Ruger American Predator AICS issue

[Houser52]

I recently bought an American Predator in 6mm Creedmoor with factory AICS magazine setup and I’m having a problem. Maybe somebody can help.

The mag that came with the rifle is a Ruger factory 3 round AICS. 3 rounds go into the mag easily. It also easily inserts into the rifle and locks into place. When chambering a round the bolt will slide over the cartridge and jams however, if I put my hand on the front of the mag and pull it to the rear it chambers every round without any problems. Thinking it was a mag problem I bought a 5 round Magpul mag and it will also jam unless I pull the mag to the rear, then it chambers easily.

When seating either mag, it locks up fine in the rear but it seems to have a lot of up and down movement in the front. Pull the front of the mag down everything's good. Push it up and it jams.

If anyone knows a fix I’d like to know before I call Ruger next week.

To add, I really like the rifle and caliber overall. Lightweight, easy to develop an accurate load and shoots less than MOA at 400 yards.

 

[LoonWulf]

Nose up, butt down, on the mag will allow the bolt to override the back of the cartridge in the magazine.
For once in something like 4 years I don't have a Ruger American to tinker with and see what can be done to fix the issue. Besides seat the mag and give it a tug down before chambering a round.

 

[Demi-human]

Nose up, butt down, on the mag will allow the bolt to override the back of the cartridge in the magazine.

This.

As well, if the magazine sits just a little low, that movement raises the head of the cartridge enough for the bolt to grab it and load it.

What is needed is a new magazine catch that holds them just a little higher. But I don’t know how to do that with a Ruger. AR and 1911s have “oversized” catches one can buy to file down.

Here is an interesting article I found when looking for replacement catch levers.
https://gunmagwarehouse.com/blog/ru...-yard-shots-easy-and-gobbles-up-any-magazine/
All I found for my thirty seconds were extended, tactical ones…

It may be this is something Ruger will have to look at.

 

[Houser52]

Thanks.
Demi- the mag catch got me to thinking. The catch spring is so strong that it will actually push the front of the mag up, even with the extra weight if loaded. I may have to pull the spring out and see if I can “relax” it a little to see if that helps.

 

[d2wing]

If it's new I would send it back to Ruger. They are good about problems like that.

 

[gotboostvr]

What is needed is a new magazine catch that holds them just a little higher. But I don’t know how to do that with a Ruger. AR and 1911s have “oversized” catches one can buy to file down.

It could always be "built up" if a oversized one can't be otherwise sourced.

 

[Houser52]

The mag really can’t be any higher because the bolt would jam against the back of the mag. The back of the mag being too low is not the problem. It’s that the mag catch is strong enough that it pushes the front of the mag up into the mag well too high. This raises the tip of the cartridge too high which drops the base of the cartridge too low and that’s when the bolt rides over top of the cartridge which causes the jam.

I removed the spring this morning and tried to squeeze it enough to take some tension off. That doesn’t work.

What I did try was to attach a small stop on the front of the mag to prevent it from being pushed up to far into the mag well. That mod worked perfectly. The mag now locks up tight and doesn’t move. Every round will chamber every time without a jam.

Im still going to call Ruger and tell them about the problem. I’ll see what they have to say. It could be all that has to be done is to replace the modular ACIS mag well.

 

[Demi-human]

Good solution!

 

[adcoch1]

Call Ruger, but that mod is fine to run. I've had to tweak factory mags in several rifles. For a semi auto it's a bit annoying, but for a bolt gun, eh, I'd just run the modded mags.

 

[InTheSwamp]

Send it to Ruger. They'll fix it.

 

[d2wing]

For a different rifle I had to add to the follower to raise cartridges in the magazine and also to change angles.

 

[Houser52]

I called Ruger today and spoke with a very nice lady. I explained everything to her and she listened without interrupting which was nice.

After explaining my problem she said that I could send it in to have the techs look at it. I suggested that since the magwell was modular that if she sent me one that I would change it out. She said that was fine and took all my info.

After a brief hold she came back and said that I’d have the part in a few days. She didn’t ask for a credit card so I guess it’s covered under warranty. I asked if she wanted the old part back and she told me to just dispose of it. We agreed that if the new magwell didn’t solve the problem that I’d send the rifle back for further inspection.

I’ll have to say again that she was very understanding and nice. It was good to speak to a person that was genuinely concerned and helpful. It’s hard to beat that kind of customer service if/ when you need it.

 

[InTheSwamp]

I called Ruger today and spoke with a very nice lady. I explained everything to her and she listened without interrupting which was nice.

After explaining my problem she said that I could send it in to have the techs look at it. I suggested that since the magwell was modular that if she sent me one that I would change it out. She said that was fine and took all my info.

After a brief hold she came back and said that I’d have the part in a few days. She didn’t ask for a credit card so I guess it’s covered under warranty. I asked if she wanted the old part back and she told me to just dispose of it. We agreed that if the new magwell didn’t solve the problem that I’d send the rifle back for further inspection.

I’ll have to say again that she was very understanding and nice. It was good to speak to a person that was genuinely concerned and helpful. It’s hard to beat that kind of customer service if/ when you need it.

Must have been the same sweet lady I talked to...

Yes, Ruger CS is Top Notch!

 

[Houser52]

Update- I received the replacement RA Predator magwell several weeks ago but never tried it. The reason for that is, after I figured out what the issue was all that was needed was a drop of JB Weld in the right place. That one drop prevents the mag from riding too high into the magwell which caused all of my jamming troubles.
I did this mod to 3 AICS mags. A factory Ruger 3 round, a MTD 3 round and the Magpul 5 round. All work flawlessly now.
Maybe this mod might help someone else in the future.