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AW magazine with SAUM style cases?

ormandj

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Nov 5, 2009
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Has anybody tried and either successfully run or modified an AW magazine to function with SAUM cartridges? I'm in the process of building a 7SS (close enough to a 7SAUM in case for the purposes of this discussion) and was wondering if an AW magazine might be an option. I'm guessing the follower would need modification, but wanted to see if anybody had already gone down this path. I don't have any actions on hand to test with, so I can't determine if there would be interference.

If so - has anybody come up with an aftermarket follower? If not, I'll probably spend the time to design and manufacture some once I have an action on hand to see what needs modification; I'd just prefer to avoid duplicating work.
 
Try an American Rifle Company magazine. You'll need to open the feed lips to get enough bolt face on the brass. A .473 case sits higher due to smaller body diameter a SAUM lower with its larger diameter.
 
Try an American Rifle Company magazine. You'll need to open the feed lips to get enough bolt face on the brass. A .473 case sits higher due to smaller body diameter a SAUM lower with its larger diameter.

I have functioning AICS DSSF magazines for SAUM cartridges (Accurate/etc make them for the short magnums). I'm looking for the ability to use AW magazines with these cartridges.
 
An ARC mag is essentially a single feed AW mag.

From what I understand, they're nearly 3/8" longer, and from all the feedback I've seen here, have issues running when not clean (website says as much). I think MDT has the same type of magazine, it's kind of a hybrid of the two, and they make them for the WSM/SAUM style cases. I had issues with the MDT magazines as the followers were the full magazine length and were binding on the feed ramp in the action I tried. I'll try another action later with an AW cut and see how that goes. Accurate magazines didn't have that issue, but they are also taller. I'm open to other suggestions...

I really am looking for a way to do this with AW magazines.
 
If I had a mag bolt face for one of my AW cut actions I'd try a few combinations for you. With an ARC mag in my Rem 700 300WSM/Manners mini chassis does not pick up the cartridge, it sits too low.
 
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I'm not sure a SAUM/WSM will feed right from a double feed AW mag.
 
I'm not sure a SAUM/WSM will feed right from a double feed AW mag.
I don’t think it will, I think it needs a modified follower. That’s why I was curious if anyone had worked on one, or if I would have to look at designing one when I had an action on hand.
 
Need to contact ai and/or their team shooters. They were running 6.5 prc in an AT action. No idea what mags they were using, but I'm sure they were AI branded and not a competitive mag company.
 
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It doesn’t work, I’ve tried it. I’m my experience, you can sorta kinda get them to stay in the mag… until you bump it, or try feeding it in a rifle, then you’ll have nothing but double feeds.

Yep, my exact results with 6.5prc in aw mags in my badger. It works a few times and then it turns into a volcano of cartridges filling up action. Accurate wsm aics mags are the answer.
 
Copy that. I’ve got plenty of those on hand. Just thought I’d see if there was a shorter option with the AW, and sounds like there isn’t. Now here’s to hoping Accurate comes out with one of the hybrid style that are a bit shorter, but have the appropriate length feedlips and follower like the accurate mags do.
 
The problem is further amplified by the sharp 40° and almost zero body taper of the Sherman cases. I've built a few. The best way to run them is from a bdl and a wyatt's center feed magazine box, or from an aics mag tuned for proper case head presentation to the bolt and cartridge release. Finding a short action mag with enough oal room is the challenge. ARC mags are the best bet, but are tempered metal and tuning the lips has to be done carefully or they'll break. If you can find Alpha magazines they're great but good luck acquiring. If this isn't a tactical rifle thay needs a large ammo capacity, a Hawkins M5 oberndorf bdl and wyatt's cfe-5 box is gonna be the smoothest feeding and has a 2.995" internal length.
 
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The problem is further amplified by the sharp 40° and almost zero body taper of the Sherman cases. I've built a few. The best way to run them is from a bdl and a wyatt's center feed magazine box, or from an aics mag tuned for proper case head presentation to the bolt and cartridge release. Finding a short action mag with enough oal room is the challenge. ARC mags are the best bet, but are tempered metal and tuning the lips has to be done carefully or they'll break. If you can find Alpha magazines they're great but good luck acquiring. If this isn't a tactical rifle thay needs a large ammo capacity, a Hawkins M5 oberndorf bdl and wyatt's cfe-5 box is gonna be the smoothest feeding and has a 2.995" internal length.
I'm pretty committed to magazines at this point (MDT HNT26 plus the Defiance actions will have the guardian cut). Looks like Accurate AICS binderless magazines it is. The few I have measure 2.970" and I think with the 7SS the lands are at 2.920" COAL with a 180H, so that should be plenty of room. I'll be primarily shooting 175EHs.

I won't use ARC magazines, they have far too many reported reliability issues. I love ARC, but I'm not a fan of magazines that are that sensitive to grit and grime. The Accurate AICS have enough internal length I don't see that being a problem, even with some throat erosion.
 
I'm pretty committed to magazines at this point (MDT HNT26 plus the Defiance actions will have the guardian cut). Looks like Accurate AICS binderless magazines it is. The few I have measure 2.970" and I think with the 7SS the lands are at 2.920" COAL with a 180H, so that should be plenty of room. I'll be primarily shooting 175EHs.

I won't use ARC magazines, they have far too many reported reliability issues. I love ARC, but I'm not a fan of magazines that are that sensitive to grit and grime. The Accurate AICS have enough internal length I don't see that being a problem, even with some throat erosion.
Also look into the MDT mags. The binderless 10 round 308 mags will hold 6 of a magnum, and are shorter than a 7rnd accurate mag. Just gotta tweak the feed lips a little.
 
I'm pretty committed to magazines at this point (MDT HNT26 plus the Defiance actions will have the guardian cut). Looks like Accurate AICS binderless magazines it is. The few I have measure 2.970" and I think with the 7SS the lands are at 2.920" COAL with a 180H, so that should be plenty of room. I'll be primarily shooting 175EHs.

I won't use ARC magazines, they have far too many reported reliability issues. I love ARC, but I'm not a fan of magazines that are that sensitive to grit and grime. The Accurate AICS have enough internal length I don't see that being a problem, even with some throat erosion.
Binderless aics should do the trick. Mdt are 2.97 internal, believe arc are around 2.98, I ran my 25sst from accurate wsm mags with no problems.
 
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Also look into the MDT mags. The binderless 10 round 308 mags will hold 6 of a magnum, and are shorter than a 7rnd accurate mag. Just gotta tweak the feed lips a little.
I had issues with the MDT magazines since their followers are full length and the feed lips are shorter than the accurate magazines.
 
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I’m running my 25 SST with MDT SAUM mags. Haven’t bothered to try with anything else.
 
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Thanks for all of the suggestions folks, it seems pretty clear that AICS binderless is the way to go.
 
I don't think AW mags would work with 7RSAUM or WSM sized cases.

I tried one with .284W and it didn't work out of the box.

I don't have one to look at with me at the moment but from memory the feed lips weren't the right shape to hold fatter case of the .284 in position so they just roll out though the top.

Someone might be able to tweak the feed lips but it wasn't just a case of closing or widening the gap, they needed their curvature to be tweaked to match that of the case.
 
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It'd be great if you'd start another thread for the slap-fight. I'm sure this one will be more helpful for those in the future without it. :)
 
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