Coupled mag?

[RJH]

So, I'm rounding my stuff up for a match tomorrow and loading mags and such and as I'm loading my rifle mags I'm beginning to wonder, is there any good reason not to have only coupled mags?

 

I have a couple of 30s coupled together and I have a 30 and a 40 coupled together, and then I have singles. It's always going to be faster to reload to the coupled so I'm wondering if I should just skip single mags all together and buy me some more couplers. I get the idea of not running coupled mags if you don't think you're going to need them but, if you do that, me and everybody else I know always takes a backup bag just in case, so I'm wondering why we don't all just use a coupled mags then as well

 

 

I'm probably missing something, so let me know LOL

[Boomstick303]

3 hours ago, RJH said:

is there any good reason not to have only coupled mags?

 

I run them in 3-Gun and some Tac Rifle matches if it makes sense for the stage.  The cool part about coupled mags is they make a nice Bi-Pod.  Through testing and due to body issues I have found I actually like using 40 round mags when Prone when resting the rifle on the magazine.  I find the 40 round mags agree with my neck angle and I find it easier to get on target.  

 

I use the Taylor Freelance Mag Couplings. You replace the base pad of the magazine, and then bolt the mags together through the base pads.  Made of quality aluminum.  I have a 20 rounder mated to a 30 rounder and a 30 rounder mated to a 40 rounder.  Make sure you are mindful how you mate them so you do not cover the evection port.  You can reconfigure coupled magazine in less than a minute.  

 

https://taylorfreelancestore.com/t-mag-ar-15-plus-3-basepad-kit-gold/

[RJH]

7 hours ago, Boomstick303 said:

 

I run them in 3-Gun and some Tac Rifle matches if it makes sense for the stage.  The cool part about coupled mags is they make a nice Bi-Pod.  Through testing and due to body issues I have found I actually like using 40 round mags when Prone when resting the rifle on the magazine.  I find the 40 round mags agree with my neck angle and I find it easier to get on target.  

 

I use the Taylor Freelance Mag Couplings. You replace the base pad of the magazine, and then bolt the mags together through the base pads.  Made of quality aluminum.  I have a 20 rounder mated to a 30 rounder and a 30 rounder mated to a 40 rounder.  Make sure you are mindful how you mate them so you do not cover the evection port.  You can reconfigure coupled magazine in less than a minute.  

 

https://taylorfreelancestore.com/t-mag-ar-15-plus-3-basepad-kit-gold/

 

I do the same, so maybe I wasn't clear in what I was getting at. 

 

What I am wondering is, why not only use coupled mags? Even if the stage only required 20 rounds, we always take a backup mag. If we were running coupled mags and,  there was an issue we could reload quicker and, it would give us more belt space for whatever else. I get the idea of having a single for maybe somewhere where it was desperately needed, but in a match it just seems like using only coupled mags would be the way to go 99.9% of the time, even if you had them staggered and were not using them for a bi pod.

 

 

A lot of the top guys do not do this, so there's probably a reason that I'm wondering what that reason is?

[Boomstick303]

5 hours ago, RJH said:

A lot of the top guys do not do this, so there's probably a reason that I'm wondering what that reason is?

 

Probably reliability of their guns.  In three years I have had only one malfunction with my ARs.  

 

If you maintain them and their ammo is on point, they probably do no feel the need.   It does at a bit of weight to the gun.  

[TonytheTiger]

Eh, I use a 40 with +6 or +10 extensions for almost every stage. If that isn't enough or going prone is planned I use a D60. I definitely prefer to not reload ever.

 

[outerlimits]

D60 everywhere…

[MJinPA]

On 2/4/2024 at 12:42 PM, outerlimits said:

D60 everywhere…

Too bad they're a pain to load! I've run some bay style rifle matches and only use the 60 when I know 40 will be cutting it close 

[davsco]

on a stage where 30 is more than adequate, i think using coupled just increases the effort to dumping the gun in a barrel, more bulk and mass to catch on the barrel or barricades etc.  ditto with a 40.

[davsco]

22 hours ago, MJinPA said:

Too bad they're a pain to load! 

man that d60 is a pita to load!

 

used one on a stage recently and the rifle was doubling and even tripling!  they were awkward offhand shots and i guess my bad form combined with the extra weight from the extra ammo had me essentially bumpfiring!  i shot a coupled 30 rounder (same extra weight vs a single 30 rounder) on another stage but it was prone or supported, with zero issues.

[RJH]

34 minutes ago, davsco said:

on a stage where 30 is more than adequate, i think using coupled just increases the effort to dumping the gun in a barrel, more bulk and mass to catch on the barrel or barricades etc.  ditto with a 40.

 

I personally don't have an issue dumping coupled 30s if they're coupled side by side. I do see how if you have them coupled offset they could be tougher to dump. Forties definitely can be harder to deal with their extra length. At least that's my experience I might run into one someday where a coupled mag makes it tougher. 

[arcsign]

Was watching IPSC rifle videos the other day, and some shooters were using the coupled mag as a bipod (in addition to the other bipod or two they were running. Definitely seems like a situational thing.

 

I could maybe see the coupled mag getting in the way sometimes if you ran it all the time; seems more snag prone than longer mags (not offset to hang up) or drums (cone/cylinder shape)… also wonder if the mass of the offset messes with handling and recoil impulse enough to make it annoying to run them all the time.

 

[perttime]

A 30 round magazine can be a good monopod for a low prone position. Even more steady if you also have a vertical front grip: the front grip might not reach the ground but your hand holding the grip can.