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11/20/2002 2:28:46 PM EDT
are these mags any good or should I steer clear ?
                     Thanks in advance.Jim
11/20/2002 4:26:36 PM EDT
[#1]
Hello Sir,

The Orlite magazines are great magazines. However, most of them are Israeli surplus mags. Before using them, take them apart, and clean them. Most of them have a lot of sand in them, and require oil. After cleaning, and oil, these magazines should work perfectly.
11/20/2002 4:29:38 PM EDT
[#2]
Orlite mags are "Ok". I would suggest only buying them after you have a good supply of USGI mags.

Personally, I would not pay more than $12 for new ones.

Mag Quality Scale:
1. USGI
2. Thermold US
3. Thermold CA
4. Orlite
5. Any after market mag
11/20/2002 5:01:17 PM EDT
[#3]
I use Orlites as range mags (# 08 and 09 mostly)all the time and they fit and function perfectly in my Bushmaster, some I have purchased did have some debris in them and did require cleaning, I would advise against putting any lubricants in any magazine though, as it will only attract dirt and dust. Hope this helps...
11/20/2002 11:43:00 PM EDT
[#4]
I've used the orlite magazines, and they were great. Lighter than your average magazines. They're cheap as well, a surplus magazine would cost you about $15, and it's a high-cap magazine.
11/21/2002 8:36:09 PM EDT
[#5]
You should pay no more than $10 for an orlite, shop around the EE, that is ab avaerage price.
11/26/2002 11:44:55 PM EDT
[#6]
I recently purchased two Orlite magazines, new in the sealed wrapper, from a dealer in Arizona.  When I received them, the first thing I did was to unpackage and clean them.  Unfortunately, one of the magazines was split on a rear seam about one half inch up from the floor plate.

Wait...  It gets better!!!  I initially decided to keep the mag and repair it with a two part epoxy (Use it as a spare range mag).  Wrong...  

The other magazine appeared fine...  Thinking that the cracked magazine was a "freak" occurance, I loaded the undamaged magazine and put it in my AR (Never charged the weapon).  It sat around a few days until I found time to go to the range...

Before leaving for the range, I took the magazine out (they don't like you showing up with a loaded rifle).  When I removed the magazine from my rifle, I noticed that one of the feed lips was cracked and lifting away from the magazine body.

Needless to say, I would stay away from Orlite magazines.  I did see some being used with success at the range while I was there...  However, I would not trust them!  I purchased four new COLT magazines as replacements...  I couldn't be happier!

Spend the extra money to buy quality, it will be cheaper in the end.
11/27/2002 7:10:00 AM EDT
[#7]
Orlites are okay as range mags.  Buy a few and go right back to GI issue mags.

Max
11/27/2002 11:13:16 AM EDT
[#8]
I would recommend using a non-oil based lubricant like "Rem-Lube" (Teflon) inside the mag to avoid attracting dust, etc.

HTH,
Gabe
11/29/2002 2:51:02 PM EDT
[#9]
Some people say they arn't worth a shit, but I think they are and awesome for how cheap you can get them, if you get decent ones. Generally you can find them for 10-12 bucks used, and in pretty good shape. I own bunches of them.

There are bad ones out there that will split down the seam, but as with anything that has been manufactured by the hundreds of thousands there is going to be a certain percentage that are defective.

Buy the surplus mags. They have all had tough use so you know they work. I see it as the ones that work have been weeded out from the ones that don't. They just need to be cleaned, sanded, and lubricated.  
_________
(from another post)
I use an automotive,methyl compressed, silicon based lubricant on magazines that does not leave a liquid residue and does not absorb dust.

It's more like coating the inside of the mag with teflon, then spraying oil inside. Because the methyl will evaporate leaving just the silicon particles.

It works extremely well, and helps quite a bit. The magazines are noticably smoother feeding when silicone lubricated.

I recommend it on military surplus orlites, since the sand and dust they collected in use, scratches the hell of of where the follower makes contact with the inside of the mag, and makes it rough.
_____
I would take this into mind before buying them though.. The isreali military found that even though orlite magazines are tough and reliable, they were still not suitible for severe combat conditions. And they switched to USGI.

But other than that that make a great all around magazine in my opinion.



11/29/2002 3:59:35 PM EDT
[#10]
You will never regret buying USGI mags.

-Troy
12/8/2002 5:06:17 PM EDT
[#11]
I've Purchased some of these Oralite mags and have had no problems until the other day when I went shooting one cracked and started spitting up two instead of one and my bushy couldn't take the second one so it would jam it cracked around the end where you load from, and I've seen some USGI mags that didn't load correctly either but I think that was because of the spring in the worn old mags..
12/8/2002 5:13:52 PM EDT
[#12]
Thanks for all the replies ,I opted to buy USGI from EE.
12/8/2002 5:21:14 PM EDT
[#13]
I've Purchased some of these Oralite mags and have had no problems until the other day when I went shooting one cracked and started spitting up two instead of one and my bushy couldn't take the second one so it would jam it cracked around the end where you load from, and I've seen some USGI mags that didn't load correctly either but I think that was because of the spring in the worn old mags..
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