Best AR-10 Magazines: Ultimate Buyer’s Guide

Do you want to buy the best AR-10 magazines? Then look no further. We’ve done all the research for you, tested various models of AR-10 mags, and compiled a comprehensive list of the best picks in this post.

Everyone has different needs when choosing an AR-10 magazine — and we’ve got the best of the best ones here for your AR-10. So sit back, relax and get ready to find out which ones our experts think are worth investing in. Now, let’s begin.

Summary Table of the Best AR-10 Magazines

	D&H Industries AR-10 308 Magazine	Comes with an orange or green follower Solid steel construction SR-25 pattern Lack of witness holes	$21 Shop NowClick to read my review
	Magpul AR-10 .308 M3 PMAG	High-quality polymer construction Easy to disassemble Lightweight design Less likely to drop freely than a metal or aluminum magazine	$22 Shop NowClick to read my review
Top Pick	Lancer Systems AR 308 Magazine	Very reliable feeding thanks to the quality follower Has a stainless steel feeding lip High quality polymer build construction High quality polymer build construction	$43 Shop NowClick to read my review
Budget Pick	HexMag Series 2 20-Round Polymer Magazine	Sturdy build and easy to load Also great to use with other AR-style rifles Works smoothly with no feeding issues Might need some lubrication when ejected	$12 Shop NowClick to read my review

Why Get an AR-10 Magazine?

A high-quality magazine is just as important as a high-quality firearm. That’s because even the most reliable guns can suffer from feeding issues if there are any problems with the magazine itself.

The AR platform is no exception. Investing in good magazines for your AR-10 is imperative to ensure proper overall function.

A good magazine with a robust spring, anti-tilt follower, and firm feeding lips ensures that rounds can load reliably into the chamber of your AR-10. You can have the best and most expensive AR-10 on the planet, but if you pair it with poor-quality magazines, you’ll get poor reliability. This is why investing in quality magazines is so important.

Are AR-10 magazines interchangeable/ universal?

Even though many components are interchangeable between the AR-10 and the AR-15, several are not, including the magazines.

The AR-10 is one of the most versatile rifles you can own today. It is a larger version of the AR-15. The AR-10 is designed to fire larger rounds than the AR-15, including .308 Winchester and 6.5 Creedmoor.

Why Go With The AR-10?

The AR-10 fulfills so many functions that you need a rifle for, to the point that it could be reasonably argued that the AR-10 is the one rifle to have if you could only have one. You can use it for both big game hunting and tactical purposes.

Calibers such as .308 and 6.5 Creedmoor can drop anything in North America, and they also have excellent long range capabilities. Intermediate rifle rounds for the AR-15, such as the 5.56x45mm NATO, are too light for larger game such as elk or moose, and also lack the effectiveness at long ranges that .308 or the 6.5 Creedmoor has.

And due to the fact that it’s a semi-automatic rifle with a detachable box magazine, the AR-10 can still be used for most tactical uses, and even for home defense if necessary.

Further adding to the versatility of the AR-10 is the fact that it’s very easy to customize. In fact, the AR is one of the most customizable firearms in history, to the point that you can buy different components and put them together to build a unique rifle on your own. You can either pick all parts separately or look into AR-10 build kits.

AR-10 vs AR-15

The AR-10 some disadvantages. It is larger and heavier than the AR-15, and therefore not as wieldy in tight conditions. The .308 or 6.5 Creedmoor rounds can also be excessive for home defense purposes, and a lighter round such as 9mm or 5.56 may be more desirable. The calibers the AR-10 is chambered for are also usually more expensive than the smaller AR-15 calibers.

But still, the AR-10 has excellent long range capabilities, its accurate, it can drop North American big game, and it can be used for tactical purposes. For these reasons, there is simply no denying that it is a highly practical and versatile rifle platform. There are honestly few other rifle platforms that can fulfill as many purposes and roles as the AR-10 can.

The AR-10 is also a very reliable rifle, and if anything, the reliability of the AR-10 has increased drastically over the last ten to fifteen years with most manufacturers (along with the AR platform as a whole, which a few decades ago was known for sometimes having reliability problems).

But remember, having a quality rifle is only one part of ensuring reliability. Another big part of ensuring reliability is investing in a good magazine.

If you are building an AR-10 and need more part recommendations, check out our buying guides for lowers and AR-10 barrels.

Popular Articles

Smith & Wesson SD9 VE: Hands-On Review

DPMS LR-308 Review: Modern AR Basics

Best 9mm Ammo in 2024 for Self-Defense & Targets

Best Concealed Carry Insurance in 2024

9mm Glock Models [Ultimate Guide]

Handgun Calibers [Ultimate Guide]

Rifle Calibers [Ultimate Guide]

How Many Magazines Should You Stockpile for Your AR-10?

You can never have too many magazines. But you can have too few. In other words, there is no maximum number of magazines at which point you would be wise to stop stockpiling. But there is a minimum number that you should aim to reach — that number is six.

No, this does not mean that you need to have six magazines on you each time you use your AR-10. For most circumstances, you will only need one to three on you at once. But it’s a good idea to have spares in storage.

Assuming that you have one magazine in the gun and two extras on your person, by having six magazines you will have a full replacement set ready to go.

But again, six is only the minimum ideal number. If at all possible, and if you can afford it, you would be very wise to stockpile more.

What you need to understand (if you don’t already) is that magazines are a commodity that may become more precious if economic and societal circumstances become worse. There is only a finite number of magazines in the world, and anything can happen that can cause you to lose them: they can become lost, stolen, damaged, or the springs can wear out.

This year, in particular, we have witnessed a pandemic, social unrest, and a massive economic recession. The result is that firearms, ammunition, and magazines have been flying off the shelves at levels we’ve never before seen. Today, it’s much harder to find magazines than it ever has been before.

As a result, if anything were to happen to your existing magazines, it’s no longer guaranteed that you can go to the store or online to order more to resupply yourself. Just as you should always have a steady supply of food, water, medicine, and other essential items on standby in your home, so you should have a steady supply of magazines as well.

The Ideal Number of Magazines to Stock

The best strategy, in summary, is to treat magazines as a commodity and stockpile as many of them as possible, just as you want to stockpile as much ammunition as you can. Aim to buy six magazines initially and then gradually add to your stockpile as you see fit. Remember, you can never truly have enough, so there’s no point at which you should tell yourself to quit adding to your stockpile.

Just make sure that the magazines that you do buy are reliable and well made. With that in mind, we’ll next talk about the top features to look for in an AR-10 magazine.

Suggested read: We also covered AR-10 stocks. In this article we tell you everything you need to know in order to buy a stock that fits your needs.

Buyer’s Guide to the Best AR-10 Magazines

These are the most important factors to consider when looking for a new magazine for your AR-10.

Materials

Magazines these days can be made out of a wide variety of different materials, including polymer, aluminum, and steel, or a combination of those. For example, Lancer magazines use a polymer magazine with a steel follower and lips.

Meanwhile, other magazines, such as Magpul are made exclusively out of polymer, with the exception of the spring. GI-style magazines, meanwhile, are usually made out of 6061-T6 aluminum.

Finish

If your magazine has any metal components or is made entirely out of metal, it should also come with a high quality finish such as anodizing, Teflon, nitriding, or so on.

Polymer components to a magazine will not need to have a finish, because they are already inherently rust and corrosion resistant. Besides an actual finish, another option is to go with a magazine that has a rust and corrosion resistant coating such as Cerakote or Duracoat.

Ease of Ejection

When you hit the magazine release button to your AR-10, the magazine should fall right out. You shouldn’t need to have to grab the magazine with your hand to yank it free.

Allow the laws of gravity to take effect so the magazine just drops out freely on its own. This also frees up your hand to simultaneously grab a fresh magazine to reload while getting rid of the old one.

Spring and Anti-Tilt Follower

Each magazine should come with a good spring and anti-tilt follower in order to ensure reliable feeding. The spring should be made out of metal (such as stainless steel) and the follower should be made out of either polymer or aluminum.

The spring needs to be robust so it should not wear out over time; a worn out spring is often the number one cause of failures from a magazine, in which case it will need to be replaced.

Texturing

Last but not least, make sure that your magazine comes with a good texturing over the surface. The texturing should make it easy for you to grab onto the magazine, and it should also be non-slip so you can use it in wet conditions.

If the magazine does not have a non-slip texture, the best alternative is for it to have a flared base that can make it easy for you to get a grasp over it too.

The 4 Best AR-10 Magazines

Now that we’ve covered why you need to upgrade your AR-10 magazines, here are our choices for the top three best AR-10 magazines.

D&H Industries AR-10 308 Magazine

The D&H Industries AR-10 308 magazine is made of durable and tough steel and drops freely once you hit the magazine release button. It is a solid choice for a steel AR-10 magazine as it’s designed to be used in rough or abrasive tactical missions.

Steel magazines are heavier than polymer magazines and admittedly more vulnerable to rust and corrosion, but they are also more rugged and tough.

Another big benefit to steel magazines is that because of their heavier construction, the laws of gravity allow them to drop more freely from the magazine well.

The ten-round version of this magazine comes with a bright orange follower, while the twenty-round addition has a green follower. Both are very easy to spot, so you can quickly have a visual indicator that your magazine has run dry. The followers are built of high-quality polymer with a durable steel spring to ensure proper feeding and reliability.

Overall
The D&H Industries AR-10 308 magazine is a solid and inexpensive choice for an AR-10 magazine thanks to its solid aluminum construction that is both strong and damage resistant. The bright orange or green follower is another welcome addition to signal to you when the magazine has run empty.

Magpul AR-10 .308 M3 PMAG

If you are looking for an inexpensive, lightweight, yet durable polymer magazine for your AR-10, consider the Magpul M3 PMAG. The PMAG is one of the most popular choices for an AR-10 magazine.

If anything, Magpul is the most common choice for an AR-platform magazine amongst the American shooting public. Beyond magazines, Magpul also manufactures many other parts and accessories for the AR platform. In other words, they are a very reputable and trustworthy brand.

The Magpul M3 PMAG is built from a durable and lightweight polymer, except for the stainless steel spring that supports the quality follower. Some additions of the PMAG also come with a window installed so you can quickly see how many rounds are loaded into your magazine.

Additional features of the PMAG include a robust anti-tilt follower, a non-slip textured grip, and the fact that the base plates are interchangeable with other Magpul manufactured base plates as well (including the Mag Pod, which is essentially a stabilization tool for when you are shooting in the prone position).

Overall
If you are looking for a lightweight yet strong polymer magazine, the Magpul PMAG is one of your best choices. Widely available and easily affordable, you should have at least a few PMAGs in your AR-10 magazine collection.

Lancer Systems AR 308 Magazine

Lancer has established itself as one of the primary competitors to Magpul in the AR magazine market. The Lancer magazines are notable for having a durable and lightweight polymer build, just like the Magpuls, but with the addition of stainless steel feeding lips.

These steel lips are designed to ensure that the rounds are aligned properly and feed reliably while also ensuring good longevity.

Meanwhile, the rest of the magazine’s polymer construction is lightweight and resilient against inclement weather or surface damage. Rusting is also not an issue with polymer either.

Overall
Lancer Magazines are among the more unique on the market due to their use of polymer and stainless steel to craft a quality magazine. They may be expensive, but if you want a magazine that you know can likely last you for a lifetime of use, Lancer is a great way to go.

HexMag Series 2 20-Round Polymer Magazine

These Series 2 Hexmag magazines significantly boost your AR-10 since they are crafted from a proprietary polymer composite, have a distinctive hexagonal shape, and have stainless steel internal springs.

Hexmag magazines are built to last and are highly reliable for their low cost. In addition, they provide cutting-edge functionality and personalization at a price you can’t refuse. Features range from a durable PolyHex2 composite build to a revolutionary Hexture surface design that facilitates rapid reloads and secure grip.

The magazine’s proprietary Tool-Less Design makes it simple to remove the floorplate for in-the-field cleaning and painting. Also, popular additions such as the Hexmag Grip Tape and Hexmag HexID Color Ammunition Identification System are included.

Overall

The Hexmag might be your greatest option if you search for anything resistant to harm and can operate in hazardous environments. It’s a magazine suitable for use on the range and in the field, should you encounter any large game.

The Hexmag has demonstrated that it can compete on equal footing with any other weapon. It’s ideal for your AR-10, and if you have other rifles, like a 6.5 Creedmoor, you’ll need a magazine for that, too.

Wrap Up: Best AR-10 Magazines

Any one of the three magazines that we have covered here today will be a solid option for your AR-10. Alternatively, you can follow the buyer’s guide that we discussed earlier if you want to continue your search beyond the magazines we covered here today.

You might also like to read:

• Best 6.5 Grendel Magazines
• The 4 Best Scopes for .308 Rifles
• Best .224 Valkyrie Magazines