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Posted: 7/9/2015 12:17:48 AM EDT
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Have a PSA blem lower I got and have been messing with today. I am noticing that the magazines are not dropping free.
I have tried an elander magazine loaded to 20/30 round capacity it is stiff to insert and remove. I backed out the mag catch 1 turn and I then tried another elander magazine empty and it drops free most of the time. I load 3-4 rounds in this magazine and it does not drop free. I've inserted either magazine about 50 times and can see some scratches in the relatively thick coating of it. Trying to decide if I need to sand the coating off the portion of the magazine that goes in the mag well, or if the lower is the problem some how? |
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I have a noveske lower that does the same thing. Buddy has another noveske lower that does it as well.
I sanded a couple of mags to work, but it's not worth the hassle in my opinion. I just called it quits with that particular brand. It's the Gen 1s for what it's worth. Just amazed at how my $40 anderson lower works better than my $160+ ones As far as sanding the interior of the magwell, I chose not to with the risk of exposing bare aluminum |
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Quoted:
tried another elander magazine empty and it drops free most of the time. I load 3-4 rounds in this magazine and it does not drop free. this tells you that the magazine body is not holding its original shape when loaded. try a surplus USGI magazine or a magpul/lancer magazine as these hold their shape better when loaded.. |
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IIRC there were some big problems with the E-Lander mags. Do you have any other mags to try? Yeah that is what I have been reading. These are supposed to be the brand newest variants and not have all those problems. Will try other mags and see what happens. |
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None of the E-Lander mags that I had would drop free from a RRA or PSA lower. GI and Magpul (Gen 2/3) would all drop free from both lowers. Are these gen 3 that you've tried? So far my current plan of action is to try other mags and see what happens. If they work, then I am going to sand down the coating off one the elanders on the top. If the same drop free results don't happen reliably with several brands or after the changes I will try to see if I can do some work on the inside of the magwell. Sound good? Trigger guard appears way out of the way. ETA: Are Palmetto State blem lowers like some of the other brands where it is not only cosmetic, but also functional problems too( ie tight mag well)? |
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Are these gen 3 that you've tried? So far my current plan of action is to try other mags and see what happens. If they work, then I am going to sand down the coating off one the elanders on the top. If the same drop free results don't happen reliably with several brands or after the changes I will try to see if I can do some work on the inside of the magwell. Sound good? Trigger guard appears way out of the way. ETA: Are Palmetto State blem lowers like some of the other brands where it is not only cosmetic, but also functional problems too( ie tight mag well)? Quoted:
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None of the E-Lander mags that I had would drop free from a RRA or PSA lower. GI and Magpul (Gen 2/3) would all drop free from both lowers. Are these gen 3 that you've tried? So far my current plan of action is to try other mags and see what happens. If they work, then I am going to sand down the coating off one the elanders on the top. If the same drop free results don't happen reliably with several brands or after the changes I will try to see if I can do some work on the inside of the magwell. Sound good? Trigger guard appears way out of the way. ETA: Are Palmetto State blem lowers like some of the other brands where it is not only cosmetic, but also functional problems too( ie tight mag well)? I've had roughly 10 PSA blems and have never had anything actually out of spec. Hell, my two SBR lowers are PSA blems. 
If it ends up being the E-Landers, I'd just ditch them instead of trying to fix them. Mags are cheap and it sounds like these have a structural integrity issue if they're expanding when you load them up with ammo. |
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I've had roughly 10 PSA blems and have never had anything actually out of spec. Hell, my two SBR lowers are PSA blems.
If it ends up being the E-Landers, I'd just ditch them instead of trying to fix them. Mags are cheap and it sounds like these have a structural integrity issue if they're expanding when you load them up with ammo. Got some PMAGS in today on the chance this may happen. Pmags had issues the first couple of times, but appears once they got roughed in they function flawlessly. Loaded unloaded doesn't matter and way easier insertion. Turns out was a magazine issue not lower. . Appreciate the help guys. 
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Good Morning Chromekilla,
There was an issue with Gen 1 E-Lander mags. Gen 2 dealt with the issues. Now they are up to Gen 3. Both Gen 2 and Gen 3 work fine. I've only been associated with Mako since late October so I'm running 3's in my guns without any issues. I sent a few of the new mags to friends who shoot daily as part of their jobs. Mags worked fine. E-Lander applies a special protective coating to their mags. Some people like it, some don't. However, those in Israel like the additional protection against the sands. Cheers, Mark S. The Mako Group |
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Good Morning Chromekilla, There was an issue with Gen 1 E-Lander mags. Gen 2 dealt with the issues. Now they are up to Gen 3. Both Gen 2 and Gen 3 work fine. I've only been associated with Mako since late October so I'm running 3's in my guns without any issues. I sent a few of the new mags to friends who shoot daily as part of their jobs. Mags worked fine. E-Lander applies a special protective coating to their mags. Some people like it, some don't. However, those in Israel like the additional protection against the sands. Cheers, Mark S. The Mako Group Interesting. Did not know that Thanks |
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@Chromekilla:
My Elander mags were gen 1. It sounds like the magwell is just a touch on the small side since the other mags gave you a little trouble at first too. I still think something is wrong with the Elander mags, they shouldn't fit tighter after being loaded up. |
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I got one of the early Seekins forged lowers in 2013 and it won't drop Thermold mags. I don't really care as Thermolds are crap anyway and I don't personally own any.
I got a second Spikes lower later that year and it, too, had a tight magwell. It wouldn't even drop USGI mags. The guys at Spikes kindly swapped the lower for another one that works just fine. The machining on it is different from the original so you know this was from a different contract batch. In other words, it just happens. |
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Quoted:
Good Morning Chromekilla, There was an issue with Gen 1 E-Lander mags. Gen 2 dealt with the issues. Now they are up to Gen 3. Both Gen 2 and Gen 3 work fine. I've only been associated with Mako since late October so I'm running 3's in my guns without any issues. I sent a few of the new mags to friends who shoot daily as part of their jobs. Mags worked fine. E-Lander applies a special protective coating to their mags. Some people like it, some don't. However, those in Israel like the additional protection against the sands. Cheers, Mark S. The Mako Group Mark, Appreciate you jumping in here. They are GEN 3. The one thing that I will say is that it took an act of almighty christ to get them inserted and removed from the magwell( no upper) with rounds in them (Max 20 rounds). An empty mag is a bit better though. However, as soon as that same magazine is loaded the same thing happens. It may even be my rifle that is the issue. However, once I identified plain wear marks from inserting a magazine about 150 times and sanding the wear spots down it seemed to be a little easier to insert and extract, but still no drop free. Other than a couple times each on the pmags to break them in they have dropped free fine. I'm not looking to bash your products, meerly share my experience and try to figure out why in the world it is happening. It is evident that the mags are pretty good quality, the spring is a monster, the follower is good and the protective coating is very good. If you get a chance can you obtain caliper specs (primarily width loaded with 20-30, and empty) of some elander 30 magazines that you know to work good and drop free? |
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