Manners Mini Chassis and Alpha Mags, problems...

THellURider

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Full Member
Minuteman
Jan 18, 2005
37
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Dallas, TX
I've got a 6.5 CM built on a Manners Mini Chassis. I bought 3 of the Alpha Mags and, frankly, am really disappointed. They fit super tight empty and with 10 rounds apparently swell so much that I can't even get the mag in the chassis.

on top of that issue, the rounds seem to nose dive in the mag constantly and I have to readjust them before they'll feed.

A quick search showed this to have happened before... anyone know how to resolve it?

Thanks.
 
Re: Having some problems with my Alpha Mags...

The swelling issue I didn't experience with my mag (I can actually fit 11 rounds in).
The rounds nose diving I did experience, and was able to fix it by adjusting the feed lips slightly. I tweaked the rear of the feed lips a hair, bringing them closer together, and the front of the feed lips I opened up to (I think, I can check this later) .4 inches. The idea was that when the rounds sits against the lips, the front allows the front of the round to ride higher, and the rear forces the rear of the round a tiny bit lower. I also added an extremely minimal lip at the rear, to prevent the top round from sliding forward when the mag gets bounced around.
All in all it took about 5 minutes, and the mag has functioned 100% since then.
 
Re: Having some problems with my Alpha Mags...

Spoke with Chris at Alpha today and he is 1st class. This is apparently an issue between how the Manners Chassis is built and the shape of the Alpha Mags. Not a manufacturing issue so much as they simply don't fit in the hole. Kind of like putting a square peg in a round hole.

Great customer service from Chris and Alpha Mfg.
 
Re: Having some problems with my Alpha Mags...

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: THellURider</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> Spoke with Chris at Alpha today and he is 1st class. This is apparently an issue between how the Manners Chassis is built and the shape of the Alpha Mags. Not a manufacturing issue so much as they simply don't fit in the hole. Kind of like putting a square peg in a round hole.

Great customer service from Chris and Alpha Mfg. </div></div>Interesting? The specs for the mini chassis are based on AI mag specs, it is the same for the badger m-5. We have run a lot of alpha mags with very little issues, but it sounds like the spec for the alpha is different than the AI. I will verify this with Chris.
thanks
 
Re: Having some problems with my Alpha Mags...

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Thomas Manners</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: THellURider</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> Spoke with Chris at Alpha today and he is 1st class. This is apparently an issue between how the Manners Chassis is built and the shape of the Alpha Mags. Not a manufacturing issue so much as they simply don't fit in the hole. Kind of like putting a square peg in a round hole.

Great customer service from Chris and Alpha Mfg. </div></div>Interesting? The specs for the mini chassis are based on AI mag specs, it is the same for the badger m-5. We have run a lot of alpha mags with very little issues. It sounds like the spec for the alpha is different than the AI. I will verify this with Chris.
thanks
</div></div>

AICS or accurate mags work well in these Mini Chassis systems. I know of three people that have had no problems with AICS/accurate mags yet have run into problems with alpha mags. Check out this thread.
 
Re: Having some problems with my Alpha Mags...

Yep, never could get those things to work properly in my mini chassis. Played with them, tried to figure things out and bounced some ideas off others here. No dice. Never an issue with my AI mags.
 
Re: Having some problems with my Alpha Mags...

So Chris, Tom, what's the verdict....do the alpha mags work with the mini chassis or not? I was going to order some for a T5A with mini chassis I have but after reading this I'm not sure?
 
Re: Having some problems with my Alpha Mags...

I have the Mini chassis and the alpha WSM mags and it is very tight to get into the chass. I am thinking of getting rid of the mini chassis because of this. I am really unhappy about it.
 
Re: Having some problems with my Alpha Mags...

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: KYS338</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I have a T4 with mini chassis and my 300WSM Alpha mags run just fine in it. </div></div>

^Ditto on a T5. They ran so well I started running em exclusively and sold off a few AICS for ammo.
 
What's been the consensus lately on the mini chassis and Alpha mags? I am really wanting to get a Manners EH1 with a Badger mini chassis but Tom brought up the issue with Alpha mags. I use Alpha mags exclusively for my 300WSM and 7WSM rigs so am concerned if I get the EH1 with the Badger mini chassis I'm going to run into the issues others have mentioned here, that would not be good. That being said, some have mentioned they have no problem at all with their Manners with the mini chassis and Alpha mags so I'm torn.

I tried emailing Alpha but have received no response; however, from Chris' post above, he is basically saying his mags don't work well. This is so strange because they work beautifully in my AICS 2.0 stock and I would think the mag well on the Badger mini chassis would be spec'd the same??? This tells me it may not be so much an Alpha issue, but a Badger issue... did Badger run too tight on their tolerances?

I'm going to contact Tom and see if I can ship a couple of my Alpha mags to him and see if he can test in some of the mini chassis and let me know if they will work...