Worn out mags (2nd update with fix in OP)
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HotRoderX
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That ticks me off why is Smith and Wesson so quick to bow. The gun lock thing they agreed to I can kinda understand its dumb but in the long run keep them from going out of business. Stopping producing 25 rounds mags because of this is just wrong.
Majorlk
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S&W was the first manufacturer to roll over and play dead for Clinton's AWB. It almost put them out of business. The ONLY thing that saved them was their military contracts.
Sounds like history may be on the verge of repeating itself.
Majorlk
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Over a 1,000 rounds per mag with mine and no discernible wear, either. Makes me wonder if the OP is letting them hit the ground and the rear seam is coming apart.
Who says S&W has bowed on anything? Their website just shows zero stock on normal cap magazines. No one else has them during this hysteria either. They show stock on 10 round mags, but I can see those being in much less demand.
The 15/22 was produced due to market demand because of spiraling 5.56 ammo costs for individual shooters. Since the 15/22 probably isn't selling to mil/LE, why would S&W want to produce more mags that they may not be able to sell in the near future?
The fact remains, in the past few years S&W has produced some of the finest firearms made. They support the shooting sports, military and LE. They have done nothing I am aware of to warrant our scorn. In fact, I'd say they deserve our praise.
BTW, S&W was under different ownership back in the Klinton days.
Locked-N-Loaded
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Though I don't think his mags are coming apart per se - I kind of read it as he tried epoxy to shape/form in a way to put back worn away material and not repair a split - this is still a decent hypothesis. This is one of the reasons I use ranger plates. Specifically, those ones from Tacticool. Gives a little drop protection.
Nice update video.
I am still thinking a real fix will need to be a steel insert. That will require some degree of expertise, both in design and implementation.
A different approach might be to build the area with JB Weld. That might require a small groove to be machined inside the feed lips for the JB Weld to "grip" the mag. Once the JB Weld sets, it could be shaped to the correct dimensions. Not sure how it would hold up long term.
Definitely keep the mags. Maybe they can become test beds for a solution. If mags are banned in this latest round of political stupidity we may all be looking at this issue in the future.
I am still thinking a real fix will need to be a steel insert. That will require some degree of expertise, both in design and implementation.
A different approach might be to build the area with JB Weld. That might require a small groove to be machined inside the feed lips for the JB Weld to "grip" the mag. Once the JB Weld sets, it could be shaped to the correct dimensions. Not sure how it would hold up long term.
Definitely keep the mags. Maybe they can become test beds for a solution. If mags are banned in this latest round of political stupidity we may all be looking at this issue in the future.
You could use epoxy to glue in a very thin shim plate of aluminum or steel to build the thickness of the lips back to where they need to be.
May want to split the mags apart first, so you can have full access to the lip area, then glue the mag back together.
May want to split the mags apart first, so you can have full access to the lip area, then glue the mag back together.
CJ45lc
Member
Nice video, I believe if I had a mag like that that was pretty much junk I'd give a try to heat up the feed lips & bend them in a little. You've got a good measure with your caliper on the good one, so you know what to shoot for, the trick IMO would be having the patience to get just the right amount of heat in the right area.
Shoot I may be out in left field but just throwing it out there
Shoot I may be out in left field but just throwing it out there
TheLandonMac
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I work on a shooting range, we have a rental 15-22 and we have had 2 mags do that so far...they wear out after so many rounds go through them (thousands)
its a common problem with us....if you heat them up with a heat gun (NOT A TORCH AS STATED ABOVE) then you can squeeze them back together, but make sure not to squeeze too much, that will fix your problem 100%
its a common problem with us....if you heat them up with a heat gun (NOT A TORCH AS STATED ABOVE) then you can squeeze them back together, but make sure not to squeeze too much, that will fix your problem 100%
scooter123
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They make ultrasonic "welders" for plastic that would probably be useful for making an effective repair, however the one time I saw one demonstrated it looked like it would require a fair bit of talent in the hands of the person doing the work. If you know someone with one of these units and the skill to use it that might be an area to explore.
TheLandonMac
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or he could do whats tried and true and do EXACTLY what I did TWICE before and heat it up with a head gun and bend the lips back in with his fingers...jussayin..
Locked-N-Loaded
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I came to say heat gun after watching the video.... guess others see it the same
I'm thinking JB weld might work. As stated earlier, cut a grove for the JB to grip to. As a side note, I will make sure that when I am loading mags that there is no spring pressure on the shell being loaded. That way you are not grinding away the mag when loading.
OP
evnash
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im gonna try that tomorrow. thx
Do you have an approximate round count on the worn out mags? I have 9 mags and probably have a total of 1000 - 1500 rounds through the gun so mine are showing no wear at all. Just wondering what the life expectancy might be.
Maximumbob54
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Wow. It may be a good thing we aren't allowed to cuss on this forum. I love my 15-22 but if this is the future of my mags then I just fell back in love with my 10/22 again. I'm still on the same original factory mag that I've been using for the last decade and only recently bought another. I'm even thinking of buying several more and getting a couple of trimag adapters for fun. Mags mag be designed to be disposable and easy to replace but this seems kind of like a lame design if this is what they will all end up doing with use. On the offhand chance this was just a bad batch or something then I will eat these words. I really hope that's the case. (@#%$#$)
so whats happend to you is the same thing thats happend to me, the feed lips on te magazine have worn out, as mamny people have said before magazines are consumable items (not sure i agree) but if youll look at your feed lips in greater detail im willing to bet youll see that they have warped from thier original form. ive tried alot to fix the iossue to no avail so far, im considering sending my mags back to smith and wesson to see if thier warranty will cover it. if you find out a way to fix your mags though lemme know!
