Review - Magpul Gen M3 Magazine

This review will only cover the 30 round magazine made by Magpul Industries.  From my understanding it is the same overall body structure used in the 20, 30 and 40 round magazines; it just has different round capacities.

The testing for the MAGPUL 30 round PMAG Gen M3 5.56 (.223 Remington) was done with Mossberg’s MVP Varmint rifle.  This particular rifle has the ability to take an AR style magazine, which was the main reason why I purchased the rifle.  Due to magazine restrictions in Canada, this review was conducted with the magazine pinned to 5 rounds.  At this point we could get into the political argument on if this should be legal or not but we can get into that discussion another day.

The Magpul PMag Gen M3 30 round magazine is one of the best built magazines on the market; especially for the Mossberg MVP Varmint.  When you first pick up the empty magazine the polymer body of the magazine feels like it could take a beating and keep on ticking, and the best part, it is lightweight.  Once you insert the 5 rounds into the magazine it does give the Magpul PMag Gen M3 5 / 30 round magazine some heft but very little.  I would imagine if you were able to insert all 30 rounds it would be heavier but it would not be legal for me to do so in Canada.

For the Mossberg MVP owner out there the best part of the Magpul PMag Gen M3 5 / 30 round magazine is how it seats in the rifle.  I have tried a few LAR-15 style magazines, and although they do legally hold 10 rounds, some of them don’t seat very well in the rifle.  What I continue to notice about the Magpul PMag Gen M3 5 / 30 round magazine is that every time I put the magazine into the Mossberg MVP Varmint, the magazine is secure and ready for use.

The Magpul PMag Gen M3 5 / 30 round magazine also feeds flawlessly round after round.  Again I can only test on the first five rounds, but I have never had it miss feed into the rifle.  Again I have had this happen on occasion with different LAR-15 style magazines and as well with the magazine that comes with the rifle. 

Now it is a pretty minor feature but the Magpul PMag Gen M3 5 / 30 round magazine does come with a dust cap that prevents any foreign objects from getting into the magazine chamber.  This has proved invaluable as I tend to be clumsy and have on more than one occasion dropped the magazine into the dirt.

The only fault I have with the Magpul PMag Gen M3 5 / 30 round magazine is the inability to use it to its full potential.  On more than one occasion it would have been nice to have all 30 rounds stacked and ready in the Mossberg MVP Varmint but until the Canadian laws change I’ll just have to make do with the magazine pinned to 5 rounds.

Overall I highly recommend the product and give it a 5-star rating.  I will hopefully be using the magazine over the summer in a few gopher hunts and I will update my ranking in the fall.  Until then happy hunting!

FYI:  I have found the best place for Canadian residents to purchase the Magpul PMag Gen M3 Magazine is at Questar International.  I am not affiliated with the company in anyway but it has cheaper shipping rates than most and they will ship to a P.O. Box.