How One Magazine Changed the Game for Tarkov

When it comes to weapons and how effective they are, people usually associate certain aspects to them to figure out if they are good or not. Luckily, post the recoil changes, most weapons in the game can be effective in taking down bosses and other players alike. But what separates weapons are obviously the attachments on offer, but also the ammo and magazines that are used. Colt M4's and AK's are always going to be relevant in some regard because of how many choices for ammo there are as well as having high-capacity magazines to boot. SMGs having low recoil, high fire rates and again high-capacity mags make them a force to be reckoned with in close quarters (with maybe the exception of maybe the .45 Vector). One caliber that wasn’t spoiled for choice in this department was .308. With only having nine weapons that are not bolt-actions, only one of those has a magazine capacity higher than thirty, which is the FAL. Most other offerings are stuck with a poultry twenty round capacity. Well, they were, until recently. With the addition of the SIG Spear, alongside it came two additional magazines into the game. Another 20-round mag, and a bigger twenty-five round mag. Five rounds doesn’t sound like a huge deal, when we have 50, 75, and 100 round drum mags already in the game. Who cares? I’ll tell you: three of the most powerful, popular and sought-after weapons in the game. So, let’s talk about these weapons and how one magazine changed the game for the .308 caliber in Tarkov.

The AR-10 7.62x51 Lancer 25-Round mag was introduced with the Spear. At first glance, I was confused by why this mag that seemingly was designed specifically for the Spear was also compatible with some of the .308 options in the game. But looking at the full name now, it makes it clear. This isn’t a mag for 6.8 Creedmoor; it’s for .308 and happens to work with both calibers. I’m not a weapons and ammo buff so people who are more educated on the matter will hopefully explain in the comments to enlighten us all, but when I saw that the .308 MDR, SR-25, and the RSASS could all be fitted with this magazine, I had a feeling this was going to be a rather large shakeup. And I believe I was correct in that prediction. All those .308 weapons listed before, only had a mag capacity of twenty rounds. Which is still a lot of lead to be spewing at someone, but when compared to other calibers and how they can have three times that amount, it makes sense why this was the calibers biggest drawback for these specific weapons. Sure, the FAL has 30 and 50-round mags, but for the longest time up until the recoil changes that gun was extremely difficult to make work. And also, the RFB could also use the FAL thirty round mags too, but that gun is limited in the number of attachments it has. But all the DMRs in the game that we know and love, that are either highly modular, or just have incredible stats, all had a hard limit of twenty round mags. That was their biggest downside. You had to make sure your shots were solid otherwise those twenty rounds would dry up quickly. But now, those guns have a new option that is just objectively better if you are trying to min/max them.

Five rounds doesn’t sound like a lot. And you’re probably thinking that I am being maybe a little pedantic about how big of a change this one magazine brings to Tarkov. But if you would, think about it this way. Depending on which .308 you use, that’s an extra five rounds of potentially upwards of seventy penetration coming at you (M993). Especially considering that the .308 MDR can be put into full-auto; making it even scarier than something like the SR or the RSASS. But regardless of which weapon you decide to use, these powerful options only get better once you unlock the twenty-five round mags at Peacekeeper level four. For only having minus three ergonomics and still having a very low chance of misfiring, there is pretty much no downside to using these primarily as your new go-to magazine for .308. Getting them takes a little while, but the Tarkov community is a dedicated bunch so with time, you’ll get there eventually.

It still blows my mind that for years this caliber was handicapped because of low mag capacity. Such a strong and consistent round that has never really gotten the hammer (with the exception of the massive nerf to M62 years ago from fifty-four to forty-four pen). That was felt across the game. But other than that, even to this day people like to talk bad about M80, but 80 damage and forty-one pen is nothing to scoff at. People will say but you have to use M62’s cause they’re better. Seventy-nine damage and forty-four penetration isn’t enough of a change to warrant using them consistently, especially considering how much more expensive they are to M80. Because the difference doesn’t pass the fifty penetration threshold, it’s not a noticeable enough increase to use them over M80, unless you are using something like a bolt-action and want the tracer component to help with your aim. But the fact you can get an extra 5 rounds of this caliber for a few weapons, makes them that much more lethal than they already were.

And the color of mags, not that this matters one bit, is a nice off green allowing for some cool builds with the SR and SASS. Because at the end of a wipe, all we have are aesthetics and fashion. Here are a couple off-meta examples of the SR-25 and RSASS looking good and still being very effective at what they do. Regardless, these mags have made a huge splash across the game. You see anyone this late into Tarkov still playing and running a .308 weapon, chances are they have these mags with them. At least one because five extra rounds go a long way with potentially making the difference between killing someone for juicy loot or going back to your stash empty handed. Thank you very much for taking the time out of your day to watch this video. Let me know in the comments down below your success with these mags, whether or not the extra five rounds have saved your life and be sure to subscribe for more videos about attachments that may seem rather insignificant, but have a massive long-standing effect on the game down the line. I hope to see you in future ones.