Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-4957813-20140510034158/@comment-24042984-20140605164431

On the other hand, however, you have to remember that an exposed magazine is a quite a weakness as well. Magazines aren't made to take hits of any kind and if they do, the result is likely lethal to the wielder.

I don't believe that the structural integrity will be a problem, as there are quite a number very durable materials that the connecting components could be made of, all of which are more than capable of withstanding multiple blows. Also, the weapon could be designed so that the magazine (clips ≠ magazines BTW) would also help reinforce the structure of the weapon. That being said, I have to admit that I forgot to take weight into consideration when discussing reload speed.

Despite the longer reload speed, I would think that this would be worth it, given the safety benefits of an internal magazine, so I would not so quickly judge the external option as being the better one.