TerraN_EmpirE
Tyrant King
it was probably more for ease of manufacturing.
The Aluminum AR15 magazine is one of the weak points of the AR. This is why polymers have replaced them.
When M16 was designed it was to use a 20 round disposable magazine... Of course it was never used that way. The magazine was retained. Aluminum was still an exotic material. Steel was still king. If you went to buy a pack of Coors in those days one you had to be west of Texas two it was in a tin plated steel can. Aluminum became the common material in the early 80s. That was also when the AR15 magazine became STANAG.
Colt under contract to the DOD decided that a 30 round box like that found in the AK was needed in about 1967. Making the 20 round box is easy. Push aluminum though a die and it’s stamped.
That’s very easy to do. Nor in o was making AR knockoffs at that time they knew stamping. Very cheap. Perfect for making prototypes. Yet that is also its weakness.
Ever dent an aluminum can, then try to get the dent out. The creases remain. Sure you kinda got it back but the slightest pressure and it’s back dented. The AR magazine isn’t much thicker than that Can.
Step on It, sit on It, drop to prone On It, jam It in the magazine well really hard. It dents. Like the Can you can kinda fix it but the pressure will return that dent. As a mechanical device that slows down the loading, it jams up. A cursory inspection might not tell you it’s deformed. But once in the magazine well it’s back.
This is where Polymers come in, even cheap ones. When they break they break. when they dent it pops out, They don’t dent they crack or shatter. As the end user you can see at a glance this isn’t going to work or Yeah this is nothing.
The Curve @MwRYum points to came because the AR receiver magazine well on early M16 models was Flat later models got a flare To ease reloads. However the bullets are not cylinders but conical stack them and you get a curve. The natural curve would be flatter than an AK magazine but rounder than a regular AR. Colt to make the thirty rounder basically started flat then curved resulting in the dog leg shape.
The Aluminum AR15 magazine is one of the weak points of the AR. This is why polymers have replaced them.
When M16 was designed it was to use a 20 round disposable magazine... Of course it was never used that way. The magazine was retained. Aluminum was still an exotic material. Steel was still king. If you went to buy a pack of Coors in those days one you had to be west of Texas two it was in a tin plated steel can. Aluminum became the common material in the early 80s. That was also when the AR15 magazine became STANAG.
Colt under contract to the DOD decided that a 30 round box like that found in the AK was needed in about 1967. Making the 20 round box is easy. Push aluminum though a die and it’s stamped.
That’s very easy to do. Nor in o was making AR knockoffs at that time they knew stamping. Very cheap. Perfect for making prototypes. Yet that is also its weakness.
Ever dent an aluminum can, then try to get the dent out. The creases remain. Sure you kinda got it back but the slightest pressure and it’s back dented. The AR magazine isn’t much thicker than that Can.
Step on It, sit on It, drop to prone On It, jam It in the magazine well really hard. It dents. Like the Can you can kinda fix it but the pressure will return that dent. As a mechanical device that slows down the loading, it jams up. A cursory inspection might not tell you it’s deformed. But once in the magazine well it’s back.
This is where Polymers come in, even cheap ones. When they break they break. when they dent it pops out, They don’t dent they crack or shatter. As the end user you can see at a glance this isn’t going to work or Yeah this is nothing.
The Curve @MwRYum points to came because the AR receiver magazine well on early M16 models was Flat later models got a flare To ease reloads. However the bullets are not cylinders but conical stack them and you get a curve. The natural curve would be flatter than an AK magazine but rounder than a regular AR. Colt to make the thirty rounder basically started flat then curved resulting in the dog leg shape.
