I bought a Spikes lower and a Spikes LPK. Everything went together great and functions good except the mag catch/release. When I insert a mag (PMAG)in it will not lock in unless I hit the bottom of the mag or just jam it into the receiver, I have tried loosening and tightening the mag catch/release with no change. What can I do to solve this problem.
You should encounter some resistance inserting the mag on a closed bolt as the follower/loaded rounds will contact the bottom of the carrier before it is fully seated. Try locking the bolt back before inserting the mag. If you still encounter some significant resistance, that may indicate a problem. If the resistance is only with a closed bolt, nothing to worry about.
There was not a upper on it when I inserted the mag. It was just the lower by itself.
This may be the problem as well. Try inserting a magazine with an upper installed on the lower before anything else. Chances are it will seat just fine.
Ok thank you I will post back when I do that.
A mag should go in with great ease when there’s no upper mounted.
Something’s not right.
The mag will slide in just fine it just will not lock unless I hit the mag or just force it in. I cannot just slowly slide the mag in and have it lock.
Do you have other mags to try? Try to identify where the mag is getting stuck at that keeps it from seating - on a pmag, probably near the spine where the mag starts to curve.
Here is a view of what the mag catch slot on the lower should measure out to.
Should we assume you have only tried this with that one PMAG?
Yes that is the only one I had handy at the time and after having problems with it, I put the mag in a Bushmaster without any problems at all so I am confident that the problem is somewhere in the lower.
Yeah… I meant click into place two. It should do this easily.
Try another mag or two. If they don’t work swap the Mag Catch with the one in your Bushy. If that fixes the issue you need a new mag catch. If you still have an issue after that swap then the issue is the lower.