Why Doesn't Anybody Make Their Own Magazines?

[csspecs]

I've made magazines for myself. I showed a few around and people started asking for me to make more. Pretty soon I was running a stamping/welding shop making hundreds of magazines.

I can give a little input on process but I may have a day or so between replies.

You can make almost any magazine with the following tools:
Metal cutting saw or shear
Caliber
Dremel tool
Belt sander
Band file
Spot welder/Mig welder (or other welding means)
Assorted files punches and layout tools.

You can use soft steel however they are more fragile than harder steels like 1040 and 1050.

I used to make fabricated magazines which are assembled from folded pieces using a series of 90 degree angles.

This is a way to do a larger curved magazine. Since you cannot fold a curved 90 degree angle easily, we made this out of strips. Inside other layers are added to hold the rounds in the center and generate the correct sizes.
The magazine shown is an 8 round for a Saiga 12 shotgun. It did function but was only used to gather data for a stamped design.





This is what the stamped one looks like

 

[LRShooting]

I've made magazines for myself. I showed a few around and people started asking for me to make more. Pretty soon I was running a stamping/welding shop making hundreds of magazines.

I can give a little input on process but I may have a day or so between replies.

You can make almost any magazine with the following tools:
Metal cutting saw or shear
Caliber
Dremel tool
Belt sander
Band file
Spot welder/Mig welder (or other welding means)
Assorted files punches and layout tools.

You can use soft steel however they are more fragile than harder steels like 1040 and 1050.

I used to make fabricated magazines which are assembled from folded pieces using a series of 90 degree angles.

This is a way to do a larger curved magazine. Since you cannot fold a curved 90 degree angle easily, we made this out of strips. Inside other layers are added to hold the rounds in the center and generate the correct sizes.
The magazine shown is an 8 round for a Saiga 12 shotgun. It did function but was only used to gather data for a stamped design.





This is what the stamped one looks like

Thats pretty awesome...Thats more my style of doing things.

 

[csspecs]

Doing the multiple layer method is simple for small production.
It can look a lot cleaner with a little sanding and paint.

If you have the tools on hand it is a fun project.

One thing that helps a lot is to draw the design out in a basic cad program that will print to scale. Then you can print the parts out and use spray adhesive to attach to the metal.

Stamped magazines are fairly complicated, they need a pair of matching plates to form each side. Normal force is about 40+ tons.

Another way to make your own custom magazine out of plastic is to get a piece of weldable plastic sheeting and use a plastic welder (soldering iron with a special end) to put the pieces together.. Again using a scale drawing is very useful. Small metal inserts can help reinforce the corners.

It is important to make sure that full speed feeding is not damaging the rounds, or pushing them into the cases.

 

[CaliCoastie]

Ha I get the tinkering. I have a piece of claro walnut I working into a stock for a lever action, so I get it. Could I buy chapter than my time? I'm sure bit my dad cut the wood, and I know the guy I bought the lever action from, he's on the losing end of cancer so I'm hoping to finish in time for him to see the finished product.

 

[LRShooting]

What do you think about making a channel in solid metal with a punch shaped into the same shape and punching out the groves, etc? It may be less time efficient then just building it by welding the shapes together, but it more than one was to be made, it might be easier if build properly. Its hard to explain, but I'm thinking of basically making a narrow anvil with a groove in it. Then, using a punch like device that would be the width of the groove minus the metal thickness, "stamp" out the design with a BFH. Now, a design line would have to be made to follow as a template so that tolerances were correct, but it is just a theory. I have done similar things for conforming sheet metal into what I want for small hobby stuff.

 

[LRShooting]

Ha I get the tinkering. I have a piece of claro walnut I working into a stock for a lever action, so I get it. Could I buy chapter than my time? I'm sure bit my dad cut the wood, and I know the guy I bought the lever action from, he's on the losing end of cancer so I'm hoping to finish in time for him to see the finished product.

If he was really into guns, thatd be an awesome thing for him to see. Itd give him something to be positive about. I hate cancer...seems like somebody around here always has it.

 

[targetshooter22]

Great thread, interesting topic. I especially like the DIY example, although obviously that person has more than a little skill and expertise in metal part fabrication.

I've wondered the same thing. Back around 1999-2002, a buddy and me theorized that a lot of AR and AK mags were made on the sly in small metal bending shops because the high-caps were worth more back then due to the ban.

 

[LRShooting]

Great thread, interesting topic. I especially like the DIY example, although obviously that person has more than a little skill and expertise in metal part fabrication.

I've wondered the same thing. Back around 1999-2002, a buddy and me theorized that a lot of AR and AK mags were made on the sly in small metal bending shops because the high-caps were worth more back then due to the ban.

But it proves anybody who says it can't be done wrong...hahahaha.

 

[csspecs]

What do you think about making a channel in solid metal with a punch shaped into the same shape and punching out the groves, etc? It may be less time efficient then just building it by welding the shapes together, but it more than one was to be made, it might be easier if build properly. Its hard to explain, but I'm thinking of basically making a narrow anvil with a groove in it. Then, using a punch like device that would be the width of the groove minus the metal thickness, "stamp" out the design with a BFH. Now, a design line would have to be made to follow as a template so that tolerances were correct, but it is just a theory. I have done similar things for conforming sheet metal into what I want for small hobby stuff.

That is what a basic stamp plate looks like. However a hammer will cause the metal to cut without something holding the plates in perfect alignment. Its actually easier to cut the metal than to stretch it, so the plates will shift toward the path of least resistant.. If the grooves are round or very blunt it could be done with less alignment.
We use a large set of die shoes to hold the alignment when doing stamped magazines.

The fabricated magazine I showed was a 5 hour project using a metal cutting bandsaw and a spot welder with low profile front offset tongs.

An AR-15 30 round magazine requires a 25-30 ton press for blanking and a 70+ ton press for forming. Then a couple welders to zap them together.
You could by the gear to make a thousand a week for around $50K rebuilt.
The plates will run between $10K and $75K depending on degree of complication and design service.

So its possible that someone made them illegally during the 94' to 04' ban but that is a pretty big investment, requiring several thousand mags to pay it off.. Not the most subtle thing to do.

 

[LRShooting]

That is what a basic stamp plate looks like. However a hammer will cause the metal to cut without something holding the plates in perfect alignment. Its actually easier to cut the metal than to stretch it, so the plates will shift toward the path of least resistant.. If the grooves are round or very blunt it could be done with less alignment.
We use a large set of die shoes to hold the alignment when doing stamped magazines.

The fabricated magazine I showed was a 5 hour project using a metal cutting bandsaw and a spot welder with low profile front offset tongs.

An AR-15 30 round magazine requires a 25-30 ton press for blanking and a 70+ ton press for forming. Then a couple welders to zap them together.
You could by the gear to make a thousand a week for around $50K rebuilt.
The plates will run between $10K and $75K depending on degree of complication and design service.

So its possible that someone made them illegally during the 94' to 04' ban but that is a pretty big investment, requiring several thousand mags to pay it off.. Not the most subtle thing to do.

I definitely not looking into making them commercially, just messing around try to be a cheapo lol. I suppose I could try, but Ill get AICS mags just to have ones that work for sure. Anyways, thanks for the info.

 

[goon]

I know someone who made a couple 10 round AR magazines. He lived in kind of a remote area and the 30 rounders he had were stolen from his truck. He has skills and had access to some "junk" to scrounge some sheet metal from, but at the time he didn't have a lot of cash. So he figured out a way to make a working magazine and made a couple.

For the rest of us, it would be easier to just order a couple 30 rounders at $9 each, but for this guy, making a couple was a better choice.

 

[natman]

But it proves anybody who says it can't be done wrong...hahahaha.

Nobody said it couldn't be done. As has been shown it can be done *IF* you have:

Metal cutting saw or shear
Caliber
Dremel tool
Belt sander
Band file
Spot welder/Mig welder (or other welding means)
Assorted files punches and layout tools.

a CAD computer and the skills to use them properly.

It just can't be done on an economical basis once you factor in the cost of the tooling and your time to crank out each one by hand.

Heck, a lot of the factories farm out their magazine production.

 

[LRShooting]

Nobody said it couldn't be done. As has been shown it can be done *IF* you have:



a CAD computer and the skills to use them properly.

It just can't be done on an economical basis once you factor in the cost of the tooling and your time to crank out each one by hand.

Heck, a lot of the factories farm out their magazine production.

True, unless its tinkering time. It would be murder to try and make these commercially by hand. I have all those tools except the belt sander which could be substituted for by turning a a hand held belt sander upside down and fastening it down to a bench (been there, done that). It doesn't work as well, but it does work lol. As far as CAD, I have a program, and I have quite a bit of experience using it along with a couple classes in CAD and some upper math classes. I wouldn't mind taking trig and calc, but my schedule is already full.