Other than shipping it back and having it replaced, is there any solution to a magwell that’s simply too tight? Mags don’t seat and mags don’t drop free, so I’m quite certain that the magwell is simply out of spec and I can’t think of any way of fixing the problem short of replacing the entire lower.
Now, if it is out of spec and its going to get replaced, what exactly does that mean in terms of getting a replacement lower?
Do I have to go back through my FFL to ship the old one back and receive the new one? I’m assuming that the new lower will have a different serial number, so do I have to go back through my FFL and redo the paperwork? What happens to the old lower?
Do you have an Olympic?
What will happen is the manufacturer will issue a new lower if it is defective with the same serial number or a -1 added to it. Are you sure its the lower? Have you used more than one brand of mag to verify the problem?
Actually, its not an Olympic. Its from a place I would never have expected to have run into this. But the bright side is that I’ve already got word that a couple of out of spec receivers were ID’d and that mine will be replaced quickly. As it is the weekend, I wasn’t able to ask the follow up questions and I got impatient. I’m sure I’ll get answers tomorrow, I just was seeing what’s the normal routine when this happens.
And I tried inserting about 50 mags (everything from Pmags, to Colt 20 and 30 rounders, to Brownells) and about 90% of them won’t seat and the ones that would need to be yanked out. These mags all run through my Colts, LMTs and other Noveske’s, so my suspicion is that I just got the rare, bad lower.
It happens.
I’ve got no complaints against the AR maker. He promptly replied and I’m confident it’ll get taken care of. I was just wondering how…
I don’t think its a Pmag problem. Since I’m already getting a no questions asked trade-in, I think it would be poor taste to take a dremel to it. I guess that would be plan B if I wasn’t getting the trade in.
Heard that one manufactuer’s answer to “Hey, only half of my mags fit,” was, “yeah, we make them tight to keep the dirt out and had a special request from (whatever highspeed super secret outfit) to make them tight so mags would not drop out and get lost during CQB”…:rolleyes:
Its all good. Its on its way back and will be replaced with another lower. It’ll have to go through my FFL, but all transfer fees will be picked up by the company. So I’m just out a week or two without the lower. Its a good thing I have a couple other ARs.
Stan Chen- a pretty sharp 'smith in CO told me he once had a lower that was so tight mags were a chore to insert and extract. When he called the factory he received an answer just as Ned describes.
A few months late he had a lower from the same compant that was so loose tha magazine had lateral play.
When he called the company they told him that it was made that way because people using it in the war wanted something that would not choke on sand and would allow the sand to fall out of the gun.
This generally occures when the manufacturers mag well broach has worn past its critical tolerance - you tend to see it more when demand for lowers is high - sometimes it takes a while for the manufacturer to realise that there is a problem.
By what you describe, I would caution that it would be unwise to attempt to dremel the lower - you will have to remove too much material and if you damage it, you have no recourse to the manufacturer. If it were mine, I would send it back to the manufacturer - they are unlikely to broach the mag well again so I would ask them to destroy the lower to ATF specifications and issue you a new one with the same serial nmber (if you are wedded to that number) or just replace the lower.
Well, in full disclosure, it was a Noveske lower and I got zero excuses from John. I simply was told to send it back and it would get quickly exchanged and all expenses would be on his dime. I got an absolutely professional and no-nonsense response.
This is another reason why I wouldn’t hesitate sending more money and business his direction.
Many years ago, I got a batch of 15 of a certain brand, and the mags could not be inserted or removed without substantial effort. Manufacturer replied that the tolerances were tighter than mil-spec, and more favorable to the ap intended since the mag wouldn’t drop-free accidentally. They recommended that training be adjusted to assist the mag out of the gun. They offered to fix them, if I insisted.
Close inspection revealed that they simply hadn’t finished machining the lower. They were sent back, and returned in a condition ranging from acceptable to downright sloppy.
A later purchase of a dozen of the same brand (yeah, I know) arrived with uppers that had not been fully machined.
A number of TOB lowers with dimension issues have appeared at TOS. For a lot of us here, it’s nice to have one’s choice in TDP affirmed. I’ve even seen – actually owned an example – of a lower that had a combination of being machined quite a bit too far left of centerline and having the magwell oversized. You wouldn’t have believed the thinness of the receiver under the rollmark! I actually had a thread at TOS years ago collecting measures for the magwell walls. Created a nice stem-and-leaf plot out of it. Wish I still had access to all that data.
I have an Olympic that’s a registered AW here in CA and I only use it as a “test fire” lower when I’m test firing barrels or uppers.
It would be nice to get it re-made with a proper magwell so I could build something more useful out of it and use another non-AW lower as my test-fire lower.
I’m sure I’ll get answers tomorrow, I just was seeing what’s the normal routine when this happens.
