The U.S. Army has announced, “that soldiers may use only government-issued magazines with their M4 carbines, a move that effectively bans one of the most dependable and widely used commercial-made magazines on today's battlefield,” Military.com reported.
The Army's “safety of use” message didn't mention any specific make or model of magazines, though according to Military.com, the PMAG polymer M4 magazine, made by Magpul Industries, is the favorite non-Army magazine of the troops.
The PMAG's “rugged design has made it as one of the top performers in the small-arms accessory arena, according to combat veterans who credit the PMAG with drastically improving the reliability of the M4.”
The Army's safety of use message, “did not single out PMAGs, but instead authorizes only the use of Army-issued aluminum magazines. The message offers little explanation for the new policy except to state that ‘Units are only authorized to use the Army-authorized magazines listed in the technical manuals.' Nor does it say what Army units should now do with the millions of dollars' worth of PMAGs they've purchased over the years.”
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Typical Army response…
Make a statement, not explain why the statement changed past policy, and no direction for the currently owned PMAGs!
Evidently there was a reason that the PMAG was the “Choice of the Experts”, and the edict does not answer those questions that still remain.