Magazines are an essential part of every airsoft game and if you have not already heard of flash magazines and their benefits that make them a worthy pick, you should make a short research on them to figure out why they are good.
Airsoft flash magazines are the improved and unique high-capacity magazines capable of unimaginable efficiency and effectiveness for those who shoot a lot of BBs and like fast playstyle.
That’s what I like to call them, they are simply useful and they deserve to be talked about.
They offer almost everything that classic high mags offer, but in a record-quick time with just a simple pull of a string.
The thing with these beauties is that they have been manufactured to offer an improved magazine design on the market and although the players have not accepted them as the manufacturers thought they would, they are still a great pick for everyone who finds the classic high cap magazines to be somewhat annoying.
Why Flash mags?
For a long time, I have been only into regular mags, both medium and high capacity magazines until I discovered flash magazines and in a moment I realized how useful they can be in certain situations.
Now, you may think a mag is a mag and why am I hyping them up? But, I got to tell you that any high-capacity magazine operates in a very boring way that comes with many difficulties such as annoyingly long reload time and sometimes clunky and noisy sounds that reveal your position to every single soul around you.
Perhaps, the quick design that lets you feed in 300 BBs with a few pulls of a string instead of long winding that is present on other high-cap magazines is not a good enough reason to start using them, but I truly wonder what should revolutionize magazines otherwise.
Some people may prefer these classic magazines because they are common and have been proven to work, but I care about functionality and efficiency over anything else when it comes to magazines due to my playstyle preferences.
I shall also state that I only want to compare flash magazines to other high-capacity magazines, while I still share the opinion that medium and low magazines have their place and are great, you simply can not compare them to flash magazines.
If you are a real „Rambo“ machine that unleashes tons of BBs at your enemies, that means you are probably spending more BBs than your teammates and this is yet another reason that qualifies flash mags as a great choice for your play style.
In order to give you more information on why they are useful, let’s compare them with standard high-cap magazines.
Flash mags vs high cap mags
Flash magazines are there to replace high-capacity magazines by fixing their gaps, this is the reason why it is only logical to compare them to high-cap magazines and not to medium or low-cap magazines.
Flash magazines feed more BBs in a record-short time
Flash magazines allow you to recharge an entire chamber within 5 seconds, while it often takes up to a minute or more to do the same with high-cap magazines.
This also negates the need to carry multiple magazines in a carrier or trousers and instead allows you to focus on a game.
The ability to feed so many BBs in such a short time is the most recognized feature of flash magazines.
High-capacity magazines need to be manually winded because they operate differently from low, medium, and flash magazines.
High-capacity magazines may carry more BBs
Some high-capacity magazines carry 600 BBs, but not all do and in fact, many high-capacity magazines do not carry far more BBs than what a flash mag can carry to make a significant difference.
However, if we compare a flash mag that on average holds 350 BBs to any other high-capacity mag, even though sometimes high-capacity magazines may carry more, the amount of 350 BBs is just enough to fit the criteria and after you add to it the fact that it takes only a moment of time to quick reload them, I do not think that higher capacity of high mags wins the battle.
Flash magazines also allow you to pull a string to feed it without ejecting a magazine prior to that, which is a cool mention.
Flash magazines produce less noise
It is a well-known fact that high-capacity magazines produce the sound of BBs dancing (rattling) when you run across the field and this is yet another reason why some people find them a bit annoying.
Flash magazines on the other hand do not have much of this problem (they feed BBs way better), but you should expect some noise when you pull a string, a few loud noises when pulling a string vs the problem of dancing BBs, sounds fair to me.
Some players find the noisy sounds of high caps quite frustrating if they choose to go with a stealth approach which ultimately makes them switch to medium magazines, but flash magazines offer the high capacity of BBs while neutralizing this problem with noise.
When you run you will certainly make noise and enemies will hear you, but do we need any additional sound coming from our gun? We do not.
Yes, when you shoot a gun you will also be spotted, but sometimes you sneak behind the walls and move on a concrete terrain that does not make the sound when your boots collide with it, until the moment you shake the gun and your position is suddenly compromised.
So, we may conclude that there are no other big differences between high-cap mags and flash mags, but I do not need any more reasons to use flash magazines than the reasons stated above.
Maintenance and care with flash magazines
You may hear that high-capacity magazines are easier to maintain and this is partially true, you got to be careful not to maniacally pull a string on flash mags, but rather with a gentle motion or you may break it.
If you properly use flash mags I think they will save you time and serve you well in the long run especially if you like the idea behind them.
They are more sensitive to how you handle them, so I will share a few simple tips that you should remember if you want to get one.
- When you pull a string follow it all the way back and forth instead of letting it go back on its own (if it snaps it may break)
- Pull the string vertically and straight
- They need to be lubricated just like other magazines
Conclusion on flash magazines
Flash magazines beat high-capacity magazines in a very cool way, however, we should not forget that there are medium magazines that also have their purpose.
Medium magazines also do not require winding like high-capacity magazines require and are perhaps a better option if you do not mind carrying multiple medium magazines in a battle.
Flash magazines will still offer more room for bbs than medium magazines though, so in the end, you make a conclusion and find what works best for you.
I would use low, mid, and flash magazines for most sense, while I would completely get rid of high-capacity magazines, but that’s just my take on it and I might be a bit biased by being lately in love with flash magazines.
The point of this short introduction to flash magazines was to give you another perspective on airsoft magazines, so perhaps you can make a few changes and improve your playstyle with the options available.
This is my suggested pick for the flash mag (Amazon affiliate link) so you can check the price on Amazon, Lonex seems to be the most reliable choice when it comes to flash magazines from what I have managed to discover. They are made from metal which helps them sustain any damage if you bump them into something or drop it on the floor, just bear in mind how you maintain and handle them and they will serve you for a very long time.