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KAC SR-25 Magazine refinish. *Update* Need help troubleshooting feeding issues!

Starman_Dan

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Minuteman
Feb 6, 2020
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Hello! I have recently obtained some KAC mags in need of some love. Springs and followers are being replaced, but the original finish is far gone and theres a little bit of surface rust. I'm planning on soaking the mags over night in evapo-rust to remove all of the surface rust. Fortunately there is little to no rust inside of the magazines.

I'm planning on refinishing the mags and wanted to see if anybody knew what finish Knights uses on their mags? I am not sure how well Perma Slik G would work. I've read quite a bit on it being used to refinish USGI mags, but not sure how well it'd work on steel, especially how well it would protect against rust.

If anybody has any experience with this or a suggestion, I would be glad to hear your input! Thank you!
 
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I’ve used norrels moly resin in the grey parkerizing color on steel mags and they come out very nice! It should be a close match to the original finish.
 
I've done mags in the PermaSlik, they come out nice but are shiny and scratch easily.
 
If you can have them cheaply blasted, please do so. Surface prep is the number one issue for coating failure. Also, post before and after pics if you can. I am interested to try this on some steel ar15 mags.
 
Why not just hit them with fine grit sandpaper and rattle can them with your color of choice?
 
Why not just hit them with fine grit sandpaper and rattle can them with your color of choice?
I would, but the thing is I live in a very humid area so rust has been an issue for me here and I don't want to rattle the portion of the magazine that is inserted into the magwell.

Thank you everybody for the help! I ended up sending them out to be blasted and cerakoted for corrosion resistance!
As a side note to keep in mind, the Evapo-Rust did wonders on removing the rust but it also removed whatever was left of the finish!
 
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I would, but the thing is I live in a very humid area so rust has been an issue for me here and I don't want to rattle the portion of the magazine that is inserted into the magwell.

Thank you everybody for the help! I ended up sending them out to be blasted and cerakoted for corrosion resistance!
As a side note to keep in mind, the Evapo-Rust did wonders on removing the rust but it also removed whatever was left of the finish!

You did it the right way, have them blasted and coated. Trying to use sand paper will not get you the uniform adhesion that a blast job will for coating applications.
 
Update as well as request for additional help!

Got the magazines back and couldn't be happier with how they look. Got them done in Sig Coyote Tan. I replaced the springs/followers with brand new KAC Springs,Followers, and baseplates (like an idiot I tossed the originals). The issue is that none of them will feed.

I took them out on Friday along with some factory new-ish KAC mags that ran great. I exclusively ran Lake City M118lr through all of the mags. The cerakoted ones would not feed at all and required me to manually charging the rifle to load the next round. The failures would appear the same with the bolt not closing and the round facing up as if it was going to feed.

I'm looking for potential remedies to try here and wanted to hear if anybody has any experience or knowledge regarding this.
Like an idiot, I didn't keep the original internals and can't go back to original configuration and troubleshoot from there.

Here is some information about the changes that stand out to me the most as common variables among the 3 Magazines.
-These magazines all had the older style base plate that I replaced with the shim/new base plate with clip.
-Brand new springs may be a bit stiff? My MWS has had some undergassing issues that I have been working on a little the past week; it works perfectly with my other mags, but they have some use on them and the springs may be as little weaker.
-The inside is very lightly cerakoted and there is no dry film lubricant left, maybe there is too much friction?
-Possibly incorrect spring/follower installation? Compared it to factory mag and it matches from what I could tell.

I apologize for the wall of text and appreciate any help/insight! I just moved out of a ban state recently so magazine troubleshooting is a rather new experience for me...

Anyway, here are the mags after cerakoting!
KiCrqMu.jpg


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Could try bending the feed lips ever so slightly to prevent the round higher.

I feel like if it was friction inside the mag you would have stuck bullets in the mag and they would not begin to chamber