well, i bought three 30 rounders at the gun show right.  they were 14.95 a piece and they looked great with a grey-looking finish, had green followers and the whole bit.  two of them work flawlessly, but one of them always falls out of the magazine catch when i fire it(i dont know if i explained that right).  but the deal is that I fire the rifle; the bolt flys back; the shell ejects; and somehow the magazine releases from the catch and falls below the bolt when its returning and it won't pick up the next round.  i though that it was the ammo at first, and that the bolt was understroking, so i didn't even try that mag again with other ammo. But then it happened again at my last trip to the range with ammo that i know works, and that same magazine, and it's now clear that the mag falls from the catch every time.  but the catch works fine with an orolite mag, the 10rd bushy mag that came with my rifle and the other two mags that i bought with this one.  I'll try it on my other lower to see if it is the same problem.  

it seems to me that i shold try to bend  the part of the mag that grabs the mag catch more, so it sticks out more pronounced.  but it looks identical to the other mags (but thats just how it looks to my naked eye. i haven't actually measured the little part that juts out to grab the mag catch, whatever it called)

do you think that'd be the way to go?  the bending and modifying??

what do you think i should do??

thanks for any help

Is the mag firmly seated?  After inserting the mag into the magwell, give the floorplate a firm "spank" to set it in before letting the bolt close.

If that does not correct the problem, you might want to tighten the mag release a turn to see if that helps.

i don't know if they're steel or aluminum..  (i'll probably try the filing anywhoo, since I'll basically have a single loading mag if i don't do [i]something[/i])

do the steel ones have a rough finish while the aluminum have a smooth finish??

would my BM 10rd mag be aluminum?? because these mags are rough, and my BM is smooth.
I don't know if aluminum USGIs are smooth or rough on the finish..

i also don't know if the finish is even a way to tell wether its steel or aluminum, but the finish is really the only way to describe them..

here is a pic that has them in it...
you'll have to copy and paste though because
it won't link because of geocities' policy...

the pics are large, so you can actually see the magazine

http://www.geocities.com/ryanb_a3/my_AR_stuff_large.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/ryanb_a3/my_AR_knife_large.jpg


btw, the floorplates say 'ar15', but thats probably been replaced before, right??

those look like sa80 mags. and you may need to file em. pretty sure they're sa80 actually. are they heavy or light? ar15 usgi are very light mags. the sa80s are HEAVY.

aside from the magazine catch hole, the weight was another reason I never bought em. too heavy to carry them in bulk.

well i got a friend of mine to inspect them and they most definately aren't aluminum, which brings me to the same conclusion as Karl.  ok, so upon closer inspection, the catch wans't [i]fully[/i] engaging with this particular mag.  it engages enough to where you can't pull out the mag (unless you use an unrealistic amount of force) but the catch dosen't get as close to flush as it does with my other mags; so I'll now begin filing.

these don't seem HEAVY, but then again I haven't (knowingly) handled USGIs, so i can't compare.  

at 14.95 a piece they seemed like a good deal.. for 2 out of three to work, and only a little extra work to do on the 3rd, that dosen't seem like a bad deal..  not only that but these mags look great!!  i think i'll buy more of these sa80s (or at least thats what I'll say until I buy some USGIs probably [rolleyes])  go figure..


thank you guys for all the help, once I get through filing I'll let you know if it worked.

edited to add:  also, one of these has a tight fit in the magwell, is that of comon symptom of SA80s??


edited again:  well I think it worked, the mag catch engages way more than it used to. I guess I'll have to try it at the range to see if it really worked..  thanks again..