Mags not inserting easily, question.

Hey yall, so Ive had my PSA middy for a while now but due to budget and school have only put 30 through it. The only "issue" i found was my matech had to be adjusted 2 big clicks left in order to zero correctly.

But tonight as I was getting the rifle ready for the range today I notice none of the mags insert without me slapping the hell out of them. If i take the upper off and insert them into the lower they work just fine, but once the upper is on I have to slam the mag in pretty hard to get it to catch. If I hold the bolt back while inserting the mag it works fine as well.

Is it possible sometings wrong with my rifle? Anyway I can fix this?

Thanks fellas!


EDIT*
All mags are factory PMAGS. Picking up some different mags tomorrow to see if somethings wrong with the Magpuls?

Are the mags full....as in all 30 rounds in. If so that is why. Take one ore two rounds out and see what happens.. The bottom of the bcg has to push down on the top round in the mag if that makes sense. So if the mag is full it takes a little extra effort to seat te mag.

I've never had to download PMags to 29 or 28. I find it interesting that they're giving you a problem

Dollars to doughnuts you're putting 31 rounds in a mag designed for 30. Pmags will hold 31, but meant to hold 30. Count 30, don't just load till you can't jam any more rounds in the magazine.

Mag related....iircc pmags can be load to 31 rounds which would make it hard

Checked, all mags loaded to 30, unloaded down to 20, 15, 10 and still the same thing, it was slightly easier with 5 rounds in the mag but still some trouble.

This is buggin the hell outa me

Lock your bolt carrier to the rear, insert mag, slap bolt release to load. Be sure and use safety when you try this.

I dont see how that remedies the situation, Im looking for a permanent fix so I dont have to smack the shit out of my mags to get them seated.

Dude I have the same thing with my 14.7 I just got last week I am using colt 20 rounders but I have noticed sence last range trip they are getting ezer to install and remove why I don't know because none of my other AR's have had this problem.

Define "slapping the hell out of them."

Are the mags you're trying to insert loaded? If so, what happens when you insert an unloaded mag?

Did you even try what I told you to do yet?

You said the mags go in fine when the upper is not attached.

You said you need to slap them into the weapon when its assembled.

You loaded your mags with 30,20, and even 5 rounds, and still they do not fit in "correctly"

Perhaps when you are installing a mag, the rounds in your mag are contacting the bottom of a thing called a bolt carrier. If there is any truth to this there is pressure keeping the mag catch from retaining the mag easily, so you are needing the slap the mag to seat it.

Report back.

Unloaded mags work fine, mags with a handful of bullets have trouble, I have to firmly insert the mag with force and 9 times out of 10 hit the base of the mag to get it seated.


@subwofer

I understand what your saying and it works, but shouldnt the mags be inserting without doing that? Im more concerned about whats wrong.

Pretty much spot on with what seems to be happening, but I would like to know why and actually fix the issue, not just work around it.

If this is your first AR platform, perhaps what you think is abnormal really isn't. It sounds to me like everything is correct. A little slapping is normal for these rifles, they were designed for the war fighters not target shooters and hunters.

This is what I'm leading towards.
A nice firm fit is preferred over a sloppy loose one.

There is no fix for that, it's the way they were designed. Lock the bolt back, insert mag, slap the bolt release, pull the trigger.

My mind is in the gutter...

For some reason I only read this line while scanning the thread. Had to go back and see what thread I was reading.

MAHA

Well I just got back from the range and the mag's are getting easy to install and remove I can live with it at 100 yards my PSA 14.7 m4 is getting 2 inch groups when I wear my glasses and take my time on the triger very happy. P.S. that is with hornady 75 grain hand loads.

Funny how that happens.

It could be normal as the others mentioned and something the OP is going to have to get used to. But I'd suggest you check your mag release to make sure it doesn't need to be loosened a bit. Had a guy bring one of the Remington ARs to me the other day that was having the same problem and that was what was wrong with his rifle.

Easy to check/fix just push the mag release button all the way in and turn the mag catch part on the same side as the bolt release to loosen it. Just make sure to not go crazy with it and overdo it our your mags won't latch correctly and will fall out. It's rare but does happen, and most people don't think to check it.

Great point, something I never considered, thanks!

I'm curious as to how an 'overtightened' release would make a mag difficult to insert, since it would effect only the lateral movement of the release. The only adjustment to be made is the screwing in of the button, and the button does not effect how 'tight' the release is, only how far one would have to push in to release the mag. There is no clamping pressure on the mag from the release.

I would also add that if somehow the release were to be the cause, it would effect all mags, loaded or unloaded.

If you could please explain how turning the button would effect the pressure exerted on the mag, I would appreciate it.

This is common with the M-16 & AR15 family of rifles. Tap, rack, bang. You have to fully seat the mag in the well and sometimes this requires smacking it. It will be fine.

I suppose my statement is true towards a few things.

This might not be his problem, its damn rare to come across and thats why I mentioned it, most never think to check and its an easy/free 30 second fix so it doesn't hurt to look. It has to be pretty extreme case, but if not adjusted properly it will make the mag extremely hard to latch and just put everything in a bind. It's just not having the lateral movement that it should have. Bear with me here, I'll explain in the most detail I can so hopefully it makes sense.

But basically what was happening was from where it was adjusted too far it wasn't allowing the the catch to be able to move it's self far enough away from the lower while moving over the top of the mag body to get to the mag catch cut in the body of the magazine. If you look at your mags you'll see wear/scratches where the catch rides the ontop of the body as it's on its way to the catch cutout. It just simply didn't have the slack it should have to move over the mag the way it should and put things in a bind and makes it take too much force to get the mag latched. You can test it yourself it you like and you'll see what I'm talking about, you wouldn't think it'd matter much but it can put things in a hell of a bind if overdone.

I'll admit its pretty damn rare on a production rifle, I've only seen it a few times over the years, mostly on lowers people new to AR's assembeled themselves and adjusted way the hell too far. The rifle I mentioned had the exact same problem as OP, and it was worse loaded (to any capacity) than empty and with it coming in only a couple weeks ago it was still fresh in my mind. You wouldn't think it would matter but it does and I could understand how someone how hasn't had to fix it before might see it as odd. Although rereading now I didn't see him say anything about the release being a bit stubborn (which goes hand-in-hand with the problem I'm taking about) so I might be incorrect here. But like I said earlier, its an easy fix thats free to check so I wanted to mention it anyway.


ETA: Reread and made a few changes. I'm not sure if I'm mis-understanding you, so will clarify more. But you don't really adjust the button as it doesn't turn, you're adjusting the mag catch itself. So you actually are tightening/loosening the release as there is spring pressure from the mag catch side of the mag release assembly pulling it in to keep the mag latched in place.

That's what I did I turned the mag. catch out two turns and it made it easer to insert and remove the mag's I call it good advisce thanks.

So who built OP's lower?

I'm not the op but I built my lower ten years ago when I was shooting high power on the state rifle team.

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