PistolPete Posted September 1, 2006 Share Posted September 1, 2006 Well I'm going to be shooting my first 3 gun match next weekend and I was doing some practice with the rifle today. I have a JP AR15 that will be used in tactical division. When practicing my reloads today I was unable to seat my mags in the gun if there was still a round in the chamber. The only way I could get the mag catch to catch the mag was if the bolt was locked back. I don't want to have to shoot to slidelock everytime before reloading. Is this common with ARs? I have several different mags and I had the same problem with each. If I tried inserting the mag in slowly and pressing upwards on the mag it would click and hold the mag but it wasn't inserted completely. This will make for very slow reloads during my match. When I got home I took each mag and put the bolt forward and inserted empty mags and they all seated perfectly. When I was practicing I tried taking rounds out of the mag thinking maybe because the mag was full it was pressing the mag back out. This didn't solve my problem. Any help is greatly appreciated. Could it be a matter of filing the opening in the mag more? Thanks in advance, Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colt1991 Posted September 1, 2006 Share Posted September 1, 2006 Drop the number of rounds in your reload mag by one or two. and that should make them easier to set. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Posted September 1, 2006 Share Posted September 1, 2006 Search "ar mag catch" and you will come up with gems like these: http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?...mp;hl=mag+catch http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?...mp;hl=mag+catch http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?...mp;hl=mag+catch http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?...mp;hl=mag+catch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbrowndog Posted September 1, 2006 Share Posted September 1, 2006 I had the same problem, only when i used GI or metal mags. they would go in super slick if they were plastic mags. I could not get it to work with metal mags, so i now always reload to an orlite or thermold mag. I only use metal mags when i can start with them and insure that they are seated. You might try some Orlite or thermold mags, i know you shouldn't have to but it was the simplest fix for me. I was also loading my mags down by 2 rounds, and it didn't seem to help. Trapr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Religious Shooter Posted September 1, 2006 Share Posted September 1, 2006 +1 to the info above. I think it's very common to have problems seating fully loaded 30's with a closed bolt. I'd advise that you get a 40 rounder and/or a Beta Mag. Avoid the problem altogether. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmd Posted September 1, 2006 Share Posted September 1, 2006 Pete, I think I have a couple new plastic Orlite 30rnd mags if you want to give those a try - I prefer the GI mags. As suggested above I'd try loading with 29 (or 19) in the mag. I'd advise that you get a 40 rounder and/or a Beta Mag. Avoid the problem altogether. So who makes/sells a reliable 40 rounder? and can I/we get one before next weekend? PMD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Sierpina Posted September 1, 2006 Share Posted September 1, 2006 Paul, Difficult to find a dealer to send to our state, I've tried Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmd Posted September 1, 2006 Share Posted September 1, 2006 (edited) Paul, Difficult to find a dealer to send to our state, I've tried But it's good to have friends in NH ... Edited September 1, 2006 by pmd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Sierpina Posted September 1, 2006 Share Posted September 1, 2006 Paul, Difficult to find a dealer to send to our state, I've tried But it's good to have friends in NH ... True! Bushmaster has them on their site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cking Posted September 1, 2006 Share Posted September 1, 2006 The brownell mags will seat with 30 in them without trouble. Check all your mags with bolt closed and 30 rounds and see if the seat if not drop the round count by one and try again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PistolPete Posted September 1, 2006 Author Share Posted September 1, 2006 I took the mag catch out of my rifle and checked it in the mags. It is so tight so I'm thinking of using a stone and removing a tiny bit of material from the mag catch as suggested in one of the posts. I would think this would resolve my problem. I don't want to have to shoot the gun dry everytime I need to reload. Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Religious Shooter Posted September 1, 2006 Share Posted September 1, 2006 So who makes/sells a reliable 40 rounder? and can I/we get one before next weekend? Well you need to buy a couple and see if they run. The 40's that I use (some generic no name steel mags) that work for me didn't work too well with another shooter that got it from the same source. I don't know if you guys in MA can refurb your old magazines or if you can even have a 40 rounder. If you can have them in MA, call up Bushmaster, CDNN and/or DPMS and ask them if they can sell you the "tube" only. Buy a new ISMI 40 round spring and use the other parts from your other magazines. Keep the old tube as proof of the refurb job. Some guys even go as far as crushing the old tube and keeping it. Light a fire on it and you may get it before next weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wsimpso1 Posted September 1, 2006 Share Posted September 1, 2006 GI pattern 30 round mags with 30 in them will not seat easily on a closed bolt. Load to refusal (30 rounds) and then pull two rounds, and they work great. GI 20's work fine with 20 in them. Orlites and some others do actually reload well when full. But not the GI 30. I use the push-pull reload that is taught in tactical classes. You should be able to push the magazine home and have it latch, and then tug to see that it is indeed latched. Better to find out at the reload than later. It has another advantage - thumping the base of the mag to seat it also jams the feed lips against the reciever, with bad things being precipitated: bent feed lips and cracked magazines are the most obvious. Billski Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Posted September 1, 2006 Share Posted September 1, 2006 Pete, take the mag catch out and run the top side back and forth on a mill file until you take a couple thousandths off. This is the best way to do it. The mags need to seat with an easy "Snick" latch into place under a closed bolt and still have a small amount of give left if you push up. Mill the top of the mag catch until this clearance is right. Then try them with 30 rounds under a closed bolt, I'll bet they fit ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Topmaul Posted September 4, 2006 Share Posted September 4, 2006 Pistol Pete, I'm new here but have had the same problem, which magazines are you using now, a long time ago I went out and bought cheap black steel magazines and had nothing but trouble from them. I recommend buying hight quality or G.I. Mags, I use the Bushmaster Mags in my AR exclusivly now. Hope that helped. Nothing is more embarrising that doing a combat reload and having the magazine fall out, it has happened to me. Good luck and let us know how you make out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PistolPete Posted September 4, 2006 Author Share Posted September 4, 2006 I'm going to take the mag release out tomorrow and file a bit off of it. I'll test the rifle at the range on Tuesday and hopefully all will be good. I will let everyone know. Thanks for all your help. Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gotm4 Posted September 13, 2006 Share Posted September 13, 2006 HK 30 round mags seat easily fully loaded with the bolt forward. They are pricey though, usually $45-50 a piece. I have 7 for training and 3 gun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Topmaul Posted September 13, 2006 Share Posted September 13, 2006 Pistol Pete, It's your first match with an AR, I would suggest that you get mag couplers, and do bolt lock reloads until you get used to the gun, combat reloads are not hard but have a potial for a screw up, that said first time just get used to the gun. Try to shoot clean and you'll be all over those reloads in a few matches. I would not modify the gun before being thourly formilure with it. Here are the steps I suggest, first get good quality mags, I like Bushmaster AR mags myself, down load them by a few rounds, get a few sets of magazine couplers, and at least for awhile concentrate on making smooth bolt lock reloads once you have them down start trying the tricky stuff. Let me give an example, putting an 8 round Saiga 12 mag in is not easy and takes a lot of practice, I have screwed up so many of them I hold the bolt back when I reload because it's almost as fast and it's a sure thing. Hope that helped this advice is worth what you paid for it. One more thing I would not go filing on my gun a few days before a match and I do a lot of work to mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PistolPete Posted September 14, 2006 Author Share Posted September 14, 2006 I actually did file the mag release down the night before the match believe it or not. I took my time and did a tiny bit of fileing and put it back together and tried seating a full mag. I did it little by little until it all fit perfectly. I went to the match and the gun ran perfectly and all the mags seated perfectly. So, no problems at all... thanks for all the advice and for helping me not look like a jackass at my first 3 gun match. Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Topmaul Posted September 14, 2006 Share Posted September 14, 2006 Glad to hear things went great I hope you enjoyed the match. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Posted September 15, 2006 Share Posted September 15, 2006 Mag Catch, Yep! That's the ticket. Glad to hear that you got it fixed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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