STANAG magazine

Two STANAG-compliant magazines: A 20-round Colt-manufactured magazine, and a 30-round Heckler & Koch "High Reliability" magazine.

A STANAG magazine is a type of detachable firearm magazine standardized by NATO in October of 1980. Shortly after NATO's acceptance of the 5.56 × 45 mm NATO rifle cartridge, Standardization Agreement (STANAG) 4179 was authorized in order to allow the military services of member nations to easily share rifle ammunition and magazines during operations, at the individual soldier level, in the interest of easing logistical concerns. The magazine chosen for this standard was originally designed for the U.S. M16 rifle. Many NATO member nations, but not all, subsequently developed or purchased rifles with the ability to accept this type of magazine.

STANAG-compatible magazines can be made to almost any capacity, though those used for military service usually hold 20 or 30 rounds of 5.56 × 45 mm NATO ammunition. 40-round box magazines as well as 90-round drum magazines and 100-round Beta C-Mag drum magazines designed to comply with STANAG 4179 have also been manufactured.

The STANAG-compatible box magazine, while relatively compact compared to other types of 5.56 × 45 mm NATO box magazines, has often been criticized for a perceived lack of durability and a tendency to malfunction if not treated with a level of care that often cannot be afforded under combat conditions. Because STANAG 4179 is only a dimensional standard, production quality from manufacturer to manufacturer is not uniform. Magazines have been manufactured with lightweight aluminum or plastic bodies and other inexpensive materials in order to keep costs down, or to meet requirements that treat the magazine more as a disposable piece of equipment than one that is designed to stand up to repeated combat use. As such, many makes of STANAG magazine bodies can easily be bent out of shape, broken, or melted under high-volume fire (i.e., when certain makes of plastic-bodied magazines are used in M16-type rifles and carbines), followers can tilt causing misfeeds or jams, and springs can rust, bind, or lose tension within a relatively short span of time.

These problems have been addressed by several manufacturers, most notably Heckler & Koch, who designed a new 30-round STANAG-compatible box magazine during their contract to rebuild and improve the SA80 rifle for the United Kingdom. As a result, several manufacturers now offer improved STANAG-compatible magazines as well as high-grade stainless steel bodies, rust- and set-resistant chrome-silicon springs, and anti-tilt followers as upgrade components for existing STANAG magazines.

Weapons compatible with STANAG magazines

• Armalite AR-18/SAR-80/Howa Type 89
• Beretta AR70/90
• Bushmaster M17-S
• CETME Mod L/LC Carbine
• Colt M16/Diemaco C7
• Colt M4/Diemaco C8
• Daewoo K2/Daewoo K1
• Daewoo K3
• FAMAS G2
• FN F2000
• FN FNC/Ak5/Pindad SS-1
• FN Minimi/M249 SAW
• FN SCAR-L
• Heckler & Koch HK 23
• Heckler & Koch HK416
• Heckler & Koch G41
• IMI Tavor TAR-21
• Khaybar KH2002
• LAPA FA-03
• Norinco CQ
• Norinco QBZ-97
• SA80
• SAR-21
• SIG 556
• T2 MK5 rifle
• Type 65
• Type 86
• Type 91

Other firearms, although not originally manufactured to feed from STANAG magazines, can be converted to its use. For example, an adaptor is available for the Austrian Steyr AUG rifle to allow the use of STANAG magazines. Also the German Heckler & Koch G36 features a "modular magazine well" system, this meaning that the original magazine well, engineered to feed from the proprietary translucent plastic magazine, can be easily replaced with one that takes STANAG magazines. This system has been conceived for, and is in use with, G36-series rifles and carbines issued to several SWAT-like units in the United States of America.