Bushmaster Magazine Insertion

Status
Not open for further replies.
A

archigos

Member
Joined
Feb 25, 2008
Messages
552
Location
The Free State
I just got a new Bushmaster and it seems that it is completely impossible to load a magazine (I've tried a couple very different magazines) into the rifle without the bolt being open.
I'm an AR-15 newbie. Is this normal? What should I be inspecting?
 
The ammo stack has to compress the already compressed magazine spring when the mag is loaded & the bolt shut.

Put it in and smack the crap out of it on the bottom.

It will go in unless you are putting 21 or 31 rounds in a 20 or 30 round magazine.
If the magazine is over-filled, there is no more room for spring compression left.

If you continue to have problems, down-load the magazine by a couple of rounds until the spring loosens up from use.

rc
 
Does the caliber of the mag and caliber of the round match the caliber of the Rifle? You are not clear on whether or not the gun is firing. And I'm not sure by what you mean by "very different magazines"

Can you provide more info on the gun and maybe pictures?
 
Yes it's normal. Unless you are using the greatly overrated and obscenely expensive HK High Reliability steel magazines or the newer MagPul PMAGS there is not enough room at the bottom of the magazine to allow the ammo to be pushed far enough down to make inserting the magazine easy with the bolt closed.

You can slam it in and it may seat after a couple of times. An easier solution is to download the USGI 30 round magazines to 28 rounds. This is only necessary for easy insertion of the magazine on a closed bolt. The preferred method is to push the magazine in and then pull it down to make sure the magazine catch caught it. Many failure to fire malfunctions are operator induced when the shooter fails to push/pull and the weapon fires one time but the magazine drops down enough that the next round isn't loaded.
 
on my personal ar mags for defense, and my mags for work they are all loaded to 28rds. op this is normal, down load the mags, and you shoudl be good to go.
 
Yes it's normal. Unless you are using the greatly overrated and obscenely expensive HK High Reliability steel magazines or the newer MagPul PMAGS there is not enough room at the bottom of the magazine to allow the ammo to be pushed far enough down to make inserting the magazine easy with the bolt closed.
Click to expand...

Funny, works fine on my Bushmaster with standard mags, I'll get back with this when I have time to play it.
 
Funny, works fine on my Bushmaster with standard mags, I'll get back with this when I have time to play it.
Click to expand...

This isn't a Bushmaster problem. Inserting a fully loaded 30 round magazine on a closed bolt is problematic with all AR15/M16 series weapons. The problem is in the design of the USGI magazine, not the weapon itself. When the magazine was designed in the late 1960s it was doctrinally correct to insert the magazine with the blot open. It wasn't until decades later when people began looking at how to efficiently fight with these weapons that the problems of inserting the magazine on a closed bolt became apparent.
 
Its .223/5.56, and the ammo is .223. One of the magazines is a new 10 rounder which does have a very stiff spring. The other magazine is a used/pre-ban 30 round magazine that has a fairly loose spring.
I've come to the realization that in addition to downloading the magazines, I can circumvent the issue by loading the magazine into the rifle while the bolt is locked back, then pushing the charging handle forward (no backward motion), locking the charging handle into place. This way I can just hit the bolt release (terminology correct?) to chamber a round.
In extra magazines, I guess I shouldn't really have this problem because the bolt should be locked back before I care about loading it anyways.
 
I'm aware of not being a Bushmaster problem (phone rings again for the 5th in the past 20mins) I didn't have time to be clearer, %#^! phone. When I get the chance I'm going to try my mags to see if any of them do this because when I'm at the range I rarely load more than 5 at a time but the few times I have inserted a fully load mag I don't recall having any problems, but I going to check in my Bushmaster because it's in a bag with some fully loaded mags. I do have many difference brands of mags, I just don't remember having a problem.

I suffer from CRS (Can't Remember S***)
 
One of the magazines is a new 10 rounder which does have a very stiff spring.
Click to expand...
All bets are off with a 10-round restricted mag.

Many of them have NO spring room left with 10 rounds in them.

As already stated, GI 20 & 30 round mags do have just enough spring room left to seat with the bolt closed.
Just smack them to make it happen.

rc
 
Ok.. just tried one of mine, a Bushmaster M4 Patrolman. With three fully loaded 30rd mags, two bushmaster (came with it) and an AR-Stoner, they locked in with just a push with a closed bolt. What am I doing wrong, am I missing something? Are the Bushmaster 30rd mags GI?

I know am doing something wrong, my ARs don't jam. :p
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top