Is it normal to fine adjust magazines?

I really like my 9MM AR-15 but sometimes have trouble with it cycling the next round. Seems like the next round gets slammed into the breach face instead of going into the firing chamber. I thought at one time it was my reloads but at the gun range yesterday was shooting new ammo although I'll admit the cheap Winchester ammo that Walmart sells. I still had the problem but appeared to be in the magazines. I have a 15 shot Glock and 30 shot Glock and another 30 shot no name magazine I bought at gun show in Florida. Right away I figured the problem was the gun show magazine. But it turns out it is the 30 shot Glock, the 15 shot Glock works perfect. Took some precision measurements in the shop and the 9mm round rides lower in the 30 shot Glocks magazine. Even a bench test proved this magazine would not feed correctly. I figure no way to move the latch but after some quick measurements found where the bullet grip area was held .030" smaller than the other magazines thus holding the bullet farther down in the magazine..

I broke out my little die grinder and hand ground the metallic bullet gripper on the magazine, about .015 on each side. I loaded a couple of bullets to the magazine and could plainly see the bullets were higher and closer to the center of the breach. Cycling by hand the magazine feeds perfect. I'll know for sure at the gun range Saturday.

Is it normal to tweak a magazine like that?

I did after some bin sale mags jammed every round. I don'/wouldn't use them for self defense but they run fine at the range.

Jim, you ground about .015" with a hand grinder?

My experience with grinding on magazines has, more often than not, resulted in less than perfect performance. Sometimes you get to watch the entire contents of the the magazine exit topside in kind of a cartridge volcano. It just kinda goes zip! and there's ammo all over the place. But, if it fed fine by hand then it may be alright.

Oh, and I always called those "bullet gripper" thingys "Feed Rails", but I've been wrong before.

Alan

And I almost forgot. On most stamped metal mags, the feed rails can be adjusted by applying pressure to the metal to increase or decrease the width of the opening (bending, carefully).

Alan

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Originally Posted by Alan R McDaniel Jr

"bullet gripper" thingys "Feed Rails", but I've been wrong before.

Alan

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Feed rails sounds like a good description. I knew grinding on the "feed rails" could very well ruin the magazine but it was of limited use the way it was and it was damaging ammo. I considered moving the latch a tad but with plastic????? Find out Saturday at the range. The 15 round magazine has always worked perfectly. I might just buy more of those. At least I know what to look for. These magazines must work okay in a Glock pistol

Test fired the modified magazine and it worked perfectly along with the magazine purchased at the gun show.

Excellent. I wasn't worried about damaging the faulty mags either. They wouldn't feed so what good were they.

If it ain't broke don't fix it.

But if it does not work anyway you can't really mess it up.

Tweeking feed rails at the front is usually easy but when they are welded up the back and have no flex the only thing you can do is grind them like Jim pointed out.

BTW Jim, do .300BO rounds give you any problems from the standard AR magazines? I have been fighting the .300BO temptation for a couple of months and I am trying to find a reason not to take the plunge.

That's what I need, one more caliber!

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Originally Posted by kyratshooter

BTW Jim, do .300BO rounds give you any problems from the standard AR magazines? I have been fighting the .300BO temptation for a couple of months and I am trying to find a reason not to take the plunge.

That's what I need, one more caliber!

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The 300 blackout rounds work just fine in the 223 AR magazines. The plastic magazines seem to work the best. I have had some miss feeds while hog hunting though where it just didn't cycle the next round. I use only 20 round magazines and never fill them to the max while hunting. Usually 10 or 12 rounds per magazine. I lost a hog one night because of a jam, the reason I started carrying my Springfield 45 ACP on my shoulder as a backup. The 45 is way better for "lights out" on a downed hog than that little Ruger 380. The 380 is my going out to dinner weapon while in Florida.

We did kill a couple of hogs with my 223 last February. A buddy Ken used it set up with a night vision scope. The 300BO has the thermo imaging scope. My most memorable hog hunt :dodge:

The 300 blackout isn't just another caliber, it is a must have caliber!!! :munchies: