i just got my blue press in and it had british mags for hte SA80 (works in ar15 i hear) for 20 bucks.  ive heard these are good mags and am wondering if anyone has had any experience with these magazines

that really you Bob?[;)]

The sa 80 mags work fine, you may find that they are hard to seat on a closed bolt with a full 30 rounds. Either load only 29 rounds or give the top of the mag catch hole a few licks with a small file and you'll be good to go.

LOL SGB.. i luv that movie..Freeway..everytime i see it, the court room scene is my fav..lol.

Apparently there are two crops of Brit mags around. One type is marked on the floor plate "Imperial Defence Industries" (or something like it) and the other, which is parkerized, is unmarked.

Don't know about the marked ones, but I got two of the unmarked units recently and have had some problems.

As noted above, they only hold 29 rounds, unless you pull the followers, and cut the middle leg abour 1/4 inch. One of the two I bought is shorter on the inside than the other, and standard length ammo (Q3131A) barely fits. The bullet noses rub the inner wall. External dimensions are exactly the same, and I still can't figure out how one got shorter on the inside[:D].

The retaining slots "as issued" push the mags in too far and need to be relieved also. Given what we've heard about the Brits having problems w/their rifles, I'm beginning to wonder if the problems aren't more mag related than design flaws in the gun---or maybe they just sent their defective mags over here for us to fool with[:D]

All that being said, I just had my two out yesterday, and they both worked well in all three of the ARs I had out. For $15 apiece at the last show, I'll probably get a couple more at the show this week end.  I am going to take a couple of dummy rounds out tho, to check the internal length of any I pick up.

Just a hint guys try usuing the search function sometime. There are like 6 threads on this same topic.

j3's correct; there is a limited-time search feature for non-contributing members.  That and the fact that some folks don't look beyond the first page or two is why we see so many repeat topics.

Noah

That is a lot of pressure putting a full 30rd magazine into the well with bolt forward. I have not seen any mag that does not resist.

The parkerized have a strong spring and need to be loaded full and set for sometime. They will slip in much better afterward. Either way a good slap at most should seat them when new.  

I've got five of them and I put green followers in them before ever using them. The black followers that came in them were of the anti-tilt design but constructed of a poor quality polymer, that is very soft and flexible. I can't tell you if they work as originally configured but I can tell you that with the green followers they work flawlessly in my gun.I bought them for $18.00 ea + $1.00 for green followers and would buy more at a similar price.YMMV

I can't remember ever having a centerfire rifle(other than AK's) that liked having a full magazine inserted on a closed bolt.Some are worse than others.

I don't think I've ever loaded an AR magazine to full capacity.  When were were trained (c.1967) on our M-16's, we were told to load 18 rounds in our 20rd mags . . . spring weakening over time, etc.  We were never issued 30rd mags, but when I bought some years later, I loaded 28.  I suppose had I extrapolated the 2/20, I would have only stuffed in 27 rounds.  I guess I was never good at cipherin'.

... I hope so.

I just got 2 of the yesterday.
They worked great.

I just bought 100 of 'em,  and ill be putting a couple of 'em up for sale here soon. they are all NIW. I got a really good deal on 'em, mine shoot just fine in my bushies. anyways ill probaly be selling them for about $20 each, but well have to see when i go to sell them

you gonna be able to beat blue press?


throw in some green followers you might have yourself a deal

and no its not the bob your thinking of lol, i got this name from my friends (their idea, i watched him alot, so they got me to use it at laser tag once, and it stuck)