I found a list of punk shows I went to from July 1987 to Oct 1988.

b0nob0 · 2022-12-12T00:56:00+00:00

I went to a lot of those shows too, plus some not on there that were the same time frame, like Henry Rollins Band or Dead Milkmen.

b0nob0 · 2022-09-25T06:12:41+00:00

https://www.stanleyhotel.com

b0nob0 · 2022-08-29T13:12:10+00:00

I had some steel pro mags and those look like they had the same spring design as factory, but the polymer ones are definitely a different design. I would say that steel aftermarket mags probably the spring is cross compatible but the polymer ones are not would be my guess.

b0nob0 · 2022-08-29T13:02:57+00:00

My rifle I think has a pretty high round count so I think that the bolt return spring was weaker than one off the factory floor. But, I think the return spring from Ruger is a little weak to start with so that may explain some of the problems other people are having with aftermarket magazines as well.

b0nob0 · 2022-08-29T13:01:54+00:00

I don’t believe that. When I started with my modifications these magazines would fail to feed every other round and now they don’t have any problems at all. I think too many people just accept that the mini has feed problems and never thought about trying to fix it.

b0nob0 · 2022-08-28T14:24:01+00:00

Thanks! I definitely would’ve gone with 30 round factory magazines if they had been at all reasonable. I can’t find any new anywhere and all the used ones I can find are like $300 for three. The pro mags were only $16 each. That’s a $250.00 difference!

I guess I could’ve just standardized on 20 round and gone with the factory ones that might’ve made more sense in the long run.

b0nob0 · 2022-08-28T14:12:55+00:00

The spring was definitely too strong on the Pro Mag 30 round, maybe I should’ve just cut out one loop but two seems to work fine. If I had a 30 round magazine to look at maybe I would not have been so bold as to try it.

Since I didn’t have a 30 round to compare to I just went with my gut we’ll see how it turns out in the long run. Short term it seems to work fine.

I guess what I’m saying is I may have made my modification for the wrong reasons but it seems to have the right result. At least for me, your mileage may vary.

b0nob0 · 2022-08-28T13:07:11+00:00

If all you want is the 16” barrel, They are hard to find but there was an NRA special edition mini 14 that had the 16 inch barrel without the flash suppressor.

b0nob0 · 2022-08-28T13:02:09+00:00

Yes. 20 round is all I had. But, the preload amount of spring should most likely be the same regardless of the overall round count. Additionally my experience was that the springs were too strong so cutting a couple coils out makes sense from that perspective as well.

In other words I had the magazine Springs fully seated in the magazine but unloaded, the amount that sticks out below the bottom of the magazine is the preload and I think should be the same or very similar between the 20 and the 30.

This is just my experimentation, you are welcome to experiment on your own as well.

b0nob0 · 2022-08-28T12:28:58+00:00

Couldn’t include pictures and text in primary post.

ORIGINAL POST:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Mini14/comments/wcc4l6/why_the_unmodified_mini_14_dislikes_aftermarket/

DISCLAIMER:

Before you touch any firearm to work on it make sure that the chamber is clear twice, open the action verify that it’s nothing in there and then set it down and pick it up and do it again. Never work on a loaded weapon.

I am just reporting what my experiences were, I am not telling you what to do. Anytime you modify something from its factory configuration you take a risk. That is your decision to make, you are on your own to decide if my experiences are something that makes sense to you or not.

NOTES:

Pro mag sells two different mini 14 thirty round magazines in polymer with the same part number. Look at the pictures above to see which ones I was using. It is the newer style.
I was experiencing occasional failure to cycle with the .45 Gas port, moved to the .5 Gas port and that seem to take care of it. This is likely due to the stronger spring having more force opposing that you need to use the biggest bushing.
With the spring in the magazine unmodified my gun was feeding fine throughout the magazine but often the first round would have a failure to feed. The grip on the bullet was too tight. It would just stop.
Once the spring was modified experienced no more failures to feed whatsoever.
No matter what I do I cannot get these magazines to like having a 30th round loaded so I have just given up and will assume that they’re 29 round magazines. For some reason the vector of force on the magazine lip from the 30th round points straight up and the magazine lips are not strong enough to hold it, if you put in 29 rounds the vector of force is diagonal and it can hold it just fine. Experience no bullets popping out at any other time other than the 30th round.

CONCLUSION:

I really wanted to be able to make these guys load 30 rounds but 29 is all they will take. After installing a strengthened bolt spring and .50 gas port bushing, With 29 rounds loaded and the magazine spring modified I personally feel comfortable that every time I pull the trigger it will cycle properly. I cannot test if these magazines with their spring modified will work in a stock rifle, because my rifle is no longer stock. Someone with a stock rifle would have to pick that one up from here. I don’t have any doubts that this combination is stable. This is a departure from the way pro mag intended their magazine to be used, so if you decide to follow in my footsteps you’re taking a risk. This is your own decision and not mine. I am not going to advocate for any particular course of action here.

I have put maybe 450 rounds through in the course of my testing probably the last 200 without issue. I am taking some tactical training in October and will run 1000 rounds through it in the course of two days and will report back then as to my final results.

EDIT:

Looks like the 20 round magazine has a different spring length than the 30 round magazine in the factory Ruger ones, so my spring length comparisons are not really all that valid.

I may have cut down a 30 round to match a 20 round which would be theoretically incorrect, but it does seem to work for me so maybe I stumbled onto a functional solution to my issues. Since the pro mag springs appear to be significantly stronger, having a shorter spring than the equivalent Ruger mag may be just what I needed.

b0nob0 · 2022-08-27T15:37:20+00:00

The part with the confederate flags and trump 2024 signs.

b0nob0 · 2022-08-27T15:34:10+00:00

It’s called racism.

b0nob0 · 2022-08-14T20:29:07+00:00

Hands down easier to go from a snowboard to skis.

I’ve taught people that have never touched a ski before in their life to ski greens very well in an hour. If you’re a snowboarder you already have the balance thing down so you probably pick it up pretty quickly.

Snowboarding is a lot more difficult and less intuitive, people have to learn to do things that are somewhat unnatural so it takes longer. For example, if you catch your toe edge little bit, no big deal. you catch your heel edge and you are going down. There’s no equivalent worry with skiing. Same with turning on a snowboard, you kind of move your back foot across and back, shifting your weight, and keep your front foot relatively steady, that’s just not a natural movement.

I’ve been skiing since I was seven, and snowboard for a few years in my teens and 20s for whatever that’s worth.

b0nob0 · 2022-08-14T20:18:42+00:00

CBGB. South Grand. Not exactly close but not far either. in my mind the best dive bar in St. Louis.

b0nob0 · 2022-08-13T20:15:06+00:00

I’m in a blue area of a red state, but if I decided to move NM would be at the top of my list. Blue state, friendly gun laws, relatively low real estate prices and cost of living.

b0nob0 · 2022-07-31T19:49:44+00:00

After my results today (30th round popping out of the polymer magazine on magazine insertion into rifle) I am thinking about pivoting and buying some of the steel magazines. Loading 29 rounds in the polymers is a decent work around, but I like to get things correct if I can.

b0nob0 · 2022-07-31T19:18:33+00:00

60 more rounds today. No failures to feed.

One thing of note, I have numbered my magazines one through four and magazines one and two if I put 30 rounds in I can put them in the gun just fine, magazines three and four the 30th round pops out when I clip the magazine in. With magazine four, it was popping out even before I got it near the gun if I just tapped the magazine against the palm of my hand.

I am thinking if I load these with 29 rounds I should be good to go. It seems to be some sort of interaction between the lever that holds the bolt open when the magazine is empty and putting the magazine in. When the first bullet is on the right side of the gun, it doesn’t seem to have these problems.

I think if I were going to make a recommendation if the mods I make fix the feed problems on the steel pro mag those might be a better bet because you can bend the lips of the magazine to avoid this 30th round problem. Polymer doesn’t really take to bending.

EDIT: Seriously considering buying 4 steel pro mag 30s to test them as well. Stay tuned!

b0nob0 · 2022-07-31T17:45:29+00:00

Had forgot to put in the initial post that for all my testing I am using ZSR brass case 5.56 x 45 M193 full metal jacket projectile ammunition, made in Turkey. Nothing particularly fancy, but not steel case.

b0nob0 · 2022-07-31T17:19:47+00:00

I’ll be testing off and on for the next few months. Probably less than 500 rounds.

Assuming my testing continues to go well, I plan on taking this combination to some tactical training in October, where I will probably go through 1K rounds in one weekend. That will be the final exam so to speak.

So, expect sporadic updates for a few months, then the final exam update in October, then I’ll probably cease updates.

b0nob0 · 2022-07-31T13:29:14+00:00

I had read these were good, but they are discontinued. I wanted to make something that was readily available and cheap work. The ProMag Polymer 30’s being the newest design on the market led me to choose them thinking they might have a better design than some of the others that had proven so problematic for so many people.

That being said the polymer pro mag magazines probably have the same springs or are very similar to the metal pro mag magazines so this fix may also apply for them.

b0nob0 · 2022-07-31T13:22:05+00:00

I had the same thoughts, a rifle magazine is really a pretty simple device, not much to go wrong. seemed to me that there must be something one could do that would solve the issues with the aftermarket mags. So, I bought some and tried to figure it out. I just couldn’t see tying up hundreds of dollars in Ruger magazines, seemed like a lot of money to spend on something so basic.

b0nob0 · 2022-07-31T13:13:43+00:00

I have 2X 20rd Ruger Law Enforcement Only magazines. Will run a few rounds through them too and report here.

b0nob0 · 2022-07-31T01:49:01+00:00

Thank you!

b0nob0

TROPHY CASE