Mag fit is too tight - Solved!!

It's probably the upper that is not deep enough

I have examined the rifles carefully. The shoulder of the mag is hitting the bottom of the upper. If I could get a Dremel in there, I would just take of a little metal so the mag had a little more upward room. BUT, it is not my rifle (belongs to my son). He might be inclined to go back to the maker.

I will try to shave the shoulder of a Pmag to see if that solves the problem. If so, that might be the fix.
 
I have examined the rifles carefully. The shoulder of the mag is hitting the bottom of the upper. If I could get a Dremel in there, I would just take of a little metal so the mag had a little more upward room. BUT, it is not my rifle (belongs to my son). He might be inclined to go back to the maker.

I will try to shave the shoulder of a Pmag to see if that solves the problem. If so, that might be the fix.

These are new guns, right?. I assume they have some kind of warranty from the manufacturer? Dont mess about with them, just return them for repair. You paid for the warranty in one way or another so why not use it?. Besides if you modify the reciever I am betting your warranty evaporates.
 
These are new guns, right?. I assume they have some kind of warranty from the manufacturer? Dont mess about with them, just return them for repair. You paid for the warranty in one way or another so why not use it?. Besides if you modify the reciever I am betting your warranty evaporates.

Exactly. You should not have to alter either the magazine or the rifle. The magazines should just plain fit. Period.
 
Problem figured out and solved.

When I got the second rifle last week I noted that the mag release button was kind of scritchy. I lubed it, but it made no difference. If you push the mag release button with a pointed object (like a cartridge) the release latch can be pushed out and swung clear.

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It only took a second to discover that the latch piece that drops into the open notch in the mag was very rough on its edge. This roughness was hanging up the latch from dropping into place. A few passes of a fine file cleaned up the edge and now the mag latches crisply with a gentle push of the pinkie.
 
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Nice that you were able to fix it, and that it was a relatively easy fix and not the receiver being out of spec or something.
 
Nice that you were able to fix it, and that it was a relatively easy fix and not the receiver being out of spec or something.
Sure, but it would have been really nice if he hadn't had to deal with this crap to start with. I know now even more than I did before who I won't ever be buying from.
 
I was disappointed during the match when we were dropping points because of mechanical issues. Now that I have found and fixed (to be confirmed with shooting) the problem I am not very fussed about it. Yes, it would have been nice if the part had been properly dressed, but dressing a sharp edge (like on a Norinco pistol) or a rough edge, is not a big deal.

With respect, I think the important issues are handling, reliability, accuracy and price. Others would add "pride of ownership" to that list. Some of us are comfortable with tweaking our guns. Other want the gun to be perfect out of the box. Personally, I only care that I can get the gun to work perfectly. With cheap guns that means investing in a trigger job and some other tweaks.

A few months ago I tweaked a brand new Dan Defense. It was almost perfect, bur the trigger was so bad it was almost unusable. No doubt it would have improved with use, or with some lapping compound. A Rock River fixed it. Now the rifle is perfect.
 
I am glad you got it sorted out. fixing things is satisfying. It might be worth it to drop the manufacturer a message about it, at least they can address the issue so it doesn't re occur. So now that they work can we hope for part two of the accuracy testing vs the norinco?
 
I Have to agree with you on the DD trigger's some of those can be as rough as a gravel pit.

For a top end maker one would think they would do a little better on the trigger's
 
So was the burr on the latch hanging up in the magazine or the slot in the lower?

Glad it turned out to be such a easy fix :)
 
The C and P mags work fine in other rifles, so not a mag issue. Not a rivet issue, either, since the mags use internal blocks.

I think I will buy the mag lock part and experiment shaving a bit off the top. With a spare part in hand I won't risk knocking the rifle out of commission.

"A few quick passes with a file took care of that."

What did you file? The top of the mag? When a mag has to be hit hard to get it to seat, what part of the mag is bottoming out in the action?

Sorry I wasn't clear I was talking about the rivet on the P Mags.
 
So was the burr on the latch hanging up in the magazine or the slot in the lower?

Glad it turned out to be such a easy fix :)

The burr was along the side of the latch and scraped on the side of slot. This gave it what I called the "skritchy" feel. The burr made the latch slightly bigger than it should have been and the added friction made it slower to drop into place on the mag. Once this burr was touched with a fine file the latch snaps into place with just a gentle push on the mag.

It is so easy to push the latch out and swing it around, as in my pictures, that anyone with any new AR could do this and make sure their latch edge is smooth. It really helps to make a rifle that grabs the mag on the first attempt to seat it, without having to pound it home.
 
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