Magazine - Some tips

[imarangemaster]

I originally posted this on the CMP carbine forum, but think it has value. If you have been a or a lifelong carbine shooter like me, or a carbine collector, something as mundane as the correct way to assemble, and easy way to clean carbine magazines is a no brainer. There are so many new people (many noobs), however, enjoying carbines, and so many magazines coming in from gosh knows where, I thought I might share it here, too...


Well it is a dismal day, the wife is out of town, and I can't shoot because of my bad shoulder. Since I want to start shooting carbine matches in the spring after my shoulder re-build, I decided to break out my box of Carbine magazines, break them down, clean and lube, and in general check them out.

I have about (20) 15s and (12) 30s, all GI. The ones I use on a regular basis (3-4 15s and 2 of the 30s) have been cleaned and lubed regularly. The rest just went into the carbine mag box in the safe when I acquired them.

What is interesting is that I found when going through the 15s that I have collected through the years that several had the follower in backwards, and 5 of them had the spring in backwards. That is about one third that were put together wrong. Another discovery was that many of the magazines, the rear of the bottom was spread, allowing the base plate to be pushed into the magazine, not catching on the edges.

For those new to carbines, the longer edge of the spring goes to the rear, as does the longer guide of the follower. In the picture, the rear of the magazine is to the left. This set up is true of the 30 rounders, too.



For cleaning I use two shotgun 12 gauge mops on handles. One with WD40 to scrub the inside, then one with a light amount of break free to lube. It works great. For surface rust, WD40 and a BRASS brush is good. Anyway, after cleaning, the bases were pinched in slightly by the rear groove, and re-assembled with springs and followers in the correct direction.

I hope this helps those new folks having feeding issues with their carbines.

Information

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[emmagee1917]

..confirm this? I've been shooting for decades and I've always placed the spring the other way. Ie. , the "long" edge goes to the bullet tip end. This is how the 1903s , mausers , and 1917s do thier mag springs ( I know these are fixed 5 shots , but they are machined for the mag spring to fit in only one way ) The same for the 1903 20rd mag extendsion , as well as most every Johnson , BAR , Thompson , Greasegun , and , I dare say , carbine mag I've disassembled and cleaned ( 100s). I'm also fairly sure the M14 , H&K , Sten , and all the others I can recall ( colt 1911s , browning high powers , broomhandles , mag fed .22 LR military targets ) were this " other " way.
Thanks , Chris

[imarangemaster]

Yep, the coils go opposite of what were are used to with M16 and Glock, etc.

This is straight from "TB23-7-1" Carbine, CAL. .30 M1 March 17, 1942" and "TM 9-1276 Cal 30 Carbines M1, M2, and M3 February, 1953"

I was shown it by an Air Force Security Police armorer, though, but confirmed it with the TM.

AKs have the long side to the rear also. The main resistance is the base of the bullet, not the nose, so the most force pushes against the most resistance. If I remember right, the grease gun (like my Glock), the top bullet is in a "nose up attitude" more than a carbine which is straight across.

[emmagee1917]

...that I was told when I was a wee one was that as the bolt struck the back end of the case toward the top of center , it would tend to force the nose into a dive. Ergo , more preasure up on the nose end to counter this and keep the bullet on track toward the chamber. It seems to run that way in most of the mags I've used. Interesting , I've had no problems in 100s , if not 1,000s of carbine mag fulls I've run over my life , with a few rare exceptions of course , with it installed backwards. Chris

Of course , I also put the trigger housing pin in from the wrong side and install the hammer spring and strut from the notched side of the hammer , too.

[imarangemaster]

I agree that it seems to defy conventional wisdom, but since I have run the way the manual says, I have had zero malfunctions except Wolf and Aguilla short strokes from underpowered loads.

I worked a couple days a week for cash at a Class 3 dealer in St Louis area a couple years ago when I was unemployed. He had an M2 that was chronically jamming. I checked and the 30 rounder springs (aftermarket "M2") and they were opposite of the manual's specifications.

Between that and the fact that the springs were not nearly as stiff as my any of my 30 round (SEY, AI, J, AYP, or OKay) mags, did not help. It may not make much of a difference with a good GI spring. I am sure MANY were re-assembled by the troops wrong in WW2, Korea, and Vietnam.

As a note, my AYPs that I got 20 years ago have the stiffest springs of any of my mags. They are real ones, not the counterfeit ones "Cheaper Than Nobody" sells.