammunition storage and feeding device for a firearm, or in this case, an airsoft replica. There are many forms of magazine, each being specific to the rifle or pistol.
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Feed mechanisms
There are many forms of magazines, varying dependent the type of replica they are to be used with. For example, pistol magazines differ drastically to those of rifle magazines, etc.
There are also types of mechanism that facilitate the feeding of ammunition to the rifle/pistol. It is important that these mechanisms are kept in good condition as a feeding problem during a high-intensity firefight can put you or your teammates under unnessecary risk. Ensure feeding lips are clear, that your magazine is kept clean, and that dirt cannot easily ingress into the mechanism of either the rifle or magazine.
In airsoft, for AEGs, there are 4 main mechanisms for feeding ammunition:
>"Real Caps" - "Real Capacity" magazines that hold the same amount of 6mm airsoft rounds as the real-steel version of the weapon. Ammunition is fed by a compressed spring to the rifle.
>"Locaps" - "Low Capacity" magazines hold low amounts of ammunition, fed by a compressed spring and follower system. For TM and CA locap M4 magazines, this is about 70 rounds. It varies depending on the type and size of the magazine.
>"Midcaps" - "Mid Capacity" magazines contain roughly 120-150 rounds of 6mm ammunition, in a staggered configuration fed by a spring, without the need for a winding mechanism featured in "Hicaps".
>"Hicaps" - "High Capacity" magazines feature a large resevoir of ammuntion, sometimes holding up to 600 rounds of ammunition, fed by a winding mechanism. On the base-plate of the magazine (the botton, opposite end to the feeding lip of the magazine) is a wheel with small, smooth serations. This is turned to wind up the mechanism. A "Fully wound" magazine will give you approximately 70-100 rounds of "good ammunition" (rounds that can be fired), again depending on the magazine.
Advantages/Disadvantages of each mechanism
There are advantages and disadvantages of each mechanism. For example, whilst the high-capacity of a "hicap" gives extended time of firing and reduced reloading, when half-empty, the shaking of BBs in the resevoir can create noise that could give away your position.
Conversely, "realcaps", "locaps" and "midcaps" provide extra realism ("Realcap", "Locap" and "Midcap" users are often refered to as "Milsimmers" - a blend of "Military" and "Simulation"), and reduced noise (as there is no resevoir of ammunition) but require the operator to change out magazines more often, and of course, as there are more magazines, they require more pouches to carry, and thus more weight.
Types of magazine
Box
The box magazine is the most common system in use with modern assault rifles. They generally feed in from infront of the trigger mechanism, however there are other rifles that feature the magazine behind the trigger mechanism. Known as "Bullpup weapons", these feature a longer barrel, yet require more engineering in terms of internal mechanism. There are many examples of these rifles, such as the British L85 series, the French FAMAS, and the modern Fabrique Nationale F2000 modular system. All use STANAG 5.56mm magazines, all interchangeable, and all useable with other NATO nations such as the US Armys M16/M4/M249 series of weapons.
Box magazines are attached to the weapon via a locking mechanism at the feeding end, or with STANAG 5.56mm magazines, cut into the side. Inserting and locking the magazine is very simple, as is releasing it to change/unload the weapon. Other rifles featuring the box magazine system are the Russian "Avtomat Kalashnikov" series (more commonly known as the "AK47" or simply "AK"), which requires the magazine to be inserted at the front of the magwell before clicking it into the back - similar to the M14/SOC16 rifles.
The H&K series of weapons such as the G36 feature an interlocking-magazine system, allowing two magazines to be locked together to speed up reloading. This system is also in use with Sig 551/552 rifles.
Box magazines can also refer to large boxes of ammuntion (sometimes up to 5000 rounds) that can be inserted into standard rifle. These large capacity box magazines are highly unrealistic, as there are no such things as 5000 round box magazines, and, in the eyes of many players, are used by "n00bs" who rely on pinning a player down for extended periods of time.
Drum
The drum magazine is a usually a system reserved for light-machine-guns that are created from existing rifle mechanisms, such as the Russian RPK series. They feature a cylindrical shaped container, which is wound to compress a spring to feed the ammunition. They usually have a higher capacity than standard box magazines, yet still require pouches to carry them.
"Belt-fed" replicas
The nature of 6mm airsoft ammunition means that a belt-fed system (i.e. ammunition fed on a belt of interlocking links that is pulled in towards the weapon by the action of the previous round being fired) is not practical. Therefore, in an attempt to replicate belt-fed LMGs such as the M60 and M249 series, a new mechanism was required.
This box-magazine features a motor that winds up a mechanism similar to a "hicap" mechanism, feeding ammunition through a tube into the main body of the LMG. There the ammunition is fed into the mechanism and fired. This tube is sometimes unsightly, and thus is hidden by a belt of inert ammunition of the correct calibre and style.
Sniper magazines
Sniper rifles, depending on type, work from spring or gas mechanisms. They rarely work from electrical systems, however some have been produced, such as the TM PSG1 series.
Sniper magazines are small, and must fit into the small body of a bolt-action rifle. Due to the nature of a snipers work, they are small, as fewer rounds are required. A sniper should "relocate" after every shot to prevent the enemy becoming aware of his/her location.
Sniper magazines must also contain gas (for gas rifles) and therefore feature a gas reservoir aswell as spring-fed ammunition tubes. They contain low amounts of ammunition, usually no more than 30 rounds. Higher-capacity magazines for rifles are availiable, yet even these only contain up to 100 rounds.
Pistol magazines
Pistols often feature the requirement for gas to power the mechanism, and thus contain just enough ammunition for the gas it carries. There is no point in building a magazine large enough to contain 50 rounds when you can only fill the gas resevoir with enough gas to fire 35. Pistol magazines usually are inserted through the grip of the weapon.
Reloading of GBB pistols requires some additional steps compared to the drill for AEGs. When a pistol is loaded, it is not enough to fill the magazine with gas and ammunition, then to insert it into the pistol. You must also cock the weapon - also known as "racking the slide". By pulling back the upper slide of the weapon, you cock the weapon, bringing a round into the chamber and thus preparing the weapon to fire. You should then put the safety on, to prevent NDs (negligent discharges).
When firing a GBB weapon, you will find that there is sometimes a considerable kick produced by the slide racking back and forth. This is also loading a new round into the chamber each time, and therefore is not just for looks.
When the magazine is emptied whilst firing, the slide will stay in the "locked back position". This means that the slide will be locked at the furthermost end of its backwards travel. The chamber will be exposed, and the head of the magazine, and the feeding lip should be easy to see. This tells you that the weapon is empty, and that a "fresh" (i.e. Loaded up and gassed) magazine is required.
By removing the existing magazine, and inserting a fresh magazine, you will find that the slide will not simply move foward. You must release the working parts forward, by pressing the "slide release catch" button down. This allows the slide to travel forward, cocking the weapon as it goes forward. The weapon is now ready to fire.
Reload drills
"He who knows his weapon best, lives longest"
The speed of your reload can be a deciding factor in whether you survive a firefight. Being able to realise you are "out" (i.e. Out of ammunition) and that a reload is required is the first step. With an airsoft replica, this is more difficult - the mechanism will continue to fire on an AEG without ammunition being fed in. However, if you are experienced with your weapon, there will be a difference in the audio signature of the weapon. The sound will change - thus alerting you to an empty weapon. This, or being able to see that no rounds are being discharged, will alert you to the fact that a reload is required. Again, learn to distinguish the difference between the two. In a pitched firefight, it can be more difficult, but practice should eliminate any doubt.
If in doubt, reload.
I personally run TM and CA locaps, held in a chest-rig or modular vest. They are all mounted on my front torso, none on the belt (unless I am wearing just first-line only, in which case my primary will be on my person but only for personnal protection).
Many airsofters talk of two types of reload - a "Tactical reload", i.e. needing to reload so fast you should have started yesterday, and the "Administrative reload", i.e. moving your magazines around in your vest/chest rig to aid in future tactical reloads, or in preparation for a firefight. I must stress that an admin reload should only be done in a safe/relatively safe area, when the chances of contact with the enemy are low.
Tactical reloads
What follows is my reload drill whilst using my replica Commando Recon Chest Harness (CRCH) and M4. It features 4 pouches on the upper torso, each holding 3 TM magazines. I also use a Guarder FSBE with SDS pouches (for my US Marine Corps Force Reconnaisance Unit impression); the reload drills are practically identical.
> Upon realisation that magazine is empty, shout "Loading!" or "Empty!" to team. If it is your last magazine of ammunition, shout "Last Mag!" and be ready to switch to your secondary weapon. Await response of "Covering!" to ensure they are able to cover your arc of fire and you yourself. If "Covering" response does not come soon, pull sidearm and find cover.
> Drop to knee, at the same time pressing the magazine release button with right index finger. If on concrete/not requiring immediate firepower, catch magazine as it falls from weapon and throw into leg- or belt-mounted dump pouch. Otherwise allow magazine to freefall to ground.
> If dropping mag straight out onto floor, whilst pressing mag release with right hand, move left hand from VFG to left-most mag pouch. (Moving to the left-most pouch that contains ammunition is a natural thing for me; I sort of found out by accident that I instinctively work from the left to the right of my chest. Of course, it may be different for you.) Pull up pouch cover-flap and grab magazine via mag-pull - (See below).
(My magazines are inserted into the pouch so that the baseplate is at the top, and that they curve towards the left of my body, so that as I pull them out, they are in the correct position to be inserted into the rifle. Again, this may be different for you).
> Bring up magazine and insert into M4 mag-well, guiding with right index-finger, holding magazine by the base with left hand. Once inserted and an audible "Click" is heard, tap it upwards firmly with left hand.
> Fire two to three rounds towards enemy to ensure that rounds are being fed into the chamber. Once sure that weapon is functioning correctly, and that you have a full magazine, shout "UP!" to warn teammates that you are now able to cover your own arc and that they no longer need to cover your reload.
This reload is meant to be as fast as possible, to get you back into the firefight and reduce the time that your squad are a rifle down in terms of firepower. My reloads are now getting towards the nice side of 3.5 seconds. That is because I practiced with my rifle, and know it well.
If in a firefight you completely run out of ammunition on your main weapon, you should warn your team by shouting "Im out!". This tells them that you are out of ammunition, and they are a rifleman down - vital information for a commander making tactical decisions based on firepower and personnel.
Administrative Reload
When not in a firefight, with a low risk from OpFor, and not requiring to cover your teammates, you can perform an administrative reload. This basically means that you rotate your magazines around so that you can access loaded ones quicker, and know that others are empty.
For me, this means removing all my magazines, and inserting the full ones from the left-most pouch to the right. Empty magazines are removed from dump-pouches and placed with the feed-lips at the top, showing that they are empty. Colouring your spring-followers red with enamel paint can help show that a magazine is empty - in the fast-rate nature of a firefight, it isnt always immediately obvious which magazines are empty and which arent. This can be dangerous, as reloading an empty magazine can get you hit.
By replacing all the left-most magazines with full magazines, and putting the empty magazines with their feeding-lips upwards on the right, I have access to the magazines with the most ammunition the most quickly. Again, half-used magazines should be placed after full-magazines, as you should only use half-full magazines in a last-stand situation.
Magpuls
Magpuls are loops of string, or specifically-made flexible plastic-loops that fit around the base-plate of a magazine to aid in the extraction of a magazine from a pouch. They can easily and cheaply be made from electrical/100mph tape and parachord. I made mine from insulation tape and boot laces, that were cut and heat-sealed using a hot knife.
I found that these seriously sped-up my reloads, as extracting a magazine without a magpul requires you to push the material of the pouch down to grab the sides of the mag. This can be difficult if your hands are cold, you have an injury, or are wearing gloves.
By adding these magpuls, you can simply slip your finger through the loop and pull upwards, quickly extracting the magazine from the pouch.
Rubber magpuls have the advantage that the rubber is more rigid than stringpuls which means you dont have to put your finger thru the loop to pull them out you can just pull the tab.
Ranger plates: A variation of magpuls which instead of going around the mag replace the baseplate with one which has a magpul built into it
Posted by Matt (ASCUK: Nightstalker) at 21:22 on the 23/12/06.
