AR-15 magazines

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EHCRain10

EHCRain10

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How can i tell if a magazine is bag?

The magazine in question is a 30 rounder from Adventure Line.
It does fit into the mag well but requires some pressure and doesnt drop free even when loaded

doesnt seem thicker than the other magazine that I have for the gun (bushmaster with a bushmaster 10 round magazine)

also can i buy new floor plates?
 
Dont know if it feeds or not, just got the gun a few days ago and havent gotten a chance to fire it
 
it acts like it is just too wide or long to fit into the mag well

i think your right just trash it and buy a few dozen to replace it
would saving the green follower and spring be worthwhile?
 
I have had a lot of good luck with the new line of mags from Brownells.
 
I highly recommend USGI mags with MagPul followers. It's what I use when I'm not using L5 mags. You could also try Lancer L5s if you want something different and new.

I would toss out the problem mag you have. It's probably not worth it to fix, as it's an annoyance on the range and a liability in a life-depends-on situation.
 
Personally, I wouldnt just toss it in the trash until I had at least taken it to the range to see if it works or not. If it does, then it should work fine as a dedicated range mag, at least.If it doesnt work right, then I'd take the follower and spring and dump it. I wouldnt just throw out a $15 magazine because it wont just fall out when I hit the release, if it still worked fine otherwise. Just me though, I'm stingy, and tossing a functional magazine in the trash, is throwing $15 in the trash, since it has to be replaced.

Is there something important about it not just falling out when you hit the release, or going in a little tight I'm not seeing? I can see the point for competion, combat, or SHTF/SD/HD type situations or training, as it slows the reload, but for general range shooting, where reload speed means nothing, it shouldnt be a real problem, for me at least.

So, feel free to stick it in an envelope and send it to me, I'm more than happy to have it, as I'm relatively poor, and horrifically frugal :D
 
Well considering the OP said it was a new rifle, perhaps the mag/magwell could use some wearing in. On the other hand, since USGI mags are cheap enough, you could just replace the problem mag with a new one and be done with it.
 
I'd wrap some duct tape around the bottom to designate it as a range-only mag.

I'd keep it, if it works or not. Having a bad magazine in the bunch, and using it only at the range, will help with clearance drills. I have one or two USA mags for that purpose.

edit: Come to think of it, I had the same problem with some straight 20 round preban Colt mags, the "bump" under the mag catch hole was a little too big, so I filed them down a little and they worked fine. I cant remember if the bump was actually too big or if they just had a burr on them.
 
I buy mine through the DPMS website. They come with the green followers and black teflon coating, and they're all made by the same company that made the ones that came with my AR-15, which work beautifully.
 
I have had a problem with some USGI mags fitting tight in my DPMS recievers. Turns out that the back rib of the mag was dragging on the edge of the trigger guard that protrudes into the mag well. I dremmeled the snow trigger guard thingy off a bit and the mags function fine.
 
Most of the time I am able to distinguish my magazines from "bags" - perhaps glasses would help you in your effort.
 
I have heard of certain gun show vendors buying up trashed US Military magazines as scrap and pulling all the useable floorplates they can get ahold of.
They install these floorplates on known junk commercial magazines and advertise them as 'genuine USGI.'

You may have gotten one of these or it may just be a mil-spec magazine that was dropped at sometime and had the feed lips spread apart.

In any event, if it isn't working properly now, it isn't going to suddenly get better and start.

Pitch the magazine and get a bunch of new manufactured magazines while they are still in good supply.
 
I had this problem with some older Adventure Line mags. I believe some out of spec ones hit the civilian market. I couldn't get them to work and a no tilt follower would not insert in them. I trashed them.
 
Adventure Line was a government contractor in the 1970's and maybe into the 1980's. Most of my mags are Adventure Line and fit fine in Colt receivers. The aftermarket receivers have more variance in dimensions, and "creative" changes like the mag well radius issue with Bushmaster receivers. The Bushmaster mag well radius thing only affected various kinds of plastic mags that had a "stop" ridge molded into them to limit how far they could be slammed into the receiver, to help protect the mag catch hole from battering.

All of my mags have the original black followers and work just fine. The green anti-tilt followers were designed for feed issues on full auto fire. They're nice, but not at all necessary for 99.9% of AR shooters.

I have one old 20 round mag that was beat to death in boot camp. The mag catch notch was enlarged from slamming the mag into the receiver and slamming the rifle into the ground. The floor plate and feed lips were battered, too. A little counter-battering of my own salvaged it enough to be a range mag.

A number of folks are making a good living catering to the AR magazine paranoia/tacticool market. Makes me wish I had me a plastic injection molding machine and a drum of green recycled plastic scrap.

:)
 
A number of folks are making a good living catering to the AR magazine paranoia/tacticool market. Makes me wish I had me a plastic injection molding machine and a drum of green recycled plastic scrap.
Click to expand...

The Magpul PMAGS are not merely a cure for "paranoia". They are very well designed magazines that are much tougher than the GI aluminum mags and solve one of the well known weaknesses of the AR mag design...the problematic feed lips. The PMAG also has a constant internal curve for smooth feeding of the rounds.

And at $15, you can't go wrong...it's a great deal for a mag...stock up today!

I use the 20 and 30 round PMAGS almost exclusivly...I do keep some GI aluminum mags in stock just in case, because they are tried and true...
 
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