7.62/ 5.56 Plate Carrier setup

[jakhamr81]

I have one of those jobs where I sometimes have to carry a carbine along with my SR-25. It is not an Ideal situation by any means; but for now, one gun simply will not handle all of the jobs a may be required to preform.

It has been a pain in the ass trying to set my gear up for one weapon system or the other and sometimes both. With Esstac's 7.62 mag pouches and some shock cord, I finally found an ideal balance.

I have a triple shingle mag pouch in the center that has shock cord on the top of each pouch. On each side, I have an Esstac double 7.62 pouch with Kydex.

The triple mag pouch in the center will hold 5.56 mags no problem.

The double mag pouches with the Kydex would not hold the 5.56 mags very securely. A very simple solution was to wrap a piece of shock cord around the pouch and add a toggle to each end which allows me to adjust the tension on the Kydex.

With the shock cord drawn tight the mag pouch will hold a 5.56 mag securely even inverted.

I also like that the triple mag pouch will lay flat when the mags are removed' allowing me to get into a low prone shooting position.

Thought I might share this for anyone else that has a similar situation. The Esstac 7.62 mag pouches are available from SKD Tactical .

 

[Graham]

Re: 7.62/ 5.56 Plate Carrier setup

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: jakhamr81</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I have one of those jobs where I sometimes have to carry a carbine along with my SR-25. It is not an Ideal situation by any means; but for now, one gun simply will not handle all of the jobs a may be required to preform.</div></div>That's a lot of jobs, a lot of guns, and a lot of mags.

 

[jakhamr81]

Re: 7.62/ 5.56 Plate Carrier setup

You are correct Graham. Luckily, I normally have the options of leaving whatever I do not need in a vehicle.

We are in the works of trying to convince our agency to get a 7.62 carbine that will be a happy medium when we have to be a long gunner, and possible make entry... Until then, two guns and two ammo load outs it is.

 

[koz]

Re: 7.62/ 5.56 Plate Carrier setup

I got the HSGI Taco which will easily work with 5.56 and 7.62 mags. They're a bit of a pain to put on your kit but once you do, they're pretty nice.

 

[grass_hopper]

Re: 7.62/ 5.56 Plate Carrier setup

I feel your pain! I have to carry an M4 with my M40A5. I have resulted to HSGI TACO pouches. They are about the most versital I have found. You can piggyback them or run them single. They will hold 5.56/7.62 PMAGs or AI 5 or 10rd mags. In a pinch I crammed a PRC-152 into one and it let me go hands free for a bit. Gene(HSGI) also has AI 5rd mag pouches that are AWSOME that I use with his TACO. Just my .02!

 

[jakhamr81]

Re: 7.62/ 5.56 Plate Carrier setup

I looked at the Taco pouches and was going to go that direction, but they were a little out of my budget once I added up the cost of how many I would need. I'm not going to lie, I took the idea of adding the shock cord and toggle to adjust the tension from another pouch I saw somewhere, I think it may have been Tactical Tailor.

 

[krecon1]

Re: 7.62/ 5.56 Plate Carrier setup

I used to run these on both my vests:

http://www.spectergear.com/rcs_ump_2.htm

I could fit (2) M4 mags or (1) SR25 mag. The pouches are also large enough to fit a smoke. Quantico Tactical had a closeout on these recently, not sure if they have any left, but they were more than 1/2 off.

 

[mnglockman]

Re: 7.62/ 5.56 Plate Carrier setup

Check out Marz Tactical Gear. I love there plate carriers and pouches. Very innovative designs and very well made. Also 100% made in the USA. I think you guys will be very happy with there stuff.