AR Sponsor
Posted: 5/11/2006 4:00:19 AM EDT
|
I recently tested CProducts curved 20 round magazines after reading glowing reports. While using them I had four or five distinct, repeated jams where THE ROUND WOULD JAM WITH THE BULLET TIP STUCK AGAINST THE FRONT WALL OF THE MAGAZINE BOX ITSELF. Never left the magazine or even made contact with the feed ramps. The weapon ran 100% during the range session BEFORE and AFTER trying the CProducts magazines, leading me to feel the magazines were faulty. The nature of the jams, in one case involving jamming the bullet completely back inside the casing, implied a serious KABOOM potential. I returned the magazines after only trying 6 of 12. Two of the 6 tested gave me identical malfs, at least twice with each magazine. At least four or five times, the 5th round from a full 20 jammed it's tip into the front edge of the magazine box. Round count on the upper is close to 500 rounds, with a 100% troublefree record EXCEPT for the jams when using CProducts curved 20 rd. magazines. And the maker retested the magazines I returned, and finds they run "Flawlessly" in multiple weapons. So how do I "check my weapon for proper functioning" when it runs 100% using USGI 20's, D&H 30's, and all the other magazines I have on hand?! My post in the magazine section went over 500 reads, and no effective suggestions were proposed. How can a round in the middle of a magazine fail to lift high enough to clear the front edge of the magazine box, AND BE WEAPON RELATED? Paladin |
| The fact that it occured repeatedly on the fifth round leads me to suspect that the follower was binding at that particular point in the mag body. Could be bad mag dimensions or a bur inside the mag body. So, the mags might have needed to break in a little, which they might have done while you were firing, and then ran fine for the manufacturer. Regardless, if a mag fails in a rifle that runs fine with a variety of other mags, I would fault the mag. |
| Did you take the mags apart and clean and lube? You may try that and while you have it open you should check for burrs or bad welds along the ribs where the two halfs are connected. I would say not likely weapon related. Cleaning and lubing mags is part of maintenance I think alot of people forget. I did... |
|
Since I am limited for the time I have, I will keep this short, and not go into length writing a novel to go over all the points. Civilian rifles are produced with the parts/ dimensions being tighter fitting/spec’d than a standard M-16 rifles. This promotes accuracy, but at the cost of reliability. Take a looser fitting Colt/FN M-16 rifle, and just about every Civilian questionable mag will run in the rifle (the cheap clone mags are still crap so they don’t count). Drop the same mag into a Civilian rifle (non-Colt/FN or Colt/FN spec parts), and any minor flaws in the mag (such as burs/sharp edges on the bottom of the feed lips, or rough inside walls that the mag follower has to track) will translate into problems with the civilian rifle feeding from such an accepted military spec mag. Since the mag bodies are actual contracted/have a Mil-spec number (at least the 30 rounders), the mags can be said to be 100 functional when new in the military rifles. It’s the carry over to the civilian market that the problem arises. So in this sense, it’s the rifle that is at fault since the mag will run in it’s military intended market. Simple put, if you buy the mags for a Civilian rifle, take the time to pull the mags apart, clean up any production edges burs, and give the mag a good cleaning and CLP lube to allow it to break in (follower to self polish out the insides of the mag bodies). Since most of the mags can be had for under $15 each, a few minutes per mag is not the end of the world, and one step closer to better understanding the rifle/parts as a whole. |
|
As mentioned, perhaps the initial test firings removed burrs or polished away flashing allowing proper functioning in later uses with different weapons. The nature of the jams was so specific and repeatable that is is hard to imagine it clearing up. I shoot reloads at times, and the thought of repeating the collapsed round that occurred and dropping the hammer is NOT something I will gamble on, hence the magazines were returned. Even if they work in 99.99% of AR's, this weapon did not seem to like them. The bright side is I got in LOTS of extra trigger time proving to myself the darn thing runs 100% with every brand of magazine on hand. My iron sights and EOTech zero's at 100 yards are both well refined, and many paper plates gave their lives as targets. Adventure Line, Colt, Thermold, Labelle, and three flavors of D&H 30's worked FLAWLESSLY today! I've had USGI magazines in the past for M14's which would work 100% in one weapon and choke the next, and this issue may be just as hard to pin down the how and why of. Life's too short, I was just hoping someone would say..."change the widget and fix the problem". Thx. Paladin |
|
When I changed out some followers and springs on some of my mags, I took a wooden ruler and pushed the follower all the way to the bottom of the mag 20-25 times. This simulates loading and unloading cycles. It helps to smooth out any rough spots in the sides of the follower, and you can detect any binding quite easily. I then test fire each mag from full capacity a few times to make sure they are reliable. So far they all have been. |
AR Sponsor