No4 7.62 Enfield mag question

[tbonesmith]

Hi Guys, I've got a No4 7.62 with an enfield type mag(on of the repro's). Any who the ejector tab has broken off and is nowhere to be found and I hoped someone could give me the dimensions of the tab including thickness, and maybe a photo of a mag with the tab with a tape measure next to it so I can get it welded back on in the right spot, and if anyone knows, what sort of steel should I get for it for a good service life. I'm no welder, so I'll have to take it to someone, ideally with a picture and a good idea of what sort of steel I want.
I was considering drilling the second ejector screw hole, but the finish on this rifles pretty good, and it will deface the serial No if I do.
Thanks guys.

Information

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[bigduke6]

Tom,

Hope these are are of some help, its an original mag, two measument,s that are not on the pics is were the tab sits 1.8mm above the the top of the mag, the tab is the same thickness as the mag but has a fold which the rear of this sits flush on top of the mag this bit is the 1.8mm ( hope that makes sense ) and from the rear of the mag to the rear of the tab is 4.5mm

[Peter Laidler]

I did a load for members of our club contrary to the assertion by Charnwood that they didn't snap off. I used a suitably sized, approx .3" x .4" x .070" thick, silver steel plate shouldered internally as stated by big duke. Then silver soldered or brazed in place. None have failed so far.........., well, none that I KNOW of! But you never know with my hand fitting and Rogers brazing

[bigduke6]

shouldered internally

The very words I was looking for.

[xa-coupe]

If the dimensions of the real mag don't work for you let me know and I will dig out the repro I haven't used yet and measure it up.

[tbonesmith]

I'm going to fabricate and silver solder on a replacement. I havn't done any silver soldering since TAFE, but I'm sure I'll sort it out.
Thanks very much for the help.

[Peter Laidler]

If you're going to make one out of solid as opposed to the folded original type, might I suggest that you make it so that the tip intrudes slightly higher into the boltway. That way you can always file it lower as need be. BUT RETAIN THE MAXIMUM TIP PROTRUSION AS YOU CAN GET AWAY WITH.

Let's see the finished job TBone. I'm sure that there's zillions out there that are broken off

[CharnwoodOrdnance]

[QUOTE=Peter Laidler;189069]I did a load for members of our club contrary to the assertion by Charnwood that they didn't snap off.

Where did I say that?

[tbonesmith]

So I machined a little piece of steel of the size recommended, with the shoulder, fluxed and tinned it (if that's what you call it with silver solder), silver soldered it on, then fitted it to the rifle so the bolt would operate. When I got the bolt to operate, to my disappointment the bolt wouldn't pick up the rounds off the RHS of the mag... it would previously... so the mag is sitting lower... Alright this is because my tab contacts the receiver and forces the mag a little lower, and also forces the tab further IN to the boltway, so when I file down the tab where it contacts the receiver, it is no longer being pushed in, so rounds feed but tab is redundant or in other words has already been filed down too much!
So I made another one, and before adjusting the protrusion of the tab into the boltway, I filed the top of it where it contacted the receiver so the mag would seat high as usual, then filed the protrusion until the bolt could sneak past.
Works like a charm, and won't be falling off in a hurry.
Note to self, buy an OXY set when you can, because doing this with butane is a hassle, SLOW....

[Peter Laidler]

In answer to ChW above. While I'm not computer literate enough to bring the old thread up again, as I remember, and don't hesitate to correct me if I'm wrong, but early on the thread went into the ejectors breaking away and you stated that they all broke because of - and I forget all the reasons you gave, but one was the faulty extractor and faulty extractor way in the barrel. As I say, please correct me if I'm wrong. You might also recall that I and some(?) others looked on, eyes agog and open mouthed that such faults could cause the ejectors to break off.

Don't get me wrong here. The mere fact that your repro magazines are available has meant that many hundreds of shooters with shot-out .303's now have rebarrelled rifles in 7.62mm WITH magazines - thanks to your efforts that they applaud. But please accept that the ejectors were badly fixed. Once they're silver soldered, brazed or tigged, then they're as good as the others. In fact, I'd suggest that if you want to make a killing, I'd make 1,000 more. But this time......................................

From the photos TBone, it looks as though your initial ejector was way too thick. Space is at a premium in the magazine well and the smaller base rim diameter makes picking up a round by the bolt head even more precarious