Magazine Magic!

[G.T.]

Hi to all! Well, I hope by now, all of the forum members have seen enough broken walnut/wood, magazine bottoms to make them a little leary of depressing the follower button on a nice pristine original magazine? It is not un-common for them to break about halfway between the knobs and the rear spine... ... The reason for this is that when new, the wood bottoms are designed to fit tight with the spring force pressing straight down on the bottom. As time goes on, and decades pass, the wood bottoms loosen up and shrink, sometime dramatically, with a total loss of support both front, and rear?... All that is holding the bottom in is the retaining pin itself, and the mag bottom is actually levering against itself with the pressure eventually causing a catastrophic failure and the guts come shooting out of the bottom! ....
So, assuming we are NOT going to use our better magazines for shooting, and just want to test the spring to find out if any problems exist, we need to modify our technique so that the failure doesn't occur while in our care...
The correct procedure is to cup the magazine in your off hand, and depress the follower with your strong hand, so that all the pressure from start to finish, is between the follower, and the bottom... never hold just the shell when testing the mag, either for loading or testing.. In fact, get into the habit of always holding the mag as described above.. It will save you some big crocodile tears and
a bunch of money to effect a decent repair! More later as it come along! Best to all, til...lat'r....GT...

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by G.T.

It will save you some big crocodile tears and a bunch of money to effect a decent repair!

It takes a bunch of money to effect a decent repair???

Now I do have big crocodile tears...

[DonVoigt]

Originally Posted by sheepherder

It takes a bunch of money to effect a decent repair???

Now I do have big crocodile tears...

Maybe just a little "bunch"!

[G.T.]

Hi to all! I ‘m pretty sure most of you have had the follower button slip from your grasp and allow the follower to go thundering uncontrollably towards the top of the magazine! .......Most of the time, it has no effect on the magazine, but a profound effect on you! It’s not good for it to happen, but like stated above, we usually skate on any serious damage… But, what actually happens to the magazines over a period of inadvertent releases is a bit troublesome?
The good results occur if the follower stops, actually stop, on the intended dimples set into the magazine follower guide rails as follower stops. But over time, the stops become less pronounced, or the magazine spreads across the width and allows the follower to go right to the very top…
The first indicator this is a problem, will be the upset sheet metal at the top of the follower slot, you might even feel a pinch every once in a while, when using the mag…
The second area that will show the abuse is the back end of the feed lips as the follower puts a dent on each side right at the top, about in the middle of the exposed edge…
The third issue, and by far the worst, it that the repeated hammering of the follower can stretch the magazine from front to back making it very hard to reform to an acceptable dimension that doesn’t interfere with insertion and dropping free?...
So, what is required, to correctly re-position the follower? Start by using a 1/8” punch cut to a half moon shape and all the edges radiused, and reset the follower stops! A little squeeze here and there, and your mag will be working like new! Best to all, til…lat’r….GT....
BTW, this repair only applies to original folded sheet metal type magazines... code 122 & fxo types can only be corrected by slightly squeezing the top sides together as the stops are permanently stamped or machined in the interior of the mag shell....

[ithacaartist]

Originally Posted by G.T.

A little squeeze here and there, and your mag will be working like new! Best to all, til…lat’r….GT....

I just love it when a guy has better hints than Heloise!