Brownells Mags, Thumbs down.

JVK · Mar 24, 2014

I bought 3 new 30rd SS Brownells mags & the quality seems pretty bad IMO.

"The Most Up-To-Date & Reliable Civilian Magazine Available"

"Some of us have sons and daughters serving overseas or in law enforcement, and we aimed to build the kind of magazine we'd trust their lives with."

Reading the full description of this magazine i got the sense they were proud of their product.

Issues observed:

- No Anti-tilt follower.
- Rusting SS Springs
- 3-4" Sharp overlapping front portion of the magazine

The springs on all 3 of my magazines were starting to rust & certainly didn't look like new SS springs. The date stamps on the magazines were of early 2013.

http://www.brownells.com/magazines/rifle-magazines/magazines/ar-15-m16-magazines-prod21225.aspx

Product quality aside, i don't find it to be a coincidence that by default, under my account/order history the shipping costs were missing from "Order Total" - Also missing from "View Order". This (IMO) is either a move to let the consumer know they will be paying for the return cost (which is also indicated by the included return form) or misrepresent the total cost in the order history.

That being said, i contacted customer service & under this circumstance I've been told I won't be paying for the return shipping.

Yes i'm aware they are only 10 bux a pop, certainly not expecting the best magazine in the world, but mind you the quote from their description above. I think all but one review of the product on their site was negative. Skimming over reviews on ar15.com people didn't speak badly of them either.

I guess the point is given the price these are meant for plinking.

I like my PMAGs and will probably order some Lancers.

ZA_Survivalist · Mar 24, 2014

Shoot man, all mine are freaking awesome and I got a bonus mag in my order by mistake.

However I have had poor experiences with D&H mags.

Just like GI mags in the service.

G1GRANDEUR · Apr 14, 2014

did you contact them about this? they have great customer service.

put magpul anti tilt followers.

hker71 · Apr 14, 2014

I bought some of their magazines when the first came out and they have been great!! They came with the anti-tilt followers. I have heard the magazine quality has gone down. That is really too bad. I have never had issues with Brownell's customer service.

Doc In UPlace · Apr 14, 2014

It's probably kind of frustrating to post a candid review about a product and get nothing but a bunch of "gee, they have been great in my experience" responses.

Unfortunately, the Brownells mags I have, the metal ones with black chrome silicon springs and black followers, have been flawless. In fact, the one I keep in my HD carbine is one of the Brownells FDE 20-round mags. It's date is August 2001!

However the list on the type I have is $13.99 not $10 so maybe they are different (?)

I have about a dozen of them in both 20 and 30-round capacities. I know that if I'd bought several of something and they all were flawed (as you report) I'd be very hesitant to try any more; it'd be understandable if you felt that way too.

BUT that said, and based on my experience with these, I'd have no hesitation in obtaining more.

Also I noticed in your post, there doesn't seem to be any mention of failures. Do the things work? Have you tried cleaning off the springs and coating them with CLP?

Sorry to hear of the bad experience though.

DieselScout · Apr 14, 2014

I have two and am super happy with them.

JVK · Apr 15, 2014

It seems the majority of positive reviews do not mention the lack of anti tilt follower.

I'd considered doing the magpul follower upgrades but then i'd be into these as much as others that do not have these issues.

Brownells needs to at least offer magazines that have anti tilt followers.

I'd also considered cleaning the springs up but i didn't want Brownells to level some accusation if i ended up returning them. Their shipping/return policies were already a concern.

Brownells customer service was "OK" i did get a full refund+shipping.

However, the first person i spoke to was aware the shipping costs were not included in any order history records on their website & acted as if there's nothing wrong with that. Skip to the next person who's again aware of the issue and says they have to manually update the account to properly reflect the total amount spent/charged. Eventually they did get the records fixed but frankly it didn't sound any less fishy than before.

Opinions are like bubblegums of course. If i'd cleaned them up it's very possible they would run fine w/out issue. I don't feel the quality was up to par in regards to their exaggerated descriptions though. IMO spend the extra $3-$5 on something else.

mkwerx · Sep 13, 2014

hate to be another "yeah guys me too" but...

I've got 8 or 10 Brownell's mags - 20 and 30 rounders, some with the SS springs some with the CS springs, green followers and gray followers - all have been flawless. My HD AR has a 20 rnd mag with the CS spring in it that has been nothing but reliable. I've got Colt mags, Kay Industries mags, C Products, Brownells and a few others in metal mags and the Brownells stuff was right up there quality wise with the Colt mags. The only thing I like about the Colt stuff vs the Brownells mags is the finish. The Colts are slicker, smoother finish while the Brownells mags are rougher textured (not sandpaper, just the colt mags feel polished) and lighter colored than the Colt mags.

Hopefully your next mag order, if you make one, goes better.

decklin · Sep 15, 2014

I've got several Brownells with the orange followers (anti tilt)
They were issued to me while still in the Infantry back in '09. I've never had an issue with them and have trusted my life with them.