FN A5M magazine issues

[ajdemar215]

Had a match this weekend and my mags were giving me stupid amounts of trouble. They’re double stack to single feed and the rounds kept binding up on each other and locking everything inside the mag body itself. Is there any way to “tune” the mags to prevent this? I pulled the spring and stretched it a bit, seemed to help some but not entirely fix the problem. Also my reload that had a little residual case line on fed better as well but still not a 100%. PTG and CDI make AICS bottom metal for them but if I can make this work I’ll stick with what i got. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Primus]

Maybe start with the mag system you are running.

 

[ajdemar215]

Maybe start with the mag system you are running.

What are you saying?

 

[Primus]

What are you saying?

I just did

 

[ajdemar215]

I just did

Are you asking what DBM it is? The TBM that comes on the A5M.... question is about the mags themselves...

 

[BangBangBlatBlat]

Info about how to get those specific magazines to work is going to be scant because the FN SPR has basically dropped off the face of the earth.

Is it just one magazine? Or multiple magazines?

I am assuming all of the fixes that would apply to an AICS magazine will still apply. Clean them. Stretch the springs. Bend the feed lips. If you have a bad magazine...it's a bad magazine and you shouldn't use it.

You might also try replacing the spring with an AICS one. I think someone on the SCOUT forum did that as well.

Another option would be either filing the followers so that they have more room to move. Or adding material to them in the form of epoxy, and then filing them to fit so they have less room to get stuck.

Those are just random ideas.

 

[ajdemar215]

Info about how to get those specific magazines to work is going to be scant because the FN SPR has basically dropped off the face of the earth.

Is it just one magazine? Or multiple magazines?

I am assuming all of the fixes that would apply to an AICS magazine will still apply. Clean them. Stretch the springs. Bend the feed lips. If you have a bad magazine...it's a bad magazine and you shouldn't use it.

You might also try replacing the spring with an AICS one. I think someone on the SCOUT forum did that as well.

Another option would be either filing the followers so that they have more room to move. Or adding material to them in the form of epoxy, and then filing them to fit so they have less room to get stuck.

Those are just random ideas.

The rounds don’t even make it to the feed lips is the issue. And it’s happenong on both my 5 and 10 rounders. It’s almost like the mag body itself is to wide and allows the rounds to get to parallel. I tried a coil spring out of a magpul aics and it was way to long. The follower is kinda goofy and has a weird feed lip set up on it. When the rounds come up, the gun feeds no issue. The rounds just don’t always make it.

 

[Primus]

Is the tbm factory or did I replace the old dbm? Was the action ever inletted? Check all screws and torque?

 

[ajdemar215]

Is the tbm factory or did I replace the old dbm? Was the action ever inletted? Check all screws and torque?

Factory bottom metal, inletted fine, torqued to 65inlbs.... the bottom metal is fine as I’ve stated. The issue is with the magazine binding up with rounds.

 

[Primus]

Sounds like bad mags, buy some new ones on eBay for 54 bucks and see if that works. I have a dbm to tbm conversion and had to order special bottom metal screws for it to work. Make sure you are cycling with some violence, cfr is not for low and slow. Needs some velocity sometimes.

 

[ajdemar215]

Sounds like bad mags, buy some new ones on eBay for 54 bucks and see if that works. I have a dbm to tbm conversion and had to order special bottom metal screws for it to work. Make sure you are cycling with some violence, cfr is not for low and slow. Needs some velocity sometimes.

They’re factory FN mags, and the CFR gets ran plenty hard even though that wouldn’t fix the issue I’m having. This is a complete factory rifle the way it came, nothing has been changed or modified. When the rounds elevate, they feed. The problem is them not elevating.

 

[Primus]

Like I said bad mags. Send the rifle back to in if you like.

 

[Jackalope]

May be worth sending it to CDI for their bottom metal install. I believe they inlet the stock and mill the action for free if you buy through them. Then you can just run AI mags and be done with it.

 

[Primus]

If u want to run AICS mags, pick a different platform. The old DBM system had its short comings, but the TBM is solid.

Dude probably has a bad batch of mags or another issue. Lifetime Warranty, send it to FN and they will unfuck it.

 

[jetmd]

You can do what you want, but if you plan on keeping this rifle for the foreseeable future
Just send it to CDI and be done with all your problems.
I have had mine for 10+/- years and it has never missed a beat, no one!

 

[Lunchbox27]

You can do what you want, but if you plan on keeping this rifle for the foreseeable future
Just send it to CDI and be done with all your problems.
I have had mine for 10+/- years and it has never missed a beat, no one!

Agree! I sent mine to Jeff years back. Best thing I ever did. Those factory mags are junk.

 

[Primus]

There is zero reason to run when the TBM system is every bit as good. Most of these people don't know the difference between dbm/tbm and are spewing 10 year old advice. The other thing is, it will void the lifetime warranty on the gun.

 

[Geno C.]

What round are you running? Mine ran like shit through a goose with straight 260. I went to the 260ai and the 10 rounders bind up like you're describing when I put more than 6 in them.

 

[JeffLebowski]

I hated those factory mags.

 

[JeffLebowski]

What are you saying?

He’s saying to switch to AICS mags, which will involve modifying your rifle.

 

[jetmd]

I stand by my original post.

F**k the lifetime warranty.

If you plan to shoot this rifle a lot and plan to keep it make the switch.

Otherwise sell it to someone else and let them fight this senseless battle.

 

[Primus]

There is no senseless battle. Either the mags are bad or there is a problem with the rifle. Send it to FN (and utilize that lifetime warranty that some fool here said to void) and they will make it right.

There are plenty of people that have no problem with the TBM. The CDI/AICS conversion was a result of the origional Floor plate models and the legacy DBM system, not the currrent TBM system,

Unless you plan to rechamber it and void the warranty, there is zero advantage to gong to AICS mags. Remember FN warrants the barrel for life, so even if you somehow shoot it out (numbers like 20-30+K thrown around), they will re-barrel it for free or replace the rifle. Its stupid to butcher the gun unless someone else already has voided the warranty, and its now a project gun.

Personally, owning rifles of both flavors, I prefer the FN TBM to AICS mags. I think they are a better design.

 

[ajdemar215]

There is no senseless battle. Either the mags are bad or there is a problem with the rifle. Send it to FN (and utilize that lifetime warranty that some fool here said to void) and they will make it right.

There are plenty of people that have no problem with the TBM. The CDI/AICS conversion was a result of the origional Floor plate models and the legacy DBM system, not the currrent TBM system,

Unless you plan to rechamber it and void the warranty, there is zero advantage to gong to AICS mags. Remember FN warrants the barrel for life, so even if you somehow shoot it out (numbers like 20-30+K thrown around), they will re-barrel it for free or replace the rifle. Its stupid to butcher the gun unless someone else already has voided the warranty, and its now a project gun.

Personally, owning rifles of both flavors, I prefer the FN TBM to AICS mags. I think they are a better design.

Thanks for the reply’s, sorry it’s taken me so long to get back on and check. For those asking. I’m shooting .308 and I’ve been fucking with the mags getting ready for another local match at the end of the month. I’m about 90% sure my issues where ammo related. After going back through my brass from my last match I noticed all the rounds that were binding up were the brass that got buttfucked.... I’ll explain. Relatively new to reloading. Spent the money bought pretty much all Redding stuff loaded some pretty good shooting stuff surprisingly. However, the case lube I had been using was Redding bio Green, applied via lube pad. Well, I found out the hard way that if you don’t wipe that shit off after resizing it’ll totally tarnish your brass and make it look like green copper. But now I got 100+ cases resized and primed ready to roll so I cleaned all the green shit off with a super scotchbrite pad..... turns out, (so I think) that scratched up finish cases just enough binding in the mags to stop elevation. I have since switch to liquid lanolin and alcohol, good shiny polished cases and haven’t had an issue since..... so we’re gonna keep running the TBM until it doesn’t work. Love this rifle and have every intention of keeping it for as long as I’m around.

 

[Primus]

Awesome news and the cheapest fix. Good luck dude