Is it possible to get 9mm AR mags? (Not C-Products)

ghostie

ghostie

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This issue comes up regularly, I know, but I would like to hear some more thoughts on this... is there a source for 9mm AR mags in this country or what?

I have a RRA 9mm AR from Questar - which is a really nice firearm. Love it. However, I have only one mag that works with it, which is a plastic RRA 10 rounder. I know that these mags are not available anymore. A few issues with these as I see it: (1) The importer/distributor (Questar) hasn't brought them in for some time now; (2) Anyone that has them won't sell them; (3) Eventually the plastic lips will crack (which, as I understand it, is why they are not brought in any more).

I also have two of the C-products Stainless Steel 10-rounders, which won't work in my gun at all - for whatever reason. One of the mags was modified to some extent when my gun was sent back to Questar to determine the problem. I am going to put these mags in the EE, as they don't work with my gun.

As for the Colt 5/32 mags, and modified or unmodified UZI mags, I have only ever seen these in the EE in terms of "WTB" adds (like mine) - which always seem to go unanswered.

Is there any way to get metal 5/32-type 9mm AR mags in this country. It seems that anyone who could bring them in could make a nice profit. A seller's market to be sure.

I know that Questar is working on their issue with C-Products - and eventually something will come of that - but is there anything else?
 
In this country? Good luck.

FYI C-Products are the new supplier of Colt factory mags so even if you managed to get your hands on new Colt mags chances are they'd still be C-Products. I don't have any experience with these mags, but like you've already discovered for yourself lots of people seem to be having problems with them with certain set ups, for others they run flawless.

Metalform mags are available in the US but that doesn't really help you. They used to be the OEM supplier for Colt until C-Products got the gig.

Sadly the only advice that I can give you is to keep your eyes peeled on the EE. I have picked up some mags this way but they are pricey, like $200 pricey for old Colt 5/20 or 5/32 mags.
 
yup your SOL


I have 4 of the plastic mags they work fine for me

BUT i also have a whole bunch colt 32/5 mags and 9 of the 20/5 colt mags they are heavy steel and many have metal followers too!

(NONE are for sale)

I prefer the colt mags as they wont die!
 
Well... my #####ing seems to have paid dividends to some extent. A few kind souls have dropped me some leads, and even a concrete offer. Love this CGN thing.

Kinda like when I posted my "exotic 9mm ammo" thread in the pistols section. Some people seemed to think it was a good idea to ridicule me for using the word "exotic" in connection with premium JHP ammo, others sold me types of 9mm ammo I had never really even heard of before. Love this CGN thing.
 
In my opinion a 9mm AR looks lame unless it has the longer mag in it, I was going to buy a 9mm upper for my rifle but decided not to based on the shortage of these type of mags.
 
.88 magnum said:
Anyone modify sten gun mags to work in the 9mm AR? Would that be possible?
Click to expand...

I was thinking about that as well, since you can get the Sten mags from Marstar. Having said that, I think that the fact that they are around probably means that it is tricky or impossible to reliably mod them for the AR.

It is true, the mag thing is a ##### for the 9mm ARs. It really is a factor to consider in deciding which pistol calibre carbine to buy. Beretta Storm, the mags are no problem. Order them by the box-full if you want. For 9mm AR on the other hand.... very tricky. It looks like things are going to work out for me on 9mm AR mags for now.... but the lack of mags is a real problem for getting more 9mm AR owners up and running.
 
.88 magnum said:
Anyone modify sten gun mags to work in the 9mm AR? Would that be possible?
Click to expand...

There are a "few" ways to modify Sten mags to work in an AR15. However, Sten mags wobble a little bit in the magwell with these conversions.

One way is to weld a short piece of 1" square pipe to the top rear of the magazine. A new mag catch notch needs to be cut in the correct spot. Much like Uzi mags.

sten.jpg


Another is by adapting a mag block to contain Sten mags. In fact, OlyArms sells one that works. I just don't like the long release lever which sticks out below the mag well.

pix1016237811.jpg


Hahn Precision sells a magwell adapter for Sten mags also.

12136332790732619363391.jpg


FYI -- John Ricohas also successfully adapted Sten mags for use with WIN 9x23 ammo in the AR platform. He was the inventor of the 9x23 round before Winchester stole his design. He initially used cut down 223 cases because of their thicker web.
Sten mags are the only mags that will accomodate such a long cartridge in an AR15. But that's for another thread.
 
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I have a Colt style two piece adapter that works with Sten mags, no funky lever like the one piec mag blocks, just use the regular mag release. It's made by SNS industries and will work in either the Colt or Oly system, just have to add the ejector for use in a Colt style 9mm.

Funny thing is that I've never used it. Bought it hoping I'd be able to get some cheap mags but everyone wants 30 dollars for a mag that's practically worthless. That and I got blown off by a company when I inquired as to the cost and availability of an ejector.

SNS was kind enough to send me his instructions for cutting mags down to 20 rounds as well. Maybe if I ever stumble across some Sten mags for a decent price I'll give it a try.
 
I also have two of the C-products Stainless Steel 10-rounders, which won't work in my gun at all - for whatever reason.
Click to expand...

Is this problem associated with the type of mag block?
(ie) Hahn, or RRA?
 
.88 magnum said:
Anyone modify sten gun mags to work in the 9mm AR? Would that be possible?
Click to expand...

NO , not easily in your situation ( currently commericaly available ). The Sten adapters and modified sten mags are for a Olympic Arms patterned system ( with cone shaped breach ) . The Hahn Sten adapters pictured above for the Oly system only

Feederamp part of the upper

The Hahn , RRA etc that use the "colt style" or modified UZIs are for the Colt Pattern system. The RRA is obviously a Colt pattern system

Feedramp part of the mag adapter

There has been may attempts of modifiying the Colt blocks to take sten mags...when there were no alternative such as C-Products... Lots of info here

http://ww .quarterbore.com/ar15m16/colt2stenmags.html

None have really taken of ( commercial product ), nor are they practical

If you really are dead set against colts style mags , then by the VM Hytec UZI block from Brownells and you can run unmodified Uzi mags. You lose BHO though
 
mildot said:
Is this problem associated with the type of mag block?
(ie) Hahn, or RRA?
Click to expand...

Well, I don't really wish to bad-mouth the C-Products stainless steel 10-rounders, as apparently some people have had good success with them. They didn't work for me though.

All I can say is, my AR is a RRA upper and lower, with an RRA mag block, totally stock all the way, brand new, and the C-Products SS mags... they just would not function no matter what anyone tried. Somehow the mags seemed to be inhibiting ejection of the spent casings and it was only through blind luck that a round would ever be extracted and ejected before a new round was stripped off the mag. I know that sounds wrong; it seems like there should be a logical explanation; a way to fix it, etc.

Conversely, put in a plastic 10-rounder and the gun works fine. No adjustment of the mag block.

C-Products says on their webiste that you need to drop the mag block down a bit to get their mags to function reliably with a Rock River rifle. There are only about 2mm to play with there anyway, and it my experience it made no difference. Cycling the gun by hand, or during live fire, it was very difficult to get a reliable ejection. Maybe 1 in 10.

If the Hahn block works with the C-Products mags, somebody should look at bringing a bunch of these blocks into Canada. I seriously doubt Brownells will ship those blocks to Canada anymore, but I could be wrong.

I keep hoping Norinco will enter the market for 9mm AR at some point. If they had a $800-900 thing similar to their "M4-type" AR with mags that were specifically designed to work in that platform... could be great for getting more people into Tac rifle type games. That is pretty much what I bought mine for, but I was messing around trying to get the problem diagnosed all winter, and now trying to get more than one working mag.

The 9mm AR is such a fun gun to shoot. The only drag on its popularity is that it is quite pricey. But I do believe there are enough of them out there that there, and enough new people that want them, that something will be worked out with the mag situation.
 
I have an Hahn equipped 9mm AR - my AR works fine with Colt 30/5 - C-Products 30/5 - and 10 round plastic Pro-Mags.

I haven't tried using the 10 round C-products.

Ghostie PM on the way.
 
I just received a few RRA LAR 9mm CProducts mags in the mail today.

I've been using the factory Colt 9mm mags exclusively so far in all three 9mm carbines I own. Some are 20rd, some are 32, some have metal followers, some have the black polymer ones. All my Colt mags drop free and tic like a swiss watch in every one of my 9mm ARs when fired.

The geometry of the LAR CProducts mags is a bit different by my measurements compared to the factory Colts.

The inside diamention of the feed lips are tighter. That is not an issue. The outside width diamention of the mags is greater. That's not a problem.

The forward angle cut is much bigger and more set back than the Colt's. I think that IS a problem as it forces the nose of the round higher and at a greater angle and that is what I believe is causing feeding jams. The solution for this was to drop the magblock so slightly as has been talked about and directed by Questar to solve these feeding issues.

It seems that CProducts designed their followers with a long leg on each side so that the follower would not skew in the magazine forcing the round's nose up. As such they probably thought they could cut the angle on the magazine body further back and not have any problems.
I think they were wrong as the follower still moves laterally quite a bit. It's a bit of a loose fit. Enough so to still cause missfeeds. They should have left the magazine body geometry the same as the factory Colt mags.

When I insert the CProducts magazine into the magwell, the upper portion of the feed lips jam so slightly into the upper receiver preventing the magazine from dropping free when you depress the mag catch. You physically have to pull it out. Not an easy task with these short magazines.

By measuring the distance from the top of the feed lips to the upper portion of the magazine catch hole, the Cproducts 9mm mags have the mag catch hole cut .010" lower than the factory Colts. So, by the make shift solution of moving the magblock down in the magwell, the jaming issue is somewhat reduced, but not eliminated.

The only thing that can be done to existing CProducts magazines, to alleviate both the drop free issue and the feeding issue, would be to cut .010" off the top portion of the mag catch hole so that the magazine sits lower in the magwell instead of the puportrated lowering of the magazine block itself. Besided, the mag block cannot be lowered that much. It is limited to the size of the mag catch index hole.

The ideal solution would be for CProducts to cut the mag catch hole in the correct spot .. at 1.188" from the top of the lips, not 1.198" as I measure it to be on both mags I've received today in the mail.

Now, the two LAR 9mm CProducts mags I have, feed and extract perfectly well, "manually", in all three of my guns, but they do not drop free and I cannot be sure that they will feed correctly when actually fired at the range untill I get to the range to try.

These are my findings. Accept, or deny them. They didn't cost you any, but the time to read them.

:cheers:

EDIT to add: ... I use RRA magazine blocks in all my ARs and have been very pleased with them. My magazine blocks sit in the magwell so that the index hole is centered to the mag catch notch. This puts the top of the mag block flush with the top of the lower receiver.
 
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If you do a google search, you will find that Cproducts had to change the design of their followers for that reason. They will send you new ones for free if you contact them adn let them know you have hte old followers.

I use a Hann Block, I have 4 10 rnd c products mags, 4 Pro-Mag 32 rounders, 2 pro-mag Steel 32 Rounders, and 8 C-products 32 rounders (all pinned to 5 naturally) And I have had no problems with any of them feeding at all, I do admit though the longer mags looks much, much better, I may pick up a few more.
 
.88 magnum said:
Anyone modify sten gun mags to work in the 9mm AR? Would that be possible?
Click to expand...

Yes, it's entirely possible with the mag block that I've already mentioned, though apparently others didn't read my post.

Go to snsindustriesinc.com/prod05.htm

Looks like they've stopped making them though. Once I get my hands on some Sten mags I'll give it a try with my Colt upper.
 
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