[GigaBuist]

I'm just wondering if I've had the worst luck of them all on this one.

I purchased a Bushmaster AR-15 a bit over a year ago I guess. Of course it came with a dinky little 10 round magazine that just plain won't do.

So, at the next gun show I decided to grab some "hi-cap" mags for it. Against my better judgement I grabbed 2 40rnd mags.

Thost didn't shoot for crap. One wouldn't chamber a single round due a weak spring and the other shot fine until you got to the last 8... then it was failure to feed on every single one.

There's a reason the US mil. stick with 30 rnd mags. A 40rnd one was just a gimmick but I was hopeful.

So, seeking to not get burned again I returned about 6 weeks later I bought 2 (or was it 3?) pristine looking "Made in England" mags. They looked perfect... springs are great, followers show no signs of warn. Honestly, they're great mags but the DROP OUT OF MY BUSHMASTER! Serioiusly... You slap the mag in and if you yank on it it will come out. Fire a single shot and the mag just drops out. I tried tightening up the mag release but to no avail. Just plain something wrong there it seems.

The irony of the whole thing is the NEXT time I picked some up I got the cheapest crap I found. I saw GI pouch that contained 3 mags in it for 30 bucks. I paid 15-20 for my previous ones. I figure, "Meh, if one works and I get the pouch it's still a deal." Well, thus far I haven't seen a single one of these $10 mags fail. Solid steel (black) construction, just plain decent quality mags and they actually work, which is a first for me... and I got a nice belt clip pouch with them.

Is this abonormal? The Bushmaster, while not considered the highest grade by some people, is still fairly standard. Why in the world would I have mags dropping out of it?

I haven't seen this with my AK... which is pure crap. Egyptian Maadi. I snatched up some cheap Bulgarian $8 steel mags for it when I first bought it and they worked flawelessly. I haven't seen this problem with pistols either.

So, are my gunshows inhabited by shoddy dealers, am I just a bad judge of goods, or is this normal?

:banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

[444]

For a standard, rack grade AR15, there is none better than Bushmaster.

You have just described why, buying stuff cheap is often a false sense of economy. It seems like you are saving money, but the stuff doesn't work right. So you buy more. In the end, you spent far more than if you had just got the good stuff to begin with.
Go out and buy some real USGI magazines. Period.




I have a dozen of the "Made in England" SA80 magazines. They work fine in my Bushmaster with one exception. One of them does not lock the bolt to the rear after the last round. That is OK because these are my practice magazines. I bought them because they are steel. When doing speed reloads, or when practicing malfuntion drills, I let my spent magazine fall on the ground, I feel better using a steel practice magazine.
I own a lot of different brands of AR15 magazines. I do have magazines that don't easily lock into one or more of my AR rifles. ANYTIME you do a magazine change, you tug on the magazine to make sure it is fully seated and locked in. If it isn't, just tap the bottom of it with your open palm. Don't get carried away, just tap it. If you smash it in, there is always the chande that you could dislodge the top round from the magazine and tie up the gun.
Not having the magazine seat is NOT normal, but I would bet good money the problem is with the magazines and not the rifle. I have never had this problem with USGI magazines which are manufactured to strict government specifications. When you stray from them you have no idea what kind of quality control they observe. But, you can still use the magazines for practice and it actually is beneficial since it will instill the idea that you MUST make sure that the mag is seated EVERYTIME you do a magazine change. One thing that might help. If you are using a 30 round magazine, only load 27 rounds in the magazine. This will put less spring pressure on the rounds. This makes it seat easier in the gun. This is the reason for downloading magazines; it has nothing to do with reliability.

[SteelyDan]

Here's one person's opinion, but my impression is that he knows what he's talking about:

http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=3&f=17&t=163158

This post struck home, because I was telling (okay, bragging) to a guy this morning about my cool new Bushy, and invited him to shoot it. His second shot didn't fire (light primer strike). I removed the magazine and tried to figure it out, and then the mag refused to seat properly. It was a Colt "demo" mag. After about 8 tries the mag finally seated, and it shot the other 18 rounds just fine. Needless to say, I wasn't too impressed with the old (I should say, new) Bushy. I haven't yet cleaned it or tried to figure out what went wrong, and now it's late enough that it'll probably be tomorrow.

[Quack]

it may be necessary to open up the retention slot to get the mags to work properly. The mag catch holes were about 0.005 inches too small, compared to USGI mags. i have 6 of the SA-80 "England" mags and they all work flaw-lessly in my Colt and RRA.

check this thread out from the AR-15.com Forum (http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=3&f=17&t=170549)

[dbshabo]

As 444 stated, Bushmaster is second to none. That being said, I have bought only used USGI 30 round mags. Some of them have needed a new spring and a new green follower installed. But all function flawlessly, they aren't the prettiest mags on the block but if they work I could care less. When buying used ones take special care to inspect the feed lips. They develop cracks where they meet the main body, sometimes micro cracks that are difficult to see. The LULA mentioned above will aid in preventing the stress on the lips during loading that cause these cracks.

I use US made Thermold mags for practice. They have worked well for me. I haven't tried the British steel mags as of yet. Go to www.ar15.com and read the mag FAQ section. It will most likely answer any mag question you may have.

Shabo

[ARperson]

It was a Colt "demo" mag....to say, I wasn't too impressed with the old (I should say, new) Bushy.

Just curious as to why you blame the firearm for the mag failure.

My own personal opinion is that magazine problems are related to the magazine 9 times out of 10 and not the firearm. This has held true across all of the firearms I've experience mag-related problems with. Got a 1911 mag that has trouble seating, but since it's the only one in that 1911, it's got to be the mag. Got a Glock mag that refuses to hold the bolt open after firing the last round. But none of the other Glock mags for this firearm have that problem. Same with the .22 rifle. Same with the AR15.

Did you get a chance to try different magazines with the firearm during that range time to eliminate the mag as the culprit?

[Chris Rhines]

AR magazines are the major weak point of the AR system - even the best ones are flimsy and poorly constructed*. The only way to get good AR mags is to buy many, of different types. Cull out the ones that don't function, and buy more of the brands that work well.

- Chris

* - For an example of a well-constructed box magazine, think HK-91 mags. Thick, sturdy, and reinforced. AK mags are good, too, but they tend to be very heavy.

[Peetmoss]

I had the same excate problem with my RRA and the Brit mags

Try downloading those SA 80 mags by 2, Or replace the follower or trim the legs down on your current follower. After that they should fuction flawlessly.

[SteelyDan]

ARperson:

Your point is very well taken--my post was sloppy in the sense that it implied the gun was responsible for the failure to seat the mag. I don't yet know which is the culprit, and it probably is the mag. I just meant that after the weak primer strike and the failure to seat the mag (especially after bragging about it), I was disappointed with the overall performance of the gun, including the mag. Overall, I like the gun a lot, but I'm still working out the kinks. And no, I didn't try any other mags after the problems--it was just a quick "let a buddy shoot 20 rounds" kind of thing.