Best way to pin a magazine?

TheIndifferent1

TheIndifferent1

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I might be coming into possession of an SVT 40 magazine, but I'm not sure if it's pinned or not. If it isn't, what's the best way of doing so? Is using a metal punch and putting a dimple in the side good enough to keep the follower from going past 5 rounds?

Or, can I take it to a gunsmith and have it done? I ask because I don't want to get in trouble with the mag, and will be making it legal if I do get it...

Hope this was the right forum :)
 
The punch method can make a gawdawful mess out of your mag if you are not precise about where to whack it. Attaching a leg on to the follower that prevents it from going down any more than the legal capacity is a reasonably easy and tasteful way of blocking the mag. This allows you do tinker around with adjusting it without doing any damage to the magazine parts. Drilling a hole in the side and using a pop rivet to prevent the follower to go down any more than legal capacity is probably the most common method of blocking, but again you have to be precise about drilling otherwise your mag ends up looking like swiss cheese. One trick for adjusting the block if you drill too short is to use washers on the inside of the mag for the rivet to grab onto to extend their reach a bit.
 
Good ideas Mike, thanks. I like the leg idea - I'm guessing the follower is just regular steel and I could have a friend tack weld a small piece of metal to it?

Also, is it illegal to have the magazine in the first place? I could always get the mag first, pin it, and then get the firearm if that keeps me in the clear.

I've also read new SVT 40 mags are EXPENSIVE! SO yeah, I'd rather do something I could adjust so I can make sure it works perfectly.
 
Mike K said:
The magazine alone is a prohibited device. Not being in possession of the firearm doens't make it any less prohibted. Magazine parts are not prohibted though.
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Point taken ;) I'll be sure to obtain bits and pieces.
 
TheIndifferent1 said:
Point taken ;) I'll be sure to obtain bits and pieces.
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get the bits and add a longer leg to the follower and assemble a perfectly legal 5 round mag.

remember its easier to take metal away from a leg thats too long then having to add on another chunk :redface:
 
Another tip for getting the right location for the pin:

Get 5 empty casings and put them in the mag and insert the mag on a closed bolt.
Invert the rifle and remove the floorplate and spring from the mag while the mag with the empty casings is still in the rifle. Measure and mark the depth that the follower is at. If the follower is pinned to that depth, you know that will still be able to insert a 5 round mag on a closed bolt. This makes the rifle much easier to operate and also gives you 5+1 capacity.

Another idea I use is to always drill the hole a little bit lower than needed and then use a sheet metal "L" riveted into the spot to raise the follower to the exact depth. That way if you misjudged the depth, you only need to replace the "L" without having to swiss-cheese the mag body with more rivet holes.
 
I was viewing this thread with interest. Nothing like reading the law so that things are clear.

http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/C-46/SOR-98-462/82866.html

(4) A cartridge magazine described in subsection (1) that has been altered or re-manufactured so that it is not capable of containing more than five or ten cartridges, as the case may be, of the type for which it was originally designed is not a prohibited device as prescribed by that subsection if the modification to the magazine cannot be easily removed and the magazine cannot be easily further altered so that it is so capable of containing more than five or ten cartridges, as the case may be.


(5) For the purposes of subsection (4), altering or re-manufacturing a cartridge magazine includes

(a) the indentation of its casing by forging, casting, swaging or impressing;

(b) in the case of a cartridge magazine with a steel or aluminum casing, the insertion and attachment of a plug, sleeve, rod, pin, flange or similar device, made of steel or aluminum, as the case may be, or of a similar material, to the inner surface of its casing by welding, brazing or any other similar method; or

(c) in the case of a cartridge magazine with a casing made of a material other than steel or aluminum, the attachment of a plug, sleeve, rod, pin, flange or similar device, made of steel or of a material similar to that of the magazine casing, to the inner surface of its casing by welding, brazing or any other similar method or by applying a permanent adhesive substance, such as a cement or an epoxy or other glue.
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An excellent method is a "plug" that fits inside the magazine spring and is pop rivited or epoxied to the bottom of the magazine. It blocks the cartridge carrier while not interfearing with the carrier spring.
 
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