Banana magazines

[kcdusk]

Whats the logic behind the long, curved, banana magazines? Is it;
1. More ammunition per mag?
2. Same amount of ammunition but a larger caliber?
3. Something else entirely?

[Sanjuro]

It depends on the shape of the ammunition, and the way it is stacked inside; go back to WW2 and British troops used a rimmed .303" cartridge- hence the SMLE and its replacements have the distinctive slope-fronted magazine for just 10 rounds, and the Bren has a very curved magazine- whereas in post war use, as the LMG in 7.62mm (rimless) it has a much straighter magazine.
In general most rifle cartridges are larger at the rear than the front, so the magazine shape is a compromise between curved (least excess space, so less material used and lighter) and straight (easier to manufacture and store, simpler to fit into a variety of rifles).
Pistol ammo tends to be straight-sided, so pistols and SMGs generally have straight magazines without any compromise in design.

[WallShadow]

Would the factor of a curved magazine allowing the shooter to get closer to the ground when prone be one of the considerations?

[Targan]

I saw the title of this thread and thought "I'm totally in favour of banana mags". Mainly because without them you have to manually feed each banana individually into the chamber. Much less fun.

[weswood]

Originally Posted by Targan

I saw the title of this thread and thought "I'm totally in favour of banana mags". Mainly because without them you have to manually feed each banana individually into the chamber. Much less fun.

I thought it was some kind of literary publication

[Sanjuro]

Would the factor of a curved magazine allowing the shooter to get closer to the ground when prone be one of the considerations?

I don't think so- as much as the front of the magazine rises, the rear has to be lower. The more pronounced the curve, the more it implies a conical shape to the ammunition, which makes it harder to feed properly. An extreme example of the curved magazine is the French Chauchat, sometimes called the worst machine gun ever made.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chauchat
Those weapons where magazine positioning was designed to allow the user to get closer to the ground either put them on top, or on the side (IIRC this was actually a design requirement of the Sterling L2, based on combat experience with the Sten).

[pmulcahy11b]

Originally Posted by kcdusk

Whats the logic behind the long, curved, banana magazines?

They're high in potassium.

[HorseSoldier]

Magazine form follows cartridge form -- the AK-47 has a very curved magazine because the 7.62x39 has a lot of taper to it. 7.62x51 and 5.56x45 have significantly less, and so the straighter mags (if you look at 5.56mm 30 rounders, they're really like two 20 round mags stuck together, rather than the continuous curve required by 7.62x39). The AK-74 has less curve as well, though still more than 5.56x45 STANAG mags.