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Posted: 4/4/2013 2:17:55 PM EDT
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I had a full 20 round Colt magazine drop about 4 feet onto tile. When I went to put it back in, it would not go in.
I looked at it some more and it seems that the impact from the fall, coupled with being filled up cause the magazine to widen a little bit, and now isn't fitting into the mag well. There was a little amount of play in that i could squeeze the magazine a little bit, but it still wasn't fitting. Naturally, I unloaded it and smashed it with a hammer on the side that was rubbing the mag well, up and down the body. Once i got it to where it the play was almost all gone, I tried it again. Now it will fit no problem in my Colt 6520 lower receiver but it is still very tight and will not drop free from my CMMG lower. The CMMG lower is supposed to be full mil-spec, while I know the Colt 6520 lower has a bit more of a flared mag-well. Anyways, other than continuing the hammering of this magazine until it will fit, anything else to do? I've marked it with a sharpie to know it is a "problem" mag, but it inserts, drops, and feeds just fine in my Colt. Insertion/removal is very tight on the CMMG but it also feeds fine. This is one of the two that came with my Colt that I bought years ago, and the first time it has given me a problem. Is it common to have this happen if you drop a full mag on a hard surface? Kind of disappointing if so. |
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Dropping aluminum mags and causing a problem with that dropped mag is not uncommon, especially when that mag is loaded.
I've dropped many and never had this happen, never damaged any of my 20's. I have had the floorplate pop out of 30's a few times. Hence, the popularity with polymer mags, they do seem to take more abuse (especailly later generation mags). I dunno how much hammering I'd do personally, but it is your mag. Maybe use smallish wood blocks to coax it back to shape. I'd still keep it marked and relegate it to range use if it were mine. All that said, I still prefer my USGI 20's and 30's over Pmags, even knowing the limitations of Aluminum. I have sh!tcanned I believe 3 USGI mags in 30+ years of using these. Good luck with it. |
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If you were around during the first ASW ban, you saw many threads on how to repair damaged GI mags.
C clamps and wood shims work best. Remember, they are just sheetmetal and were once as flat as a piece of paper. When working on a mag that swelled, you need at least 2 c clamps. When you squeeze one dimension, the other will try to elongate. So if you are making the mag thinner, put a clamp 90 degrees to the intended squeeze to keep that dimension correct. The wood ships are to spread the load and keep from dimpling the metal. Go easy, and remember the metal will spring back some, so do not worry if it looks like you are squeezing too much. And frequent trial fittings help. During the first ban, I could only afford well used mags, and many needed tweaking as they were likely other member's cull mags. I repaired many of my own and many for friends. Only scrapped one mag when a couple of welds popped, but afterward it was obvious the welds were weakened by corrosion. Broken bottom tabs are easy to repair as well. Easiest is to safety wire the bottom on. With the bans looking more widespread, repairing mags may get popular again. |
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