FAL mag issues

[ChumpAce]

apologize if this is the wrong section.

i am having issues with my FAL mags. no matter how many rounds i have in them, the ammo gets stuck. this happens even when i'm trying to unload the mags by hands. from what i can tell, both mags are different brands and look good. there are no burrs or sharp edges on them and i see nothing that would be causing this. these are fairly new mags but, not brand new. any help or things to consider? my FAL and the mags are inch.

 

[Ironicaintit]

Where do they get stuck?
Have you disassembled and cleaned them?
could be burrs on the follower, or just roughness on the interior.
If you haven’t; start there. I scour the insides with a small stainless brush, rinse with solvent and compressed air, then give the inside and follower a couple coats from an aerosol Teflon spray. Pretty typical of mil-surp magazines.
The top of the magazines in the last 3 pics do look a bit wonky.
In the 3rd pic, the follower doesn’t look like the nose is up all the way either.

 

[ChumpAce]

Where do they get stuck?
Have you disassembled and cleaned them?
could be burrs on the follower, or just roughness on the interior.
If you haven’t; start there. I scour the insides with a small stainless brush, rinse with solvent and compressed air, then give the inside and follower a couple coats from an aerosol Teflon spray. Pretty typical of mil-surp magazines.
The top of the magazines in the last 3 pics do look a bit wonky.
In the 3rd pic, the follower doesn’t look like the nose is up all the way either.

i have cleaned them inside and out with no change. the rounds tend to catch just as the bullet itself passes the front of the mags(where the copper meets the brass). one of the followers looks brand new and the other has a little wear(no clue if i did that or how i got it). what would you suggest on fixing or cleaning up the front end of the mags(the wonky part)? thanks for the help as well.

 

[Ironicaintit]

Are the springs in backwards?

 

[ChumpAce]

from what i can tell no. i included some pics of the spring and the only marking on this mag. the other looks like it is either IO or 10 and that one has MADE IN THE USA on it, if that helps at all.

 

[ChumpAce]

"In the 3rd pic, the follower doesn’t look like the nose is up all the way either."

there is a set of dog ears on both of the mags that keep the front at that height. no clue if that is spose to be that way.

 

[CapnMac]

Inch mags with metric parts (or vice versa)?

Could try taking the disassembled mag, popping in 10 or so rounds and the follower, then pressing up from the bottom and seeing how the rounds spit out then. If they feed without the follower, but bind with the follower, that narrows the possible range of problems.

Just WAGs on my part, which I could offer better.

 

[ChumpAce]

Inch mags with metric parts (or vice versa)?

Could try taking the disassembled mag, popping in 10 or so rounds and the follower, then pressing up from the bottom and seeing how the rounds spit out then. If they feed without the follower, but bind with the follower, that narrows the possible range of problems.

Just WAGs on my part, which I could offer better.

ill give that a try, thanks

 

[Ironicaintit]

Is your receiver inch, or metric?
An inch pattern is “supposed to” be able to take metric mags, but my inch pattern did not care for them at all. Had to get inch pattern mags to have anything resembling reliable feeding

 

[ChumpAce]

"CapnMac,
i gave it a try and it did not improve.

"Ironicaintit"
the magazines and the receiver are both inch.

i do not believe this is an issue with the rifle. the rounds do the same thing when i have the mags out of the rifle and im just trying to hand unload them. its almost like the front is dipping to far down for the bullet to clear the front of the mag while being caught up in the middle. i am not sure if the springs are good or not since these are the only FAL mags i have ever handled. if i was to compare them to any other mag, i would say they have the give of a new PMAG.

 

[CapnMac]

its almost like the front is dipping to far down for the bullet to clear the front of the mag

Hmm, try putting the spring in the other way around.
I can't remember seeing "repack" spring and/or followers for FAL mags, but I can't say I ever looked, either.
There is a possibility that the feed lips have been mashed down at the front--which would have the effect of pushing the rounds down (the lips have to have a specific geometry to keep the rounds flat to fit under the bolt, then tip up to point the rounds to the chamber).

Try standing up a range of magazine front facing you, on a level surface and see how the top of the feed lips align (note that the human eyeball may not be able to pick up the differences in thousandths of an inch, unless a machinist by trade).

Side note, if you want to "tag" a forum member here, use the "@" and type a few letters of their name, you should get a popup with the close or exact match. They will get an Alert as a result. The same thing occurs if you use the Quote feature.
Note that our forum here also support multiple quotes, too. If you highlight specific text, you will get a popup tag asking if you wish to Reply or Quote. On a desktop, the Quote action button on a post will highlight green. When you get to the Reply window, there will be a button below it labeled "insert Quotes" anything you have quoted will pop up, and you are asked if you want to delete any, or insert them.

Quote is often far more handy than Reply. Reply will immediately taken to the Reply window, skipping over all of the responses in-between. Which means you may miss something, especially in longer, multi-page threads.

Now, that's based on desktop experience; Mobile device experience can be very different.

 

[ChumpAce]

@CapnMac thanks for the help and advice. i will take a look and see what i can see.

funny enough, i use to be a machinist by trade lol.

 

[Ironicaintit]

"Ironicaintit"
the magazines and the receiver are both inch.

No Sir, that there is a metric magazine. The catch at the front is just a bent out lip. Inch magazines have a brazed/soldered ledge.

 

[Ironicaintit]

Inch magazines

 

[ChumpAce]

No Sir, that there is a metric magazine. The catch at the front is just a bent out lip. Inch magazines have a brazed/soldered ledge.

@Ironicaintit i was just about to correct that. i was looking up stuff and noticed that. i am now confirming if the rifle itself is inch or metric. it is a STG58C by Entreprise. from what i can tell, they had both inch and metric but, very few inch compared to the metric. if i remember correctly, the lower might be of brazilian manufacturing. i had this rifle in storage for about 2 years and finally got it out and was going thru it and ran into the issues that i am.

 

[ChumpAce]

this is the only reason why i thought they were inch mags. (not my mag,just what i found on google)

 

[ChumpAce]

i now know that is wrong oncew i actual looked at something that wasnt "CheaperThanDirt.com"

 

[CapnMac]

funny enough, i use to be a machinist by trade lol.

Ah, well, then you'll be used to process engineering, then! []
A distinct advantage in that we don't have to explain a level surface to you.
In a perfect world, you'd be able to get the dimensions to create a test fixture or jig. Sigh.

The other question winds up being not whether rounds strip out by hand, but whether the rifle strips them out.
There are magazines that bind hard on ammo if one tried to hand strip them (double stack single feeds, especially, although I can think of some CETME that were a pain).