Source for Steyr SSG69 magazine? - Also: Any suggestions for Steyr mag cleaning???

[A-zone]

I picked up a Steyr SSG 69 PII a couple of years ago and have been a bit vexed with its "sticky" rotary mag.

It seems that there is fine grit or dust in the guts of the magazine and it doesn't function as smoothly as it should.

Does anyone here know how to clean out the internals of a plastic Steyr magazine? (The owner's manual doesn't talk about magazine disassembly).

Plan "B" would be to buy a new mag.

So, where in Canada can a person buy a new magazine for this rifle?

 

[owlowl]

There is a plan C.

Very expensive plan though.

 

[Snowy Owl]

Plan C is very good if you don't mind your magazine protruding beneath your rifle and if you don't mind the extra weight. Well, I do. The StyriaArms trigger guard/magazine seems to be very well made and rugged.

Plan B is iffy at best. Now, I could be wrong on this one but I have read somewhere that there is - or was - a Steyr Mannlicher importer/distributor in Canada. I just can't remember the name of the Company for the moment. Someone in the know should be chiming in soon.

Plan A : NO chemical solvent and NO bore cleaning agent of any kind ! Your magazine will melt down before your very eyes and you will mourn it forever. Water and mild soap ONLY. Rince and dry thoroughly. The plastic of the magazine doesn't rust or corrode but it is very vulnerable to chemical reaction.

 

[marcoman]

Try O'Dell Engineering or North Sylva. Recommend the former before the latter.

 

[wojnar]

Try North Sylva, called them last week they have shipment from the factory very soon

 

[A-zone]

Plan C is very good if you don't mind your magazine protruding beneath your rifle and if you don't mind the extra weight. Well, I do. The StyriaArms trigger guard/magazine seems to be very well made and rugged.

Plan B is iffy at best. Now, I could be wrong on this one but I have read somewhere that there is - or was - a Steyr Mannlicher importer/distributor in Canada. I just can't remember the name of the Company for the moment. Someone in the know should be chiming in soon.

Plan A : NO chemical solvent and NO bore cleaning agent of any kind ! Your magazine will melt down before your very eyes and you will mourn it forever. Water and mild soap ONLY. Rince and dry thoroughly. The plastic of the magazine doesn't rust or corrode but it is very vulnerable to chemical reaction.

Thank you all for the suggestions!

I will try cleaning it with soap and water first (my concern is for the integrity of the spring). As I've had new Steyr sporting rifles to compare it to, the SSG mag has obviously not been well taken care of. Bloody shame. :-(

That said, I think that I need to find a new mag.

 

[SteelCap]

You could try to clear the debris with a blast of air if It helps.

 

[A-zone]

Blasting it with air was actually the very first thing I did.

It appears that the internal surfaces of the mag have been scratched up by grit. It's rough enough to interfere with rounds feeding smoothly through the magazine.

You could try to clear the debris with a blast of air if It helps.

 

[owlowl]

Hm, business opportunity - CNC copies of plastic mag in aluminum. Anyone? )

 

[sillymike]

Last I checked, Steyr still listed the 308 magazines on their website... Should be able to order one.

 

[gunrunner100]

Try O'Dell Engineering or North Sylva. Recommend the former before the latter.

Another recommendation for O'Dell.

 

[chalk talk]

Yes, O'Dell would be the best option. Don't forget to check the flimsy plastic for cracks at the screw holes in the trigger area. Perhaps a bottom metal conversion is a better option in the long run. As soon as I complete my conversion, the 5 and 10 rd magazines will go up for sale.

 

[owlowl]

I just got Styria kit for bottom metal and AI mag. Couple of points that would make you think again:

Kit Price 430 euro - CAD$ 584
They don't accept any payment but Bank Wire, surcharge on bank wire is - CAD $30
On delivery import fees and taxes - CAD$140

Total payable CAD $754

Another magazine from Styria Euro 78 - 90, plus $30 for each wire transfer, plus import fees. They use IA magazines and you can get them locally, but the wont fit work right away. Styria says that "magazines require slight adjustment". The "manual" that comes with the kit says:

It is possible to use commercial AICS magazines #2 when the inner dimension of the magazine lips will be modified 10.5mm = 0.413". Attention: only the left magazine lip may be bendet.

Yes it says exactly this, word for word, yes it is "bendet". There is nothing else in the manual about magazine fitting.

When I put it together on my rifle first time, the bolt wont cycle as it hit the magazine lips (magazine or its lips sit too high). There are spacers specifically for that provided with the kit, so I put them in, the bolt went over the magazine just fine. However the cartridge leaving the magazine went too low and the tip of the bullet hit the bottom of the barrel before it can get up to the chamber. (resulting in a total lock up of an action by the way, because you can't get the round back as extractor didn't engage yet, you can't drop the magazine as the cartridge is still half way in the lips and the ejection port is too small for you fingers to get in, so you need a screwdriver or other tool to slide the round back into the magazine, even with a tool it won't slide back easily). So after several tries I now have a combination of spacers which allow me to cycle, but I have to be blunt - it seems that right now it will only cycle FMJ or pointed bullets, and flat nose will stuck I don't have variety of ammo at hand, but from the looks of it, the bullet tip misses the barrel wall by hair. YET, with these spacers in, the bolt will grind over the magazine lips if I put any pressure on the magazine from below (say you rest the rifle on something, or hold it by magazine). So it seems to me that if I want make it right I need to file down magazine lips which I don't have time and courage to do at the moment.

Other than that and the cost of a new Tikka you very well may like the change from crap plastic to all steel )

 

[rodregier]

A hard object lesson to acquire proprietary magazines *and* spares when the getting is good.

{sigh}

 

[owlowl]

To be fair, the original Steyr 5-round mag was broken out of the box, brand new. Just fell apart in 2 pieces ))))))))))

 

[marcoman]

Owlowl, sorry to hear about the issues you're having with your bottom metal kit.
I have an SSG69 and the magazine push tab on the right side broke. It is still functional but yes the factory mags are certainly fragile. If your mag was broken right out of the box was there no recourse with the dealer who sold you the rifle? I looked into the Styria bottom metal kit but in the end decided to leave the rifle the way it is. For me its a nostalgic piece more than a rifle that will see alot of regular use.

 

[owlowl]

Don't be sorry, I take it as a circus - I pay for amusement and entertainment. It just comes at a slightly different moments from what I expected initially. )

 

[zupermann]

Owlowl, sorry to hear about the issues you're having with your bottom metal kit.
I have an SSG69 and the magazine push tab on the right side broke. It is still functional but yes the factory mags are certainly fragile. If your mag was broken right out of the box was there no recourse with the dealer who sold you the rifle? I looked into the Styria bottom metal kit but in the end decided to leave the rifle the way it is. For me its a nostalgic piece more than a rifle that will see alot of regular use.

Yes, the Steyr mag tabs need to be beefed up/or made out of metal or something. Maybe O'Dell can make a metal replacement part--hint hint.

 

[chalk talk]

There is a degree of fitment involved with a bottom metal conversion. My conversion was from Florida ($300-ish) and required approximately 1.5 mm to be filed off the magazines to ensure reliable feeding and no dragging of the bolt over the magazine lips. It also required some shimming of the bottom metal as well. It seems to work with snap caps but has not been field tested with a variety of ammunition types.

I tried this solution to eliminate the need of replacing plastic magazines (not cheap; the cost and reliability of the 10 rnd magazine is comical) and other plastic parts every few years. As mentioned earlier, oils and solvents cause premature failure of certain plastic parts, but in my experience, so does age and other random variables from Steyr.

All in all, the SSG is a good experience overall. When a Steyr is working well, it is a pleasure to own.

 

[owlowl]

After my post it came to me, that I was probably missing something, which happens a lot actually. So I played with it again and looked and what it says in the paper literally. Apparently you are only supposed to put spacers if the bolt hits the feeding ramp. It does not, so I removed the spacers completely. This solves the feeding clearance, or it seems like that at the time.

Now, there are several tiny screws in a kit, and I thought they are for the trigger job (kit comes with light trigger springs if you want to make it like 500 grams and I don't want that). But in fact these tiny screws are for the adjusting magazine play "tolerance of the magazine" as they call it. So there are tiny openings on the front and on a side of the steel receiver to tighten the magazine in place. They do remove a lot of play and so the magazine wont stop the bolt even without spacers. However it is still possible to apply enough pressure at the bottom back of a magazine for feed lips to obstruct the bolt. But it now never happens during normal cycling.

Next time when I have time I'll take the german version of the manual and translate it myself, maybe there are other things I do wrong too.