KIT & GEAR
PTS EPM1 MAGAZINE
PTS EPM1
EVERY SO OFTEN A PRODUCT COMES ALONG THAT CHALLENGES THE STATUS QUO AND CAUSES
US TO RETHINK WHAT WE KNOW. PHIL BUCKNALL CHECKS OUT A PRODUCT FROM PTS THAT
MIGHT JUST FALL INTO THAT CATEGORY.
N
o one is ever likely to say that airsoft
is going to change the world but
there are a few accepted truisms
that have been around for ages. When it
comes to magazines for airsoft guns, there
have pretty much always been three types
to choose from: Lo/Real cap mags that
typically hold thirty BBs; Midcaps that hold
anywhere up to 150 BBs and finally, Hi-cap
mags for any capacity above that, although
usually from 190-600 in a conventional
style magazine body and up to 2,000 for
box mags used on LMGs. The first two
examples generally do not require winding
to feed BBs and just rely on the spring
pressure feeding them through, along a
single or double stacked channel. The latter
Hi-cap type require some form of winding
to feed BBs and this is usually either a
manual clockwork system, or electrically
powered. However, rather than having a
channel that loops through the body of the
mag, they will have a hopper into which
you pour your BBs and a mechanism to
collect them and funnel them to a feeding
tube and then into the gun.
ACCEPTED NORMS?
So where does the EPM1 fit into this and
why is it challenging the accepted norms?
The EPM1 is the latest magazine to
be released by PTS and follows on from
the success of their EPM magazines. For
those who have never heard of PTS (where
have you been living?!), they are a Hong
Kong based company that many years
ago started producing very high quality
licensed Magpul products, amongst a small
stable of other Gucci real-world licensed
items for the airsoft market. One
of the items they are probably
most remembered for is the
PMAG Midcap magazine - for AR
platform AEGs. Later on, Palm
AK polymer mags and even G36
mags followed using the same
durable DuPont Zytel polymer.
Sadly, due to a veritable tidal
wave of fake Magpul products
(specifically vertical grips and
stocks) Magpul pulled out of
airsoft completely and, just like
that, PMAGs became very hard
to come by and thousands of
airsofters around the world
sobbed.
Luckily, PTS didn’t give up and
whilst adding various other real
steel manufacturers to their list
of licensed partners, they also
came out with their own line of
polymer products to replace the
Magpul items that had proved
so successful. These are the
enhanced polymer range and
include stocks, magazines, grips,
iron sights and vertical foregrips
too. Whilst these are not based
on any real-world alternative,
they are very high quality and
very durable.
The original EPM’s came in
a variety of flavours: Standard
for the vast majority of AR
AEGs; Next-gen recoil ones for
the Marui recoil guns and ERG
compatible ones. These had
the ability to switch from 30
“…DUE TO A VERITABLE TIDAL WAVE OF FAKE MAGPUL PRODUCTS (SPECIFICALLY VERTICAL GRIPS
AND STOCKS) MAGPUL PULLED OUT OF AIRSOFT COMPLETELY AND, JUST LIKE THAT, PMAGS BECAME
VERY HARD TO COME BY AND THOUSANDS OF AIRSOFTERS AROUND THE WORLD SOBBED.”
46
APRIL 2020