Review:Mini-14 magazines (Tapco vs Thermold)

[Apple a Day]

Those of us who own a Ruger Mini-14 know that factory magazines work really well but they also cost a bunch. So, we may be tempted to wander afield to find less costly magazines that still function. I decided to pick up a few brands and post reviews as I get to them.

TAPCO:
You can see from the pics that the TAPCO is longer than the Thermold polymer magazine although they both hold 30 rounds. I bought three TAPCO magazines, took them home, tried to fit them into the magazine well and noticed that they didn't fit very easily. In fact they were too long front-to-back to fit in my 580-series Mini. If I did muscle one in the follower got pinched and got stuck. This happened with all three of the original magazines.

I pondered this for a while and then noticed that the magazines have a metal reinforcement at the front of the top where the peg inside the magazine well fits into the magazine, holding it place. On a whim I popped the metal reinforcement tab out and, sure enough, the magazine worked just fine. <see pic> So, I emailed TAPCO to see if I was actually supposed to do that. Apparently not, said they, send us the magazines and we'll replace them.

I have to give kudos to TAPCO customer service. They emailed me a shipping label right away. As soon as they revieved the magazines they sent me replacements. The whole time they were very polite, responsive, and quick.

Unfortunately, the new magazines had the same problem. The TAPCO rep. said he'd gotten some other complaints from 580-series Mini owners and they're looking into a fix.

Today I took the magazines, sans metal tab, to the range and the three new ones worked just fine. One required a little bump to load the first round but otherwise they fed and fired without a hitch and all locked the slide back when empty.

see next post for Thermold

 

[Apple a Day]

Thermold

Thermold magazines:
The thermold magazines were black when I bought them. Yes, I did spray paint them.
I had some trouble with the Thermold magazines as well.
First, you can't insert an emtpy magazine with the bolt closed. No biggee.
Second, the feed lips were high enough that when I tried to drop the bolt it dragged on the feed lips and wouldn't close. I took a Dremmel, took a smidge of material off the top, and smoothed all of the edges on the magazine. That helped
Third, the feed lips extended quite a ways forward, much farther than the factory metal magazines. The rounds tried to feed forwards but ended up going crosswise and getting stuck. Out came the Dremmel and after some grinding back, testing, and grinding back they are now reliable. Brass-cased ammo began to feed reliably before the cheap polymer-cased Wolf stuff but now both work well.
Below is a picture of the Tapco 30-, Thermold 30-, and a factory 20-round magazine for comparison

 

[Apple a Day]

I hope that helps anyone pondering alternative sources for Mini-14 magazines.
When I can get my hands on some Triple K and Pro Mags I'll test and review them as well.
Cheers,
Apple

 

[1KPerDay]

Thanks for the report. Sounds like a lot of trouble to save a few bucks, IMO.

 

[David E]

CDNN has factory Ruger mags for $29 and $39 for the 20 and 30 rd respectively.
Sometimes they go on sale for $25 and $33 or less

 

[jdub3]

Is there a reason manufacturers have so much trouble making reliable mags for the Mini-14? I'm in CA and am stuck with 10rds. and the aftermarkets seem to work better than the 20 and 30 rd alternatives.

 

[One_Jackal]

I use the 25 round steel lips magazines for years without any trouble. The stock rotary magazine sucks.

 

[Apple a Day]

OJ,
I think you're talking about the 10/22, not the Mini-14. Wrong rifle.

 

[marksg]

After trying varius other mags for my mini, I found the headaches wern't worth the savings. You can catch 20 & 30 round on sale. I just stock up when they are. Have 10 of the 20s so far.

 

[David E]

The PMI mags are good, but I don't know if they're still being made.