Magpul mag difference.

[Doubleagent]

Hey, does anyone know what's the difference between a magpul green label PTS mag and the regular magpul PTS mags? I don't know which one to buy.

[ILLusion]

Green label is lower grade. They break easier, don't fit as consistently, and don't feed as well. They're also much cheaper. You get what you pay for.

Not to say what you're buying is useless... they *might* work for you, but as with most things in life, there's a phrase that almost always applies: "buy cheap, buy twice." If they work perfectly fine for you, then either you were lucky, or you have low standards and aren't a spoiled prima donna. LOL

[slink182]

Standard Magpul PTS mags are made by Magpul, and are made from polymer plastics that are the equivalent of their real steel counterparts.

Green label Magpul mags are made by Star, and are made from ABS plastic - still fairly tough, but not as tough as the polymer built ones (i.e., don't try running a car over them or dropping them from 5+ metres up).

Green labels may require some work to make them feed consistently (lubing, lip modification, etc.) whereas the standard polymer version should work without any mods.

I use the green labels and had some initial teething issues. Once those were resolved, the mags have been operating without any problems.

[tygr701]

I use the Magpul PMAGS. They work just fine once broken in with a few rounds. Make sure they're compatible with your but and just put a light coat of silicone on the release and work it in a few times so the spring and release get broken in. See the FAQ on maintenance.

[krap101]

Originally Posted by slink182

Standard Magpul PTS mags are made by Magpul, and are made from polymer plastics that are the equivalent of their real steel counterparts.

Green label Magpul mags are made by Star, and are made from ABS plastic - still fairly tough, but not as tough as the polymer built ones (i.e., don't try running a car over them or dropping them from 5+ metres up).

My goal is to rid airsoft of misuse of the term "polymer"... one post at a time... (ABS, Nylon, Polycarbonate etc etc are all polymers...) Somehow, in airsoft, "polymer" became associated with glass filled nylon...

Anyways... relevant to the topic, I'm using the green label short m4 mags in my f2000, and they work fine. They're some of the only midcaps besides the G&G that don't need modification, but I take a hit with capacity.

[seabass]

I had the green labels running in my ics. They had a mess of feeding issues but since I've changed to the good mags I've had no problems at all. They magpul ones did however have feeding problems in my old g&g M4. But that gun has seen better days.

[ehobbyasia]

the mid cap mag feeding issues are not likely a magpul issue but more just a "mid cap" issue.

This is a recurring complaint and it doesn’t matter who makes them, Magpul, G&P, KA, Star, and MAG midcap mags all have the same problem.

Luckily the solution is simple as mentioned above.
The problem is happening because of lack of lubricate around and along the spring track.
If you spray some silicone oil spray in the top hole and or if possible remove the bottom spring cover to spray in that hole also.
Or remove the spring all together and give the spring a good lube.

Poor mid cap feeding issues would be one of the most common complaints we received, and after giving this solution, we are ether thanked for correction of the problem or never hear from the complainant again.


back OT i'm aware of some fitting issues with the green label.
so the regular magpul PTS pmags are probably a safer bet.
although that's not to say they don't have some fitting issues ether.
We can test mags and models if both are in stock, if need be.

[MaciekA]

One huge difference between the green-box PMAGs and the PTS mags is that you can easily disassemble the PTS mags, whereas I haven't yet figured out a way to disassemble the green-box PMAGs. This is a real drag because if you do manage to get what would otherwise be an easy-to-fix spring/follower jam, you may be out of luck with the green-box PMAG. I've already fixed one jammed PTS mag by quickly disassembling it. Unlike some mags I've seen taken apart, it has a trap-door design at the end of the feed path for easy spring re-insertion.

Definitely something to consider.

[Warlock]

I use the green label star pmag 30 and 75 in my CA m15a4 and feeds and works flawlessly. Good quality and finish and very solid. I don't see any advantage from buying the real pmag from magpul.

[L473ncy]

I use Green Label (STAR OEM) mags. I have to hold my mag in a certain way or it won't feed in my G&P M4 (that or I'm going to thicken up the mag with some masking tape). Whereas with the PTS mags that doesn't happen, they feed flawlessly. I think it's moreso a fitment issue than anything because it happens with all of my mags and I have to hold them all in that certain way.

There's pros and cons to both products. With the Green label it's cheap and works fairly well. I can drop/break and lose them and not really be out by that much money. On the other hand, the build quality of the PTS mags is definitely a lot better and they feel "sturdier", more heavy weight and the weight just feels "right" (closest comparison I can make is my HTC Glacier vs the Xperia Arc). However the PTS mags come in at almost 2-3 times the price of the green label mags.

[MaciekA]

Originally Posted by L473ncy

I use Green Label (STAR OEM) mags. I have to hold my mag in a certain way or it won't feed in my G&P M4 (that or I'm going to thicken up the mag with some masking tape). Whereas with the PTS mags that doesn't happen, they feed flawlessly. I think it's moreso a fitment issue than anything because it happens with all of my mags and I have to hold them all in that certain way.

Yep:



My experience:

G&G M4:

PTS M: untested
PTS shorty M: flawless at 20rps, no mod required
green-box: flawless at 20rps, but masking/camo tape mod required (no feeding otherwise)

2 * G&P C8:

PTS M: mixed results, lubricant definitely required
PTS shorty: untested
green-box: mixed results / tape mod-required

G&P M4 MOE

PTS M: OK
PTS shorty: untested
green-box: mixed (some work fine, some don't work at all)

I'd need to do some more careful testing by removing some variables from these experiences, so YMMV / take with a grain of salt / etc.

Also, in all cases, the feeding results were dramatically improved if the PMAG was lubed up a bit. This goes for the PTS versions as well. Fill a speed loader to about half, then lightly spray the BBs with a small amount of silicone spray, then fill and shake a little bit before loading. (If you accidentally over-spray make sure to let it drip out of the speed loader first or empty and re-start if in doubt).

[Scouser]

MaciekA pretty much hit the nail on the head. Ive got some of both the pts and the star green label mags, i find regardless of what G&G you have you need to do the tape mod and then they feed fine, even the pts ones sometimes dont feed in the g&g without the tape mod

however ive had both mags feed perfectly in my friends tavor without any modifications at all, i dont think it is so much the mag that has feeding problems, so much as the magwell not being shaped quite right to fit it.

After owning both, i prefer the PTS ones, but it really is hard to argue with 85$ for 10 mags after shipping (roughly) for the star mags, as opposed to 25-30$ per mag with the pts

[Warlock]

Fitting issues could be related to the AEG Brand/model magwel.

Feeding issues could be related to poor hop-up alignment. A cheap hop-up unit like the stock one in most gun could cause misfeed, so replacing the hop-up for a better unit could solve this problem.

Green label PMAG fit and feed flawlessly in all Classic army m4 I saw

[MaciekA]

Originally Posted by Warlock

Fitting issues could be related to the AEG Brand/model magwel.

Feeding issues could be related to poor hop-up alignment. A cheap hop-up unit like the stock one in most gun could cause misfeed, so replacing the hop-up for a better unit could solve this problem.

Green label PMAG fit and feed flawlessly in all Classic army m4 I saw

I think it's a lot simpler than that and not necessarily related to cheapness or quality. I'd say it's about specs and tolerances.

It's clear from just reading around and listening to players and looking at the most common fix -- holding the mag in manually or using tape -- it's clear that the Marui design for the hopup + mag mating sucks and is long overdue for a major reboot .. It's not without precedent. There have been other fixes to Marui designs (Ajax STS, etc). The tolerances for the mag-to-magwell/hopup feeding shouldn't be in the sub-millimeter range. It shouldn't be up to a tiny little mag release latch to be the only thing holding the mag up high enough so that the hopup tube can push the spring-loaded port open. Look how nicely the pistol grip's motor height adjustment springs solves a similar problem of bringing together two items made by separate manufacturers. I would suspect this problem can also be solved in a similar manner.

The current bug in the design is that the length of the feeder tube has to not only account for accepting BBs and not going too far into the mag, but also for forcing open the door which holds the BBs back. If the action of mating with the mag's BB exit and door/latch open were to be decoupled or moved apart, we could allow for wider tolerances in differences between manufacturers or even batches of production runs.

When I compare a G&G hi-cap mag (works unmodified in a G&G M4) to my green-box PMAG (requires mod), the difference in height of the mag's port is fairly obvious (from memory, approaching 1mm). As far as I know there aren't ISO specifications for these things, people are just making products to some close-enough range of dimensions and hoping for the best.

... Or maybe the walls of magwels should be lined with springs that are activated by the insertion of a mag.

[SuperHog]

How do you open up a green label magazine?