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Bad batch of AICS 223 Mags???

19Scout77

Gunny Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Jun 9, 2007
4,008
613
GA
I recall a recent thread regarding some defective aics 223 mags. Can anyone provide some info or a link? My buddy and I have 4 new mags, all of which have the lips too far apart allowing the rounds to pop out way too soon in the bolt cycle...causing the bullet tip to stand up too high too soon.Thanks.
 
No shit....this is happening to other people too? Happens on both of mine and I'm pissed. Mine came from this latest batch.
 
Load a couple rounds in one of the bad ones. Then load a couple in one you know works. Compare the two from the back and look how much higher the round sits in one of the bad ones.
 
last week i bought on from triad and have not had any problems with it yet, i put about 60 rounds through it yesterday and everything went perfect. can someone post a picture of what is going on so i can compare it to mine.

thanks coby
 
I recall a recent thread regarding some defective aics 223 mags. Can anyone provide some info or a link? My buddy and I have 4 new mags, all of which have the lips too far apart allowing the rounds to pop out way too soon in the bolt cycle...causing the bullet tip to stand up too high too soon.Thanks.

That was me.

http://www.snipershide.com/shooting/snipers-hide-rifle-scopes/262036-ai-223-mag-issues.html

I'm still waiting for a reply to an email I sent to Lance at AI over 3 weeks ago.
 
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Great customer service! Considering how many dollars of american money is sent to them you'd think a more hastily response would be in order.
 
Yea I commented on the last thread about mine only having issues when they were all the way loaded up to 10, but as of 2 days ago I started running into the exact same issues as you guys are. I tried loading 3 different rounds (had 5 in the magazine) and every one of them pointed themselves straight into the top of the chamber and wouldn't load. Finally I pulled the mag and shoved one in with my thumb so I could shoot the woodchuck laughing at me from my wood pile.

By the way two of mine were from a batch in February from PTG and one came with my Element Chassis in April.
 
AI magazine failure to feed in Remington 700 - YouTube

This is representative of the failures to feed I had. The dbm was installed professionally and works with initial production 223 AICS magazines. The problem ones were purchased in Jan/Feb 2014.

I apologize for the quality of the video as it'd be better demonstrated by two people. I was trying to keep the rifle in frame and the fumbling in clearing is a result.
 
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Ten rounds in a functional magazine vs ten rounds in one of the problem magazines
10292288_10152454229002779_5448439885931295324_n.jpg
995626_10152454229077779_1937175085449789715_n.jpg
10606333_10152454229122779_7984730069913636112_n.jpg

Here you can see where the rounds were rubbing on the bolt body.
Glad it's not fluted :p

10556474_10152454229322779_7029598793058201430_n.jpg
 
I bought 3 from Triad, those seem to feed fine. I got a fourth from a friend, it came with a chassis he bought from another vendor. That one feeds horribly like the video above. I'm about to punch it out to 223AI, I figure I'll worry about troubleshooting it then. Being plastic, the amount of feed lip tweaking available is limited.
 
Jamie, I guess you can tell that's a 223AI.

I just spoke to Lance at AI and he said to send them in and he will replace them.
I can't ask for more than that at this point.
Hopefully the ones I get will not have the same issue.
 
Hello MLC,

As you noted in your last post, you are running the Ackley Improved .223 which is obviously larger in diameter at the front of the body. In your video, it looks like the rounds are stripping out too low due the straighter case body and the bullet is jamming against the barrel breech face. The problem may be aggravated by small tolerance differences (tolerance on the big side) between the bottom metal and the mag body. Most bottom metal systems have a short support surface against the forward edge of the magazine allowing slightly more droop at the front of the magazine and this is exactly what you don't want with the Ackley Improved rounds. Mag feeding issues are rare, but we always like to have them back for testing. We usually never duplicate the feeding issue when testing in an AICS because the mag is correctly supported and the mag catch has a very strong spring to hold the mag forward in the aperture. It is worth noting that such feeding issues are extremely rare in chassis by other manufactures, and this is due to more complete control over the position and tolerance of the magazine aperture in the fully CNC machined chassis.

I believe you have already spoken to Lance about sending the mags back.

Regards,
-Scott
VP Accuracy International of North America, Inc.
 
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Tom, is that Lance's number?
I called him over 3 weeks ago and he said send him an email explaining the problem. I haven't received a reply.
 
here is my mag.





You can see how the rounds pop up in the bad one. The other is an older mag, that works like a charm.

** Right after I posted these photos, I called the number in Tom Irwins post. I got a return number and I'll send it off tomorrow. I'll keep you posted.
Kevin



!!!! Saturday, FedEx dropped a brand new magazine at my door. Works perfect.
 
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Is the mag. on the left the functional example?
Yes, you can see how the magazine on the right allows the rounds to sit much higher. One thing I didn't mention is that the malfunctioning mags have a wide enough gap between the lips to allow top loading.

Scott, I have no doubt there is more precision in the AI chassis. The 700 isn't ideal for a short, tiny case feeding
I haven't had issues with the two
magazines I bought from Euro Optic that I took to be from the first run(2012) so it was a surprise when I had issues with the new ones.
Thanks to you, Tom and Lance for supporting your products.
 
For the mags that are not working properly, have they been that way from the beginning or have they had some use and are starting to kinda wear out.
 
For the mags that are not working properly, have they been that way from the beginning or have they had some use and are starting to kinda wear out.

Mine started working then went sideways after one or two range trips.
 
The issues I have are with new and unused magazines.


Both mine one were brand new from Euro Optics and failed the first time they were loaded.
Got a reply to my email and a RA number. Mine are going back today.
 
There were 3 magazines from AI on my porch mid day!
I did not expect that kind of customer service.
 
here is my mag.





You can see how the rounds pop up in the bad one. The other is an older mag, that works like a charm.

** Right after I posted these photos, I called the number in Tom Irwins post. I got a return number and I'll send it off tomorrow. I'll keep you posted.
Kevin
My two new ones do the same thing as pictured. AI rep told me to make sure it wasn't counterfeit and send it back to where I got it from, Tactical Works, and they did replace them. Still have trouble with the replacements they sent. Looks like I will call AI and get these replaced too. Thanks for stepping up AI and acknowledging this.
 
There were 3-4 guys running ones from the new batch at Rayners last weekend and they all had issues as the match went on. Mine lasted 12 rounds and the other about 30. It was all I could do to keep from tossing mine to the wind. I sent my two in for replacement on Monday. AI said they would be evaluated and if they were defective, they would replace them.
 
Add me to the list of mags to be sent back. I just got it a month ago and might have 100 or so rounds through it.
 
Are the replacements better?
No they are not. One of MLC's 3 mags was mine. Upon visual inspection, the replacement magazine's lips were even further apart. When used,as soo as you moved the bolt forward, the front of the round popped up preventing feeding. This was with a straight 223, not an Ackley.
 
I've got 5. The one that came with my bottom metal kit functioned fine. Added two more, one's fubared along the lines of what's been mentioned above. Added an additional 2, both function properly. Glad that I happened upon this thread-I had assumed that my issue was an isolated problem.
 
I got my two replacements yesterday. Jury is still out as I have not had the chance to test them in the field, but they did function with cycling 10 rounds thru. There is still a .002 gap on either side of the round on the last .25" of the feed lips and the rounds still sit high compared to the old mags. One good thing is cycling the bolt on these new mags, the bolt doesn't appear to be rubbing on the feed lips like the last ones. It was actually shaving shards of plastic off of the lips on the previous two I had. One thing I noticed at the last local match where several guys were using mags from the latest batch, was the 90 degree heat seemed to make matters worse. Mags did ok in the morning, but in the afternoon it seemed like the plastic was getting soft and everyone that had the new mags lost all functionality. The only guys that had functioning mags were the guys that had mags that were 2 years old.
 
I had the opportunity to test out 3 mags this weekend: 1 is GTG, 1 is so-so, and 1 fails terribly. For mine, there isn't really a noticeable difference after loading, but my test is to lightly try to lift the tip of the top round. With a good mag, it barely lifts up. With a bad mag, I can rotate the round to vertical and it will eventually jump right out of the magazine.
 
Well, my two replacement mags would not feed the first fucking round at a match today. Neither one would feed just one round. The round just lift right out of the magazine because the lips are too far apart. So damn wide you can top load them like a pmag. Makes it hard to shoot a match when you have to feed by hand. I guess I will send another email to Lance and send these back for another round of replacements. Not happy at all and these are my second round of replacements.
 
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Got 2 from PTG a month or two ago and they both cycled fine. Got my rifle all put together installed my base, rings, and scope before heading to the range to find out both of my mags are tits up. I was ticked off, but the silver lining is after single feeding rounds I have a laser.
 
My 3rd round of replacements are supposed to be on the way. I will report if the 3rd time is a charm, if not, I give up.