How to test my stash of well used 30 round magazines?

[wahoowad]

I have a 'few' 30 round M16 magazines - they would always spill out of my gear at home and sometimes not make it back to post. They worked fine 15 and 20 yeas ago but have since sat quietly in a box, empty, thoughts of them coming in handy one day in the back of my mind.

I've always used my 5 and 10 round magazines when I take my AR15 to the rifle range or out blasting woodchucks. Now I'm wondering how to test those old magazines without burning up a case of precious ammo. Should I fill them up and cycle my bolt manually to see if they all feed? Or maybe use them during my next few range trips (which are few and far between - I hunt more than I plink). I would only fill them with maybe 5 rounds since that is how I normally shoot to conserve ammo.

Is 5 rounds enough? I'm thinking the magazine is weakest at low spring pressure? They probably saw a LOT of use with blanks.

 

[Dracozny]

load em to the max and cycle the bolt. really only once or twice is more than sufficient to see if it has any issues, cycling the springs is what wears em out. other than that see if it cycles properly on a fully loaded mag+1 and see if it cycles properly on the last couple rounds. you probably will not have any issues with them unless the springs are actually worn from too many cycles.

 

[camocorvette]

If your really worried I would buy new springs and magpul followers. Otherwise I say disasemble them and clean everything real good with CLP, wipe it down and re assemble. I have some pre-68 Colt 20 rounders with the crappy pot metal follower and original spring that my dad gave me years ago. They work just fine still, but you can only load 18 rounds or they bind.

All in all I wouldnt worry to much. I'm sure someone else can chime in with their opinions. Good luck

 

[Tonmarchelli]

I second the new springs and followers

 

[1Sg (ret)]

The first thing i would test is insert the mag into the rifle and hit the mag release button.If the mag dont fall out of the mag well by its self discard.Like everybody else said take apart,Clean,and add new springs and followers.Take them with you to the range a few at a time and test them with live ammo.

 

[ORD]

The first thing i would test is insert the mag into the rifle and hit the mag release button.If the mag dont fall out of the mag well by its self discard.Like everybody else said take apart,Clean,and add new springs and followers.Take them with you to the range a few at a time and test them with live ammo.

+1 on ^^this^^ advice.

The Magpul anti-tilt followers are the way to go for replacement followers without question (the Gen3 units run around $1.75/follower and can be had in bulk packs). As for mag springs, I have had excellent service from a wide variety of manufacturers over the years, including Wolff, the Brownells brand and others. As long as you get good quality, chrome silicon springs (whether XP or standard), you should be good to go. A 10-pack of springs (depending on how many you need) can be had for around $45-50 for the Wolffs and cheaper for other brands like the Brownells brand. SO...as long as your mag bodies, and particularly the feed lips, are in good working order, and the fit/function/drop free from your rifle, you can rebuild stock GI mags for <$7/mag with the highest quality components which should keep all your mags running great for a long time.

 

[HemiDave]

Test it full, test the last few rounds and test the drop free. If all that works, keep 'em!

Dave

 

[leadbullet]

inspect the feed lips and if they are good, clean and install new springs and followers and they'll be good as new for a few bucks a piece.

 

[84bandit]

+1 on the feed lips. where you will really have trouble is when the mags are fully loaded or empty. The 26 rounds in the middle will feed properly assuming the spring pressure and feed lips are clean enough to feed the first 2-3 rounds and the last 2-3 rounds. I would load up the mag full, shoot a few, unload the mag, load like 3, and shoot those last three. This will tell you if the mag feeds the first and last round cleanly. if it does, then the bulk of the rounds in the middle should follow. At least this has been my experience

 

[BigJohn141]

As there are plenty of post on what to do to test them, I am just going to add one little note for those out there wanting to do the same thing. If you decide to load them up and cycle the bolt a few time, please don't use rounds while sitting in your living room. Take it somewhere safe and do it while pointed in a safe direction. The last thing I want to see is a news report about someone having a slam fire and shooting their neighbor on accident.

 

[McCrazy]

You say your mags are 15-20 years old. Do they have the green followers or the black ones? The green ones are ok but the black ones absolutely suck.

Either way, I replace USGI followers with the Magpuls for all my in-use magazines and you would be wise to do the same. Cheap insurance.

 

[Here2Learn]

As there are plenty of post on what to do to test them, I am just going to add one little note for those out there wanting to do the same thing. If you decide to load them up and cycle the bolt a few time, please don't use rounds while sitting in your living room. Take it somewhere safe and do it while pointed in a safe direction. The last thing I want to see is a news report about someone having a slam fire and shooting their neighbor on accident.

This^^^ is the best advise. Had this happen with a 308 now nothing gets loaded unless it is at the range except my carry weapon