Ammo Application in Gun Function Part 9 of 12

Part 9 Steel magazines—It would pay to describe correct production of a magazine so you can be aware of poor construction. The magazine body is first produced out of a good quality high carbon steel and then the jaws are shaped to the proper position. The body is then heat treated which makes it harder and after cooling depending on the method used it is then lightly heated to relieve stress in the steel. The lips are again checked by quality control and the mag is then blued and assembled with good parts and sold.

Poor quality magazines are made of shoddy, soft, low carbon steel and many times receive no heat treatment or if they are heat treated the steel has so little carbon the lips will not hold their position. Parts are run through as cookie cutter assembly line and the clip only receive a superficial inspection during construction of the multiple parts if it is inspected at all. The clip is assembled with as few spot welds as possible to hold the mag together and has a poorly constructed follower. There is little or no quality control and some magazines are even warped and sill reaches the consumer in an unusable condition. In some cases the spring is poorly heat treated and it too may have problems eventually. The follower that pushes the bullets are mostly cast plastic and many times misshaped and have hollow spots in the cast plastic and should have been rejected during assembly but were not.

To choose a company to buy an ammo mag from, go on the internet and look for reviews that give complaints, do your homework. The Ishapore replacement mag is a good example without naming a company people are complaining that the feeder lips soon deform because of the soft steel and the gun is not functional. The Ishapore is a very fine gun but because of the years of parade and drill practice the clip was removed so many times that the holding notch wears off the magazine somewhat and the clip falls slightly lower and will not pick up a bullet when the gun bolt is functioned. This notch needs to be lengthened. An epoxy glue is a good temporary fix and probably more than sufficient for the casual shooter. If the gun works the glue will allow you to calculate for the weld if you want it fixed permanently. This weld must be performed with a Tig welder by a professional.  A good welding shop can do that for about $25. Take the mag apart so the weld will not soften the spring. Unrelated to the mag in the Ishapore is bolt ware where the bolt was functioned so many times that it falls down in the rear position and on the forward stroke misses the bullet. In this case you must lift the bolt before the forward stroke in order to strip a bullet from the mag and chamber a bullet.                           

Permanent box magazines—These Fixed box magazines are made as part of the gun and you cannot remove them unless the gun is taken apart. These guns can be loaded one bullet at a time like a hunting rifle. Which makes them no better than a hunting rifle. However if you get the stripper clips for the gun even a bolt action rifle is suddenly made more responsive.  

A clip or stripper clip is a marvel and is a marriage between a device and a gun that makes a gun more functional. No matter which surplus military gun you own, you will never appreciate the original function of your gun without them. You will appreciate how the gun worked originally and battlefield response of the weapon you own. For target shooting, loading is simplified—even owning a few stripper clips allows one person to load a clip while the other shoots. Many people want a matching set of stripper clips to their store of ammo.End of part 9 of 12 To see the next post click here

 Richard W Norman

If they pass laws against guns then you will either make your gun parts, bullets and supplies at home, salvage or do without. There is a gun and ammo supply system in a book “AmericanHandbook on Guns Ammo and Freedom”. This is a Book on home gun construction and repair, powder, primers; and a brief history of how the USA has moved toward socialism and their written plans to overthrow our freedom and some solutions to save the Constitution.