RRA 10 Rounder Problem

Before you go altering the follower, first check to see how "full" or tight the magazine is when you fill it with 10 rounds. There should be a small amount of play allowing you to push down a little bit on the top round, but not down far enough to allow an 11th round to be inserted.

If the magazine is so tight that you can't push down on the 10th round even a little bit then modifying the follower may solve your seating issue... but if there is some movement in the 10th round then modifying the follower is likely to make the magazine an 11 round magazine and thereby turning it into a Prohibited Device.

The "issue" with trying to seat a full magazine into the gun when the bolt is closed is centered around the feed lips. The lips fit into/around grooves cut into the bottom of the bolt carrier... if they are too wide or too narrow then there is resistance as they try to squeeze into alignment with the bolt carrier. The lips may have become improperly aligned as a result of the mag being stepped on or dropped... but more likely the lips may just be a tight fit as a result of the mag expanding a little bit as it is filled with rounds and the spring tension increases. All of that tends to force the mag lips apart a small amount and so the mag may be a tighter fit when trying to seat it full on a closed bolt.


"chrisward3" is quite right... inserting the mag with a firm "tap" (guess it's more of a "smack" :) ) will almost always seat them. Honestly I never really noticed it before as I always insert and tap regardless of bolt position... never had an issue.

To be sure that there wasn't something changed on recent production I just took several of the latest production magazines (as opposed to my own mags which are from the original shipments and have 1,000's of rounds through them)... I tried them on my own LMT and on a brand new RRA. Same mag will give slightly different results as there are slight differences from gun to gun, but, on a closed bolt you definitely have to insert the mag with a very firm "smack" or "tap" in order to get it to lock in. The pressure needed is nowhere near enough to break the magazine so that should not be a concern.

This same "issue" exists with 30 round magazines as well... most of you just don't get a chance to use them too often with a full 30 rounds in them. Fill a 30 round magazine to capacity and it too fully compresses the spring, spreads the feed lips and makes inserting on a closed bolt more difficult... you won't see this problem if the 30 round magazine is pinned to 5... the spring never gets that compressed as to put enough stress on the mag body to force the lips outward...

If it's a really big issue for you and you don't want to have to apply as much pressure to insert on a closed bolt, then you could take a bit off the width of the lips where they engage the underside of the bolt carrier. You'll have to find the spot where they are "rubbing" and remove a small amount of material... this would ease the mating of the two and eliminate the need to apply excess pressure for insertion on a closed bolt.

If you feel you must then give that a try... should resolve your issue.

Mark
 
We see lots of that here in Afghanistan. Guys not seating their mags properly and failing to carry a round into the chamber (30 rnd mags filled to capacity). So they drop a couple of rounds from capacity...lots do it habitually.

I was getting the same problem with my 10 round mags back home. To solve the problem, I did exactly what Mark said. I used a 'Sharpie' marker to mark the outside of the lips to see where it was rubbing. The rub points will remove the "sharpie mark" from your mag lips. Then use a fine file to edge that portion down. Voila, problem solved,
 
I think I have a dozen of the 10 rounders.... and I had to modify 2 or 3 of them to seat full with a closed bolt...


God I really have to get out and shoot....
 
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