Feed problems with a new AR

[ShootistPRS]

I have had the gun out to the range twice. The first time I fired five rounds. All went well. The second time I fired 15 rounds from the same 30 round mag that had been loaded with 20 rounds before the first visit. All went well. When I fired from a second 30 round mag that that had been loaded with 20 rounds it failed to feed the round from the left side of the mag. I could strip that round and it would feed the next round. I unloaded that mag an put the cartridges into the first mag and it failed to feed at all. Loaded the rounds in the second mag and the bolt was skipping over the top of the cases and not feeding them at all.

The mags are the plastic P-mags, the rifle is an Anderson. I found if I held the mag up it would work well. The mags are latching in place and there is very little play (about a 32nd of an inch.
Do I contact P-mag or open the lips a bit on the mags?
Are there any other fixes that I should know before I do anything?

 

[FrankenMauser]

Could be a bad mag catch, out-of-spec lower, and a few other things.

I'd be looking at the mag catch first.

And trying a metal ("GI") mag wouldn't hurt.

 

[rickyrick]

If you think it's a particular magazine just trash it.

Could be lots of things with a new rifle.

 

[turtlehead]

Just set that magazine aside and try some others for now. Let us know what happens.

 

[ShootistPRS]

I think I will contact P-mag and see what they say.

 

[2damnold4this]

Try the mags in a different rifle and different mags in the first rifle.

 

[odugrad]

Not that I'm second-guessing you, but you're sure the magazine was seated all the way?

I always give my magazines a slight tug down to make sure. Sometimes they look/feel like they're locked in but aren't.

 

[stagpanther]

In general metal mags work better than plastic in my experience--even though I know P-mag has a great rep and all that, but I try to load to maximum COL and I don't care for their designs which tend to be the least generous in that respect. I've got lots of PMags but hardly ever use them. Just my opinion, no flame war intended.

My guess is you have just enough drag between the feed lips and perhaps extra pressure from the spring and/or the bolt riding just a tad high relative to stripping the cartridge from that side. I would relax--as the parts of the rifle wear-in my guess is that issue will go away--in the meantime I would get a few cheap brownells metal mags and bevel down the feed lips so their are no sharp edges, if that doesn't solve the problem right away you could also try enlarging the bottom of the magazine catch slot on the side of the mag. Make sure you are adequately cleaning and lubing your new rifle, "growing pains" are not uncommon in brand new rifles.

 

[bfoosh006]

A few questions, what ammo.. and how many rounds through the rifle.... and what Gen. Magpul mag ?

specifically, is this a brand new rifle ?

 

[ShootistPRS]

Yes it is a new gun and the mags came with the gun.
Just to eliminate the ammo I will buy some to try.
I have made a full set of instructions on the care, cleaning and lubrication of the gun so I don't miss anything. This is my first and only AR so running the mags in another gun is out of the question. I am planning on getting more mags but metal is not what I was considering. I understand that the plastic mags are less likely to be damaged in a drop to the ground when reloading a second mag. The milspec metal mags are designed to be discarded on the battlefield. I may be wrong there but that is what I learned in my research.

 

[stagpanther]

Plastic has to make up for less strength than metal by being thicker--and that's what I think causes more issues with them than metal ones; plus I hate the curved retention tabs at the front of them--but again that has only been my experience--I'd much rather pay a few extra bucks and suffer carrying a few extra grams than have a weapon go down when I pulled the trigger--but that's just me.

 

[rickyrick]

I have some metal mags that are more than 60 years old.
A metal mag can be tweaked in an pinch to get them to work.
Magazines are a failure point; the curse of the auto loader.

I like pmags so far, but I am new to them.

You can find steel AR mags as well.

If I find myself in a hypothetical firefight, I assume that any mag I eject will most likely never be picked up by me. Probably will get retrieved by an investigator.

it is also possible that your mag release needs some adjustment, could be barely retaining the magazine.

 

[mehavey]

...a new gun and the mags came with the gun.

Put a piece of masking tape on each Mag with a number (1, 2. 3, 3 etc).

Each time a Mag falters, mark the tape with Roman numeral.
You'll figure the pattern out pretty quickly.

 

[stagpanther]

Put a piece of masking tape on each Mag with a number (1, 2. 3, 3 etc).

Each time a Mag falters, mark the tape with Roman numeral.
You'll figure the pattern out pretty quickly.

Good idea--never thought of that one myself.

 

[FrankenMauser]

I understand that the plastic mags are less likely to be damaged in a drop to the ground when reloading a second mag. The milspec metal mags are designed to be discarded on the battlefield. I may be wrong there but that is what I learned in my research.

Sort of.
And no.

Metal mags hold up very well to being dropped. Yes, they are, theoretically, more prone to damage when abused. But, they can be tweaked back into shape quite easily.

GI mags were never meant to be discarded. If that was the case, then no one would have ever been issued ammunition, stripper clips, stripper clip guides, etc. All ammunition would be pre-loaded and shipped in magazines. That is not the case.
Magazines are issued with the rifle (and re-issued as needed for damage or loss).
Ammunition is issued separately (usually in stripper clips, and with a stripper clip guide -- but sometimes loose).

In movies you see, and on the internet you read about, GIs just dropping mags on the ground and moving on with a firefight.
What you almost never see, or hear about, is the aftermath of the firefight, where the GIs themselves (or a Materiel recovery team) go back over the battlefield to police up magazines and other equipment to return it to service (and keep it away from the enemy). Once picked up, the magazines get reloaded by GIs and tucked into their magazine pouches.
Or; GIs actually tucking empty magazines back into their mag pouches during a battle, to be reloaded when possible with clipped or loose ammo that they're carrying.



----


Personally...
I've used three different generations of P-Mag 20s and 30s.
For rifles that I need to go bang every time, or simply don't want to deal with the irritation of magazine issues, I only use "GI-style" magazines (none of mine are surplus -- they were all new production when purchased). Only two of my ARs every see P-Mags now: the pistol (which only malfunctions with P-Mags), and the heavy barrel varminter (which seems to eat everything, no matter what magazine it comes out of).

 

[Mobuck]

"What you almost never see, or hear about, is the aftermath of the firefight, where the GIs themselves (or a Materiel recovery team) go back over the battlefield to police up magazines and other equipment to return it to service (and keep it away from the enemy)."

Not the way it happened where I was. A dropped magazine(or anything else) was LOST unless you were fighting from inside the wire. If you weren't shooting, you were moving and there wasn't any going back to retrieve anything except bodies.