CSA 5.56 Nato Polymer Mag Durablity

AbHobbyist

AbHobbyist

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Hello all!!

I know that many are waiting for the CSA mag-well adapter to come out that will allow the CSA carbines to take AR mags.

Well some of us are not that patient!!

I am curious as to those of you that actually have them, How are you finding the durability of the 5.56 Polymer mags.

While they seem to be made out of "recycled VHS tape plastic" second hand reports seem to be very positive.

Thank you all for your time and I look forward to first hand constructive reports.

regards

AbH
 
They need to make/incorporate some reinforcing ribs on the outside of the mag. Not only to make them stronger, but also to make them easier to grip in the rain/mud (when these nice smooth- as- a- baby's -bottom mags are especially slippery):)

They remind me of the type of plastic that the steyr ssg p1 mags were made out of (their retention notches frequentlybroke off in cold weather, at least mine did):(

I haven't had one break yet, but then again I haven't tortured them either. The built up area on the mag that engages the mag latch on the rifle seems to be a vunerable area. I'd feel better if it was steel insert reinforced (as plastic ak mags are), but they aren't.
I suspect that in cold (think cold brittle plastic) weather, this area would be vunerable to breaking off if handled roughly, or even dropped on a hard surface.

I'd definately like to see if they'd do a product improvement in this area in future.
 
Like you AbHobbyist, I couldn't wait any longer for the adapters, so I now have a total of 9 of the plastic ones, 7 of them being the clear/smoked ones (a lot more LCF than the plain black!) While I haven't abused mine either, I have found they are holding up well. Slowly developing fine scratches going in and out of range bags and getting dropped on the ground doing mag changes. I found them quite tight to insert when they were new, but as time goes on, they are wearing down enough to insert nice and smooth, but still snug. off topic, but have you guys done any mods yet? running optics? We really should get a 5.56 csa pic thread going....
 
I didn't hold out much hope for an AR mag conversion kit either, so likewise I stocked up on ten mags initially. Zupermann and Sakonut are spot on.

The mags are quite good. A textured finish or ribs would help grip, and reinforcing rib would probably give more ease of mind.
 
Sakonut said:
Like you AbHobbyist, I couldn't wait any longer for the adapters, so I now have a total of 9 of the plastic ones, 7 of them being the clear/smoked ones (a lot more LCF than the plain black!) While I haven't abused mine either, I have found they are holding up well. Slowly developing fine scratches going in and out of range bags and getting dropped on the ground doing mag changes. I found them quite tight to insert when they were new, but as time goes on, they are wearing down enough to insert nice and smooth, but still snug. off topic, but have you guys done any mods yet? running optics? We really should get a 5.56 csa pic thread going....
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I'm still waiting for the AR conversion unit. My two original plastic mags work O.K., one is a bit hard to insert and lock but it' still very new. I have attached the scope mount with brass deflector (Wolverine has them) and mounted an old scope on it to try it out. If it works fine, I will consider a red dot, probably a Vortex. The mount is solid and very tight fitting with no play. One minor concern I have with the CSA 5.56 mm is that early and limited firing seems to indicate a generous headspace. Fired cases clearly show length that is quite longer than cases fired from all my other AR-15 type rifles and my SAN. I'll have to keep an eye on it because it clearly affects brass for reloading. Any one else has seen such a problem?
 
Miltiades said:
I'm still waiting for the AR conversion unit. My two original plastic mags work O.K., one is a bit hard to insert and lock but it' still very new. I have attached the scope mount with brass deflector (Wolverine has them) and mounted an old scope on it to try it out. If it works fine, I will consider a red dot, probably a Vortex. The mount is solid and very tight fitting with no play. One minor concern I have with the CSA 5.56 mm is that early and limited firing seems to indicate a generous headspace. Fired cases clearly show length that is quite longer than cases fired from all my other AR-15 type rifles and my SAN. I'll have to keep an eye on it because it clearly affects brass for reloading. Any one else has seen such a problem?
Click to expand...

Ugh I'll have to measure mine eventually and post back in this thread.
 
I'd definately like to see if they'd do a product improvement in this area in future.
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[/QUOTE]

We're just too small a market for them to pay any attention to us. If they get into the US market, you'll be sure the mags will be improved pronto!
 
Satain said:
Is it possible to exchange the internals off the 556 mag and slap it into the x39 mag shell?
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You know, that's an idea worth looking into.

I have a cz 2003 sport from marstar. The 762 mags are very close, except they don't fit in my czech arms 223. There's a vertical metal strip on the front of the mag that looks like it'll fit (allowing the front of the mag to latch) if it's ground off.

Still, it should be do-able, but there are a couple other things to work on. I tried some 223 rounds and they were a tad too long for the 762 mag. Grinding down the inside of the mag could be done to allow clearance. Would the taper of the 762 mag affect presentation/feeding of the 223? We're only talking for the first 5 rounds, so it's doubtful, but one never knows....

Anyone wanna take a chance at wrecking 1 or 2 good mags to see if this'll work? I only have 2 mags each, so I don't wanna do it;)

I guess until these plastic mags start breaking, all this is moot.:HR: Maybe these mags are stronger than they look!
 
Miltiades said:
I'm still waiting for the AR conversion unit. My two original plastic mags work O.K., one is a bit hard to insert and lock but it' still very new. I have attached the scope mount with brass deflector (Wolverine has them) and mounted an old scope on it to try it out. If it works fine, I will consider a red dot, probably a Vortex. The mount is solid and very tight fitting with no play. One minor concern I have with the CSA 5.56 mm is that early and limited firing seems to indicate a generous headspace. Fired cases clearly show length that is quite longer than cases fired from all my other AR-15 type rifles and my SAN. I'll have to keep an eye on it because it clearly affects brass for reloading. Any one else has seen such a problem?
Click to expand...

Haven't looked for signs of any headspacing issues on brass, but I gave up on reloading when I noticed that these guns really hammer the #### out of the brass while ejecting. About 5mm below the shoulder, I get a hell of a dent on every casing...wondering if maybe the casings are slamming off the bolt carrier on the way out?
 
Dented cases may still be reusable. If you can run it through the sizing die and fit it into the chamber, any remaining dent will just pop out on firing, anyway. Swiss Arms rifles will do the same thing.
 
For some reason, my CSA 5.56 does not dent the cases. My SAN does this and I have minimized the dents by gluing a small piece of hard rubber at the pint of contact. In any case, light dents indeed are not a problem sometimes when resizing! The headspace worries me much more.
 
Well, perhaps this is a "Necro-post"

However with the sale happening at SFRC on their 223 guns, I was wondering about this again.

Anyone else care to update us all on their first hand findings??

Thx

AbH
 
I haven't had problems with my mags in cold weather either, but that being said, I plan on using my VZ58 for some coyote hunting this winter and want to run these mags through the ringer just in case. I have seen a few guys have sprayed them with box liner which really must quiet them down and make them a bit more durable - at least externally. I may try that with mine.
 
i HAD a mag well adapter - didn't like it and it caused plenty of problems; couldn't get back to the original mags fast enough!! (not a single problem since).
 
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