A recently published news video from Arizona-based 3TV/Arizona Family Channel concerning domestic violence in the U.S. Army included a photograph of a U.S. Soldier from the 7th Special Forces Groupbased out of Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. The soldier is posing with what appears to be an M4A1SOPMOD Block II and also appears to be on deployment in Afghanistan due to the terrain, green valley, and patchwork of compounds in the background.
Much more telling than the background scenery or the rifle is the Magpul PMAG D-60 drum magazine that is inserted into this soldier’s magazine well. The feeding device is a Magpul Dynamics PMAG D-60 polymer drum magazine that is designed to hold up to 60 rounds of 5.56x45mm NATO.
Image via Youtube
It must be noted that at this time we don’t know the circumstances of the photograph, what position this soldier was in on his team, or even when/where specifically it was taken. All we know is there is definitely a D-60 inserted in his M4A1. Although Magpul has confirmed that the D-60 has been sold to various entities in the Government, this exact example could possibly even be a privately purchased D-60 that the soldier took on his deployment rather than a unit procured one. It most likely is unit supplied due to the price tag, but again we can’t assume what we don’t know.
Image via Youtube
Magpul first came out with the PMAG D-60® AR/M4 in 2015 and began shipping it that same year. Currently, the drum magazine is available on the website for $129.95, comes in a black finish, and is ITAR regulated.
Image via Magpul
Specifications from Magpul-
SPECIFICATIONS
- Weight, w/Dust Cover: 20.5 oz.
- Weight, loaded (M855 NATO): 46 oz.
- Length, max: 7.4 in.
- Width, max: 4.1 in.
*Optimized for use only with 5.56×45 NATO/.223 Remington cartridges. Use with other calibers such as .300 AAC Blackout is not recommended.
**The D-60 is designed to lock the bolt back after the last round for most AR15/M4/HK416 platforms. Inserting an empty magazine and manually cycling the charging handle will not activate the bolt hold open feature. In addition this feature may or may not work for weapons with bolt hold open levers that don’t adhere to the Colt-spec
TFB reached out to Magpul concerning this particular image and a Magpul representative confirmed that 1) this is indeed a legitimate D-60 in that hands of the soldier pictured, and 2) D-60 drum magazines have been approved and bought by various entities within the U.S. Government. The same Magpulrepresentative also mentioned that the company is in the process of receiving an NSN number for the D-60. This would mean that if any unit within the U.S. Government wanted to purchase D-60s through the logistical and supply chain, it would be as simple as requesting that particular NSN number of the D-60.
As of January 2017, there was some official Military testing on the D-60, but it doesn’t appear the results have become public yet, and by which entity the testing was being completed by.
Another photograph of the 7th SFG soldier was shown on the video as well, also equipped with Magpulproducts. In this case it is a Magpul 30 round PMAG. Note that…