Rocket35 Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 I recently received my UpLuLa and was able to really see what these babies were capable of holding. 21 rounds in all 5 is what I found out. These are totally untuned, touched, molested or any other way worked to try to increase capacity other than the components listed: STI 140mm mag bodies Dawson Precision SNL basepads Bolen Springs and followers They aren't exactly what I would call "reloadable". But they only require a robust insertion to seat fully. I think I will still only run them with 20 rounds for the mags on the belt and use one loaded to 21 rounds for the LAMR mag after a top-off to start the stage with 22 rounds. And they just happen to be 100% reliable as well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kgunz11 Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 Mine work the same way. Ain't it nice to get that without having to pay an arm and a leg for just 1 or 2 more rounds. I tend to stay on the secure side of things and plan for a reload just to be safe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
00bullitt Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 You guys actually ran these in the gun and the follower did not stick? No salt shaker? You guys go buy lottery tickets right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
want2race Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 If they do ever stick, dremel the inside of the indention's. It just needs to be smoothed out at the bottom so the follower will slide up and over the bottom of the "ribs" easier. This is more for SVI tubes, but I've had to do it on a couple STI tubes as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seth Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 Based on some good advice (thanks G-man) I built 1 STI tube'd, SNL pad, Bolen spring/ follower mag. It'll hold 21 all day with a good shove on the last 2. I've got something on the order of 4k rounds through it (its easy to tell exactly, as its my #1 mag and I use in for practice and matches and keep count) with zero issues. I actually have been considering building one or two more just to have, but it runs and runs. Both the full custom and the Edge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
00bullitt Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 Not saying there are no STI's out there that work without tuning when running the Bolens follower......just rare. All the ones I've tried to get to work required tuning involving a 30 ton hydraulic press. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seth Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 How many rounds are you loading? Is it wreaking havoc only topped off? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
00bullitt Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 How many rounds are you loading? Is it wreaking havoc only topped off? Yes....they fail when loaded to 21 and sometimes when loaded to 20. The internal dimensions of the STI mags do not work well with the Bolens follower. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam B Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 I found if you switch to the bolen basepads they load the final rounds a bit easier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seth Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 I wonder where the discrepancy lies -- is there a generational difference in the Bolen Follower or spring? I have 9 STI 140mm tubes and I just tried the follower/ spring and SNL basepad with 20 rounds in each one. None of them choked on 20 when hand racking the slide on dummy rounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
00bullitt Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 Add recoil and see what happens. Mine always work when hand cycling and loading. Recoil changes things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ogiebb Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 (edited) Add recoil and see what happens. Mine always work when hand cycling and loading. Recoil changes things. +1 Edited December 31, 2008 by ogiebb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChuckS Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 (edited) Rocket, Nice, but do the mags pass the gauge? ET give folks some idea who I am talking to... Edited December 31, 2008 by ChuckS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seth Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 (edited) Fair enough. I went back upstairs and grabbed all 9 mags again and pulled the guts out of all of them again. Dropping the bolen stuff in again and adding 21 only works in 3 of the 9. The others MIGHT take one more, but not without breaking my thumbs off. The 3 that did again cycled fine. I tried shaking and beating on the 3 that would take 21 and they still didn't cause any problems I could induce in the house at 11pm. But it does leave me with one interesting note. 30% of my 9 mags are different than the rest. hmmm..... I see the trees through the forest. Quick edit: The 3 that would take 21 were shakers with odd (I think) numbers after 13. The others were 100% silent, but would reasonably only take 20. Edited December 31, 2008 by Sethmark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSMITH Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 The STI 40/140 mags will puke on you if you stuff 21 in them, some of them will puke with 20 rounds in them, OO is telling the gospel truth. It isn't 'if', it is 'when'. They can be made to hold 21 and they can be reliable, but they are going to salt shaker on you if you don't address them. No dremeling involved, you have to move metal physically from where it isn't to where it should be and that is all I will say about that. The STI tubes with Bolen gear are touchy, they have to be just right to be 110% reliable. The SV tube is a bit more tolerant in this regard but not foolproof. The Bolen gear is designed to work with tubes tuned specifically for it, no one anywhere makes any claims that it is viable in untuned tubes. I am not trying to protect any business by saying this, I have as much as I can handle if not more, I am trying to help you guys keep from ruining your match when you try to run gear that will fail you sooner or later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocket35 Posted December 31, 2008 Author Share Posted December 31, 2008 (edited) Time will tell with the gauge, but they all work fine while hand cycing and under recoil. And I don't have and "sticking" or "salt shaker" issues either. Thanks to Bolen for a truely innovative product as the secret seems to be in these components. I don't see why they wouldnt fit the gauge. And if they don't it is just a matter of a little material removal on the rear of the feed lips. Those that require too much material removal should be remedied with Bolen basepads. Edited December 31, 2008 by Rocket35 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seth Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 Howard, As mentioned, I have about 4k rounds through that mag and, as G-manBart can attest, it does run perfectly with 20. Since I only have one built, it became my go to mag and it is most certainly noisy with odd numbers of rounds... but it works flawlessly. Is this a wear item that is eventually gonna puke? Is this dumb luck? I'm bad enough on my own, I don't need gear problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSMITH Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 Seth, 20 is ok in a lot of the STI tubes, some of them will stick with 20 though. If it works keep going with it, if it was going to puke it would have done it in 4K rounds. 21 is a no go, it WILL puke. Jay, it is going to bite you, sooner or later. Less than 10% of the STI 140's will gauge with an SNL if the tube hasn't been shortened a hair. If you haven't done that odds are very high that your mags are not legal for the game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
want2race Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 I only use STI tubes. Bolen internals and bases. Zero failures. 21 rounds, almost 22. Initially I had to smooth some things out on the inside for the follower to pass by the ribs. 20 is good enough, 21 is just a bonus. I really was just after a 20 reloadable. My 170 .40 mag holds 26, Bolen guts and base. Tougher than snot to load rounds though, open gun's not done so I haven't fooled with it yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoMiE Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 All tubes are not created equal. I have some tubes that need no adjustments and some that need to be beaten into submission. You can pay money for 'tuned' mags from the start or you can buy a bunch of followers and basepads and a mag guage and figure it out on your own. If your mag is rattling, it's probably too wide and at some point will fail. Don't ask me how I know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seth Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 This is a great thread. Very informative. I'm NOT about to try 22 in any of them. My thumbs are already broken from loading 360ish rounds over the last hour. I'm glad I have one good one I can count on. Certainly I can see how the follower could catch the rib if it hit it just right. Is the RST tube truly the bees knees? I read the FS article and got the sense that that was the one to have for maximum cap and reliability. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocket35 Posted December 31, 2008 Author Share Posted December 31, 2008 Seth, 20 is ok in a lot of the STI tubes, some of them will stick with 20 though. If it works keep going with it, if it was going to puke it would have done it in 4K rounds. 21 is a no go, it WILL puke.Jay, it is going to bite you, sooner or later. Less than 10% of the STI 140's will gauge with an SNL if the tube hasn't been shortened a hair. If you haven't done that odds are very high that your mags are not legal for the game. Well realistically you don't absolutely need any more than 20 on probably 90% of stages. So I will reserve the ability to load 21 in the mag until the need arises. As for them fitting the gauge, I should be able to scare up somebody at the club match that has one in their range bag to see which ones will need attention. I have planned on getting a gauge of my own anyway someday.... To be honest, the only STI mags that ever failed me were tuned ones.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CenTX Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 Time will tell with the gauge, but they all work fine while hand cycing and under recoil. And I don't have and "sticking" or "salt shaker" issues either. Thanks to Bolen for a truely innovative product as the secret seems to be in these components. I don't see why they wouldnt fit the gauge. And if they don't it is just a matter of a little material removal on the rear of the feed lips. Those that require too much material removal should be remedied with Bolen basepads. I have four STI mags that hold a reloadable 20 rounds with Grams guts and basepads. With Bolen guts and basepads I still get a legal 20. With Dawson SNL pads they are all illegal on the USPSA gauge and would require the removal of a lot of metal on the rear of the mag lips. Your results may be different. The Dawson SNL are just what the name says, "Sometimes Not Legal". Until you gauge you don't know. Depending on your mags it may be just a little material removal or it may be a lot. There is a lot of variation in mag lengths and other demensions, you may be lucky and things worked out just right. On the other hand you may have illegal mags. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocket35 Posted December 31, 2008 Author Share Posted December 31, 2008 Yup I know...dealt with SNLs and STI mags before. In my past experience, about 1 out of the three needed adjustment and was minor enough to be done with a flat file. And if there are any that need more than that the Bolen basepad should take care of it. Not that I am against mag tuning, just not convinced it is necessary with the mags I have in hand. Not to mention the amount of time that it seems to take. I know mine work and soon to be verified and legalized if need be. I surely didn't mean for this thread to get to this point. But all I know is that they are holding 21 rounds and work 100% right now. And I think that is pretty cool for stock components, since so many say it can't be done or won't accept it's a possibility. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Keen Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 Last FEW ???? I've heard of having trouble getting maybe the last ONE in your mags. But if you're having that much trouble Jay, maybe cramming them in the mag isn't really the best idea. I wouldnt trust mags that I had to JAM the last few rounds in to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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