Item Reviewed: Lancer Systems L-5 30 Round Magazine

Except for those folks who are stuck in areas that ban high capacity magazines, this is a great time for the magazine consumer. There are more choices than ever and for the most part, prices are reasonable. High capacity magazines for the AR15/M16/M4 family of weapons can be found in aluminum, steel and polymer materials.

Lancer Systems has recently introduced a 30 round polymer magazine. It is unique in that they have incorporated steel feed lips, which are molded into the body. The magazine body is also translucent, which allows the user to view the number of rounds remaining in the magazines. Witness marks are in place to indicate a loading of twenty and thirty rounds. The one-piece base-plate is rubberized. The spring used is a standard stainless steel USGI type. At first glace, the green follower looks like a USGI piece, but the dimensions are different.


When I first received the two magazines, I was under-whelmed. They were very light and I could easily flex the material with my fingers. I assumed that I would have them destroyed and non-functional in short order. I have the gift of breaking most things that I get my hands on.

Turns out, these magazines are a lot tougher than I initially thought. I took one of the two test magazines and: threw it about 75 feet across the range a few times, threw it against a concrete floor, stomped on it, left it in the freezer for a few hours and stomped on it again, applied chemicals (Hoppes #9, Breakfree CLP, Weapons Shield CLP, Windex, brake cleaner). I haven’t run it over or shot it yet. Sorry. While there was some minimal cosmetic damage, there were no cracks or splits in the body. The chemicals did nothing.

Both magazines locked into place in a variety of lowers (Colt, DPMS, RRA, Mega, Oly Arms, Armalite). Both magazines used to drop free, but after abusing the one, it hangs up in the mag well a bit. Test firing was done primarily in a Colt and Armalite and no malfunctions occurred in the 600 rounds of testing. While this isn’t enough of a test to declare them 100% reliable, the results to date are promising.

I don’t have much to complain about. The base-plate was more difficult to remove than some others. Two take-down tabs have to be depressed at the same time, then the base-plate comes off. I was surprised that a new production magazine didn’t use a true anti-tilt follower. I would have liked to see a Magpul follower used, but the internal dimensions don’t allow for it.

The bottom line is the Lancer L-5 30 round magazine in another solid choice in the high capacity magazine market. Pricing seems to be around the $20 range.

http://www.lancer-systems.com/L5.html