Archived Posts » 59,646,491
My Golani is picky about magazines/what is the best fix?
12/12/2010 2:11:53 PM
Okay, first off, for the guys who plan to answer "Buy a real Galil"––it ain't happenin'. I would love to, but unless I sell my son to the gypsies or take out a second mortgage, there is just NO WAY. 
Back to the problem, which is actually a minor issue. I have two Golanis and a dozen magazines. I discovered while shooting them the other day, that Rifle #1 fails to feed with two of the magazines(the bolt slides cleanly over the top of the cartridge, most often when the bullet is on the left side of the magazine). The other rifle has no problems at all. Got home and broke out the calipers. I measured and inspected everything to the best of my abilities(which isn't saying much). I cycled snap caps through all of the magazines, and the bolt from Rifle #1 makes no contact with the cartridge base when using the 2 problem mags, minimal cartridge contact with 3 magazines, and proper contact with the rest of the mags. When comparing the two rifles, magazines sit much lower at the rear of Rifle #1, and there is a lot of play between top of the mag release lever and and the receiver. Thought it might have been a short mag release lever, but this part measures the same as the lever on the other rifle. The mag well opening also measures the same.
The difference seems to be the receiver "cutout" for the forward magazine shelf(the opening directly underneath the bullet guide). Although I can't take a decent measurement due to the geometry of the receiver, the opening on Rifle #1 is obviously deeper, and the magazines push farther to front. With most of the magazines, there is a lot of side-to-side and forward-rear play. When a particular mag seats properly to the rear of the mag well, the mag release lever pushes the rear of the magazine up to it's proper height. This also reduces most/all side-to-side play, depending on the magazine.
I can think of a couple ways I can fix this: 1)tig weld a thin strip of steel, about .06" thick, underneath the front shelf of the problem magazines in order to force them to seat slightly to the rear; or 2)partially fill the area below the bullet guide with bedding compound. Beyond this, I can't think of anything else that might work without completely "bubba-ing" the gun. Any other ideas?
Back to the problem, which is actually a minor issue. I have two Golanis and a dozen magazines. I discovered while shooting them the other day, that Rifle #1 fails to feed with two of the magazines(the bolt slides cleanly over the top of the cartridge, most often when the bullet is on the left side of the magazine). The other rifle has no problems at all. Got home and broke out the calipers. I measured and inspected everything to the best of my abilities(which isn't saying much). I cycled snap caps through all of the magazines, and the bolt from Rifle #1 makes no contact with the cartridge base when using the 2 problem mags, minimal cartridge contact with 3 magazines, and proper contact with the rest of the mags. When comparing the two rifles, magazines sit much lower at the rear of Rifle #1, and there is a lot of play between top of the mag release lever and and the receiver. Thought it might have been a short mag release lever, but this part measures the same as the lever on the other rifle. The mag well opening also measures the same.
The difference seems to be the receiver "cutout" for the forward magazine shelf(the opening directly underneath the bullet guide). Although I can't take a decent measurement due to the geometry of the receiver, the opening on Rifle #1 is obviously deeper, and the magazines push farther to front. With most of the magazines, there is a lot of side-to-side and forward-rear play. When a particular mag seats properly to the rear of the mag well, the mag release lever pushes the rear of the magazine up to it's proper height. This also reduces most/all side-to-side play, depending on the magazine.
I can think of a couple ways I can fix this: 1)tig weld a thin strip of steel, about .06" thick, underneath the front shelf of the problem magazines in order to force them to seat slightly to the rear; or 2)partially fill the area below the bullet guide with bedding compound. Beyond this, I can't think of anything else that might work without completely "bubba-ing" the gun. Any other ideas?
12/13/2010 7:46:52 AM
Century??
Send it back to assembler/builder for repair or replace.
Send it back to assembler/builder for repair or replace.12/13/2010 7:58:12 AM
Magnolia State Armory is making galil mag adapters.
If you could have them fit an adapter to the difficult one you could use the galil mags for the good rifle and inexpensive ar mags for the other.
This fix might be the least amount of change to the rifle get it to function correctly, and it would be a real plus to anyone who already owns an ar.
If you could have them fit an adapter to the difficult one you could use the galil mags for the good rifle and inexpensive ar mags for the other.
This fix might be the least amount of change to the rifle get it to function correctly, and it would be a real plus to anyone who already owns an ar.
12/13/2010 5:49:37 PM
just so you know many of the early IMI Galils had a similar problem with the radius on one side of the rear of the mag well being of slightly different shape than the other side, I know cos I had one of these rifles. The easy solution was to file the mags a little on one side to make them fit...but this ain't your problem. I'd contact Tenngalil at Hilbilly firearms and ask his advice, he is the best!
12/13/2010 6:29:04 PM
I won't send it back to Century. Like I said, I have two of these rifles. The other one, which works great, is the fourth replacement in a game of "tag" that I played with Century about a year ago. Considering what their "gunsmiths" like to do to in order to fix a gun(i.e. ignore the parts that need fixing while welding/filing/bending/breaking everything else), I'd rather give it a try myself or send to Jeff. My goals is to be able to use all of my magazines in both rifles. And besides, the magazine issue is small compared to what these rifles sometimes exhibit. Beyond this, the both rifles run like champs.
In addition to making an AR15 adapter, maybe Magnolia should make a Galil mag adapter for Century guns.
What do ya think?
Thanks for the replies!!
In addition to making an AR15 adapter, maybe Magnolia should make a Galil mag adapter for Century guns.
What do ya think?
Thanks for the replies!!
12/13/2010 11:08:56 PM
Just ditch the two mags that don't work and pick up 2 others. Maybe the 2 suspected mags have the issue since the other ones work fine in both rifles?
12/14/2010 2:18:19 PM
Just ditch the two mags that don't work and pick up 2 others. Maybe the 2 suspected mags have the issue since the other ones work fine in both rifles?
Those two mags work just fine in the other rifle. A few other mags work in Rifle #1, but just barely; in other words, the bolt picks up the cartridge by just the smallest of margins. I have some time off in a few days, so I'll give the bedding compound a try. Initially, I wanted to avoid this because I didn't want to make a mess, and I didn't want something that might fall out of the rifle at an inopportune time. This is probably the least obvious visible fix, though, and it should work as long as the compound has something to grab onto.
We'll see. Thanks again.
12/14/2010 8:59:34 PM
Originally Posted By GOH:
Those two mags work just fine in the other rifle. A few other mags work in Rifle #1, but just barely; in other words, the bolt picks up the cartridge by just the smallest of margins. I have some time off in a few days, so I'll give the bedding compound a try. Initially, I wanted to avoid this because I didn't want to make a mess, and I didn't want something that might fall out of the rifle at an inopportune time. This is probably the least obvious visible fix, though, and it should work as long as the compound has something to grab onto.
We'll see. Thanks again.
Just ditch the two mags that don't work and pick up 2 others. Maybe the 2 suspected mags have the issue since the other ones work fine in both rifles?
Those two mags work just fine in the other rifle. A few other mags work in Rifle #1, but just barely; in other words, the bolt picks up the cartridge by just the smallest of margins. I have some time off in a few days, so I'll give the bedding compound a try. Initially, I wanted to avoid this because I didn't want to make a mess, and I didn't want something that might fall out of the rifle at an inopportune time. This is probably the least obvious visible fix, though, and it should work as long as the compound has something to grab onto.
We'll see. Thanks again.
Well, I'd hate to see you chasing a rifle issue when it could be those 2 mags.
Good luck and keep us updated.12/14/2010 9:32:29 PM
get some Orlites. the steel mags out there are usually pretty abused. i had much better luck with the plastic ones before i got rid of my Galil because of the soft receiver.
12/21/2010 8:54:51 PM
Well, I was able to get out and test fire my Golani even though Mother Nature dropped a foot of snow up in the hills here. I used the two problem magazines and everything went very well. Only once did the rifle have a slight hang-up before the bolt went into battery. I pulled the cartridge and the bullet nose was slightly deformed from hitting the chamber face on the way in. Other than that, everything was smooth as silk. The bedding compound worked as I'd hoped it would.
Here they are(pictures are not very good––sorry. The rifle in question is on the bottom):
Here they are(pictures are not very good––sorry. The rifle in question is on the bottom):
12/21/2010 8:58:04 PM
They're actually both the same color(Duracoat HK Black + Testors in the #'s and lettering). The top rifle is reflecting light just a bit more.
12/23/2010 6:41:42 PM
My Golani was having mag issues as well. The bolt would ride over the second round in the mag, and there was a lot of vertical play with almost all the mags I have.
My fix was to fabricate a small tab that fit behind and on top of the mag catch. I welded it in place, and filed it down to fit. It looks good, its tough and all the mags I have now function perfectly.
My fix was to fabricate a small tab that fit behind and on top of the mag catch. I welded it in place, and filed it down to fit. It looks good, its tough and all the mags I have now function perfectly.
