858 - Mag To Magwell Fit?

Redhouse

Redhouse

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Just got my 858 out to the range for the first time today. Have not previously shot or played with one.

Had a fair bit of trouble knocking the mag up into the magwell, fit was overly tight. Wondering if it's the paint, and if they will 'wear in'? Or can I put just a hint of grease on the edges to facilitate easier feeding?

I'm no gorilla but I was using pretty good exertion to get past the entry point, once the front edge was in it did feed easier.
 
The mags are made of Aluminum... so make sure nothing is warped etc. I've had a couple of mags a little dented out of spec, a little elbow grease and they went in fine.

Also, you were rocking the mags in, right? Not just trying to slide them in like an AR?
 
CannonFodder41 said:
The mags are made of Aluminum... so make sure nothing is warped etc. I've had a couple of mags a little dented out of spec, a little elbow grease and they went in fine.

Also, you were rocking the mags in, right? Not just trying to slide them in like an AR?
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Yes on rocking them in, note near the end of my OP I did say putting front edge in first. Thanks for the hint, I'll take a closer look at all the fit n finish.
 
Mine came with 2 new and 2 used mags. The used ones go in real easy, while the new ones take some muscle. The used ones are worn down to bare metal where they contact the magwell - so I guess with use the new ones will go in smoother. Or you could just leave one in and load from the stripper clips.
 
A little hint for you non-luber's.
Try some oil or grease around the outside of the lips of the mags untill you have atleast shot 500 rounds threw her. This will help wear it into place.
 
The paint on the mags and the inside of the mag well is.... generous.
I've sanded all of my mags down to bare metal at the lips to the mag well ledge and they work slick.

I'll likely blast em all and arma-coat them as a final solution.
 
they will work in after a few mag changes. I was bored one day and sat through a movie doing mag changes to loosen them up. lol
 
millwright said:
Some I flat filled to get the paint off some I just used sand paper.Don't be afraid to file them to fit.
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X2.

I used a broad file to true up the sides of all my mags, as well get in the front where the mag indexes into the receiver with a little bit of sandpaper. Next to our Bolt Release this is the modification that will speed up your mag changes the most... and it's free.

.. All of my current mags have been masked and the tops of them all have been sandblasted completely and then the sides trued up. Slicker than whale ####.
 
You don't need to take a file to your mags or even sand paper. All it takes to smooth them out is use.

After enough use those mags will fit perfect. I would be concerned that if you removed material from the magazine, as they wear in, you're going to have excessive play and movement side to side.

With my mags, new, there was almost zero side to side movement perpendicular to the receiver. Now that they are broken in there is a "fair" amount of movement. By removing material, how much additional movement is going to be created? Would it be enough to cause feed failures under certain conditions?

Yes, my magazines were quite difficult to insert and remove initially. After a few hundred practice sessions they are perfect.
 
Couple of my used mags have lots of side to side play(I didn't file these ones) and no issues.I even purposely moved them while firing to attempt a mag issue.No problem for me.YMMV
 
NavyCuda said:
You don't need to take a file to your mags or even sand paper. All it takes to smooth them out is use.

After enough use those mags will fit perfect. I would be concerned that if you removed material from the magazine, as they wear in, you're going to have excessive play and movement side to side.

With my mags, new, there was almost zero side to side movement perpendicular to the receiver. Now that they are broken in there is a "fair" amount of movement. By removing material, how much additional movement is going to be created? Would it be enough to cause feed failures under certain conditions?

Yes, my magazines were quite difficult to insert and remove initially. After a few hundred practice sessions they are perfect.
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.. Don't remove material across the entire surface, just true them up.

My mags are looser than a Crack-Whore on sunday.. But I've never had or seen a mag-related malfunction because of fitment. My main shooter is set up for speed. Reliability has never suffered from this. The trick is to true it up, if the entire sides of the mag are down to the metal You've likely gone too far. But the front and rear 1/4 likely will. this way when I hit my mag release all of my mags drop free. The tuning required is very minute, and you don't need to be powering through with a rasp.. just loosening up contact surfaces.

For normal applications, this is likely excessive. But if you're shooting matches, it makes a world of difference especially when keeping up with AR guys with 10rnders. In a match I can change mags with a VZ faster than most with an AR.

We do IA drills with 4-5 mags with 1rnd, 2rnds, 3rnds, 4rnds, etc in each mag, mixed up and rapid fire/reload. We have High Speed vid of my 5 mag drills done in 7-8 seconds. Biggest reason is the ability to index mags smoothly.
 
NeitArms said:
For normal applications, this is likely excessive. But if you're shooting matches, it makes a world of difference especially when keeping up with AR guys with 10rnders. In a match I can change mags with a VZ faster than most with an AR.
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I have no experience in a match, but I have found that the CZ is very straight forward to reload and I can easily reload faster than anyone else I shoot with that reloads their CZ. I think I prefer rock in mags, honestly.

Because I use my magazine as a grip my thumb is always very close to the magazine release and I find it easy to unlock the magazine and quickly flip it forward.

In this example I'm still rather "slow" with reloading. Still working on my reloading process. Just stop watching after I start shooting the sig! :p

[youtube]6nVJlg5m1c0[/youtube]
 
Here's an oldie but a goodie..

[youtube]Y2ZovkHRjg0[/youtube]


And a recent one from the other weekend.. Extremely hung over and sick with food poisoning from some bad oysters the night before (hence the shakey hands).. This is a 8 second real time vid with just 3 mags and 12rnds.

[youtube]01brmdeyEg0[/youtube]
 
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Spent my Sunday afternoon watching NFL with my 858 in my lap, mag in - mag out -- mag in - mag out. Found the wear spots, sanded, rinse and repeat. They're not as loose as NEIT's but do enter and engage much more easily.

Funny how they are all different, 1 I barely touched (still 97% painted around the magwell area) and it will fall free, the worst I took lots of material below the paint off and it's still a little stiff/sticky.
 
tactical870 said:
Dave, How are you releasing your slide in the video? I've watched it several times and it appears that you're closing it with your trigger finger?
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I would say a slide release ??

I must say I am not that fast with my 858 ... Going to do what you did to your mags next weekend see if it can speed me up thanx for the tip :)
 
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