CF C7 and C8 steel magazines
- Thread starter upnorth69
- Start date
I know they all don't have Diemaco floor plates. I just mention it because of cool collectability factor for the clone builders. If you look hard enough through parts bins at gun shows you can find the Diemaco marked floor plates.
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We use magazines with floorplates from so many companies it's not even funny. I can recall at the very least 4-5 from the top of my head.
I did find a very weird steel magazine in a vault that was made by H&K. It had yellow paint on the bottom half of the magazine and a slider in the front that would slide down as the magazine was inserted into the magazine well to prevent the loading of live ammo. It was just a blank-specific steel H&K magazine for the British L85A2 that ended up there somehow. When I told the QM guys what it was they promptly disposed of it.
I did find a very weird steel magazine in a vault that was made by H&K. It had yellow paint on the bottom half of the magazine and a slider in the front that would slide down as the magazine was inserted into the magazine well to prevent the loading of live ammo. It was just a blank-specific steel H&K magazine for the British L85A2 that ended up there somehow. When I told the QM guys what it was they promptly disposed of it.
I was in DLAEEM in the early nineties and worked with the engineer who allegedly was the one who pushed the plastic mag. Nice guy but he had really drunk the Kool-Aid on the mag issue.
In theory, a plastic mag won't rust or dent and is pretty well indestructible. In practice, they were a dud. We were lucky to get rid of them before we got into the two-way range situation in the FRY.
Interesting to hear the Finns have one that works.
In theory, a plastic mag won't rust or dent and is pretty well indestructible. In practice, they were a dud. We were lucky to get rid of them before we got into the two-way range situation in the FRY.
Interesting to hear the Finns have one that works.
The original US Thermold uses Zytel + fibre glass, but the CDN thermelt used something different. I heard that it doesn't have fibre glass reinforcement like the original US thermold.
My pure speculation is that they cut the fibre glass to save money because it was envisioned these things were to be used once and tossed. NOT.
My pure speculation is that they cut the fibre glass to save money because it was envisioned these things were to be used once and tossed. NOT.
I fired the C7 for the first time in 1986, the plastic mags then were pure crap. One guy seated a mag a bit hard and the feed lip broke off, sending all the live rounds flying out the ejection port. We were not amused. This was in Germany so it wasn't even cold.
Posted to Germany in 1987, we were one of the first units to get the C7. I hate to admit it but I never had a problem with the Thermold / Plastic mags. They just worked well and never broke. I didn't pay too much attention to other guys in the unit's mags but don't remember hearing too many bad things. Couldn't get them to work in the C9 though, when I was issued one for about a year. The new C9's were sewing machines with belts though!
Rich
Rich
Finnish ones are a sort of modern marvel to us : i've used them to hammer nails in sub zero temperature and open glass soda bottles with their lips. They were all manufactured between 1995 and 2000 and haven't heard about them breaking or being phased out
to be fair, they have steel blades at the lips and tab level
to be fair, they have steel blades at the lips and tab level
Whoever came up with that has absolutely no clue about the Canadian military mindset of "use it 'till it breaks, fix it, repeat, and maybe get it replaced when it's not fixable anymore".
They were intended as a one-time use only item. You'd receive them loaded and when the ammunition in them was expended you would toss the magazine, which would justify the lower quality and cost of them.
But of course, we kept them because we are cheap. I destroy any that I see as per a tech message that we received from higher up a long time ago, but most that we find already have snapped off feed lips or are split in half at the spine anyway.
But of course, we kept them because we are cheap. I destroy any that I see as per a tech message that we received from higher up a long time ago, but most that we find already have snapped off feed lips or are split in half at the spine anyway.
That disposable mag rumour comes back around all the time, with no truth behind it. They were not significantly less expensive either. Having been around for the entire life cycle I have first hand knowledge of the entire program.
The truth is that the original CF Thermold mags were made out of zytel with no glass fibre reinforcement per CF request. Later versions were improved by thickening the lips and injecting glass fibre into the molds. Mags with date stamps after 95 are actually quite good and surpassed the aluminum mags in nearly every durability and reliability test, but it was too late, and once troops lost confidence there was no going back. Many overseas Diemaco users, like the Danes and the Dutch maintained the Thermold mags well into to the 2000s with very good result.
The later versions had thick machined lips, a 95 or later date stamp and improved follower if you knew what to look for.
The nice thing about them was they were impossible to dent without destroying them in a very obvious way, same goes for cracked feed lips. Anyone who took a hammer to one to decommission them knows what I mean. The aluminum mags are easy to dent and it's hard to tell, and the lips are easy to bend and its hard to tell. They also had a huge reinforcing lip that made them very resistant to damage when dropped mag down. Aluminum mags take drop hits all on the hole for the latch and the lips. Spot welds also tend to fail. I did lots of side by side testing, and I am not a fan of the aluminum USGI style.
The down side of the Thermolds is they are not stable at very high temps - like summer in Afghanistan in the back of a carrier hot. This is why the Canadian ones are not made any more. If you get a hold of one - especially with our neutered mags - it would likely last you a life time. I shot four NSCC and the whole seasons leading up to them with later version Thermolds - never had a crack or a stoppage.
I've since moved on to lancer and magpul gen III, but the later versions were actually a lot better than most people give them credit for.
The truth is that the original CF Thermold mags were made out of zytel with no glass fibre reinforcement per CF request. Later versions were improved by thickening the lips and injecting glass fibre into the molds. Mags with date stamps after 95 are actually quite good and surpassed the aluminum mags in nearly every durability and reliability test, but it was too late, and once troops lost confidence there was no going back. Many overseas Diemaco users, like the Danes and the Dutch maintained the Thermold mags well into to the 2000s with very good result.
The later versions had thick machined lips, a 95 or later date stamp and improved follower if you knew what to look for.
The nice thing about them was they were impossible to dent without destroying them in a very obvious way, same goes for cracked feed lips. Anyone who took a hammer to one to decommission them knows what I mean. The aluminum mags are easy to dent and it's hard to tell, and the lips are easy to bend and its hard to tell. They also had a huge reinforcing lip that made them very resistant to damage when dropped mag down. Aluminum mags take drop hits all on the hole for the latch and the lips. Spot welds also tend to fail. I did lots of side by side testing, and I am not a fan of the aluminum USGI style.
The down side of the Thermolds is they are not stable at very high temps - like summer in Afghanistan in the back of a carrier hot. This is why the Canadian ones are not made any more. If you get a hold of one - especially with our neutered mags - it would likely last you a life time. I shot four NSCC and the whole seasons leading up to them with later version Thermolds - never had a crack or a stoppage.
I've since moved on to lancer and magpul gen III, but the later versions were actually a lot better than most people give them credit for.
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Do you know where this info came from? Pretty much every time I've asked about them (including to old geezers who were issued and used them) that is the answer that I would get.
Gunnerlove
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
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Matt has a bunch of Colt Canada business cards, some even have his name on them.
"Disposable plastic mags"......just like...."The Russians can load and fire our FN ammo in their guns but we can't fire their AK ammo in our FN's".....or...."7.62 x 51 NATO will cut through a M113 like swiss cheese all day long"....or...."Piece Of Sxxt C7 is plastic and made entirely by the mattel toy company"....
I should have kept a journal of all the BS I heard and made a small comedy book to sell to all the former CF guys, would have been a hit!
Rich
I should have kept a journal of all the BS I heard and made a small comedy book to sell to all the former CF guys, would have been a hit!
Rich
