NEA SL8 AR Magwell - Bolt not holding open

AJCrowley

AJCrowley

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So my new NEA AR mag well for my SL8 arrived today.

I shaved down the plastic tabs in the receiver, and though it was an extremely snug fit, managed to get it on.

Ran a couple of mags through it, and while it seems to be feeding fine, the bolt isn't holding open when the mag is empty. If I put some upward pressure on the mag, it does hold the bolt open, but when I let go, it slams shut again.

Is this one of those "just the way it is" things, do I have a sub-par mag well, or is it something I've done wrong?

Thanks.
 
The SL8 and the G36 allow you to set the bolt-hold-open to either be active or not. Look in the lower, from the top looking down, barrel away from you, beside the bolt-hold open, on the left side will be a grey rod touching the bolt-hold-open (the black thing). Check to see that the grey rod (which is actually the end of a spring) is right up beside the bolt hold open. There are two positions for the rod. The right position is the hold-open active, and the left position is the hold-open inactive.

Also, your bolt-hold-open may require a reliability update, and note that although the bolt-hold-open will always work with SL8 & G36 mags, the variety of AR-15 mags means that not all models will work reliably. You may have better results with the firearm resting on the mag, driving it deeper into the magwell.
 
I can't see the part you're talking about, either in the rifle, or in the manual.

However, after further inspection, it's pretty clear what the problem is.

I'm not sure if it's a design flaw, a design choice, or I've just got one of a bad batch, but the magazine is sitting too far forward for the follower to hook the bolt catch. I've compared followers on the SL8 and AR magazines (P-Mags and LAR15), and the followers are near identical, the seating position is the problem.
 
AJCrowley said:
and the followers are near identical, the seating position is the problem.
Click to expand...

No. The SL8/G36 mags have a longer, higher area where the tail of the cartridges end. This is what the bolt-hold-open is pushed up by. If you epoxy a similar mass to the same place on the AR followers, they will work with the bolt-hold-open reliable, however there are legal considerations if you do this with pistol mags. Alternatively, you can epoxy a mass to the contact area on the bolt-hold-open, however you might not be able to use SL8/G36 mags without issues.
 
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