Magazines ?

[TMan]

I've been thinking about magazines. Not Playboy nor Penthouse, I'm too old for that (at my age I can just sit around and drool, I don't need any help).

Should the feed lips be equal distance apart from the rear of the magazine to the front? Is there a mathematical relationship between the width of the cartridge and the width of the feed lips? If so, anyone know what it is? If I took the magazine from my Beretta Tomcat (assuming I can find it) and measured the width between the lips and set the CZ-83's magazine lips the same amount apart, should it work?

Anyone have any experience with magazines (other than just buying them from someone like Wilson Combat)?

[MLB]

You'd think so, but I believe that it's more likely handgun specific. I say this because the distance between the top of the magazine and the bottom of the breech on the slide probably isn't standardized. The width of the mag lips determines how high the round rides above the magazine. i.e., high enough to be stripped off into the chamber.

just my ramblings though...

[TMan]

Well, it worked. I found the PPK/s before the Tomcat, and measured the lips on it. They actually got a little closer together at the front of the magazine.

So, I bent the lips on the CZ-83's magazine and took it to the range yesterday. It worked like a charm. Apparently what was happening was as the slide pushed the bullet towards the chamber, the lips would let the front of the bullet to go up to high.

[MLB]

It's amazing how such a small adjustment can make a big difference isn't it? Considering how useless a semi-auto is without a magazine, you'd think this would be one area that you shouldn't be able to bend with your fingers...

["DoubleAction"]

TMan; The experience I have with magazines is the difference between having a pistol which functions from one round to the next, and a pistol which suffers from jamming from one round to the next.

Someone with Wilson Magazines will seldom experience problems associated with a magazines.

The strength in the steel plays a major role with the feed lips in keeping their shape. You might bend the lips back in place but they might stretch out of shape again.

[TMan]

DA, unfortunately, they don't have Wilson magazines for the CZ-83.

I never gave any thought to how the lip got bent out of shape in the first place. The good news is that it took quite a bit of presure to get the lip moved back into place. I had to use those Brownell's pliers - the kind that are smooth.

It seems like I remember somewhere that if you bend metal, it makes it stronger.

I just never had problems that I could contribute to being the magazine before.

["DoubleAction"]

Too bad they don't Tman. Magazines are just one reason why I limit myself to the different Firearm manufacturers and designs.
I almost got bent out of shape myself, after discovering MecGar had started manufacturing the magazines for some of the Sig Sauers a few years back.

Some of the aftermarket magazines I had in this past just didn't hold up very well with the feed lips.

Whether the work is done by CZ ,or contracted out, I would think CZ has very good factory magazines.

[MLB]

tman said:

...It seems like I remember somewhere that if you bend metal, it makes it stronger.
...

Yes, in a way. Strain hardening results when you bend metal beyond it's yield stress (which you must do to get it to stay the way you bent it.) Subsequent stressing of the metal will allow it to return elastically, at about a 20% maximum increase for steel.

The increase in "allowable stress" doesn't mean it deflects less for a given load though (stiffness), just that you can bend it further and it will snap back.

Cold forging takes advantage of this too.

[TMan]

Miserable day here, but stayed above freezing so I can't complain too much.

With the weather, I only shot 50 rounds and still had one failure. I did notice that when I put a round in, I could still wiggle it from side to side. Switching the the new Witness, I couldn't wiggle it at all. So I guess I have to bend some more and hope that it holds.

I also noticed some scratches on the plastic grips, so unless I get new grips, I may pass on getting the gun re-blued.

[5ontarget]

tman said:

Miserable day here, but stayed above freezing so I can't complain too much.

I was at an outdoor range all day (9:00-5:00PM) shooting all kinds of military surplus stuff. I don't think it mad it to 30, with light snow. (Better than last year's shoot, wind chills were -15F and snow)
A bunch of us get a bad case of cabin fever, and get out and shoot.

[TMan]

Well, the last little tweak to the magazine lips did the trick. The round no longer wiggles, and it ran perfectly.

Interesting that in this month's American Gunsmith magazine they had an article tuning magazines for reliable feeding. Only a month late. What was really interesting is one little statement: "The Wilson Combat magazine set (sic) the standard for modern magazines,..."

[blueglass]

You are getting all of our nasty weather 5ontarget, we actually had a fairly nice day up here and the rest of the week is supposed to be warmer as well with NO Snow at all. Winters been way too long this year as we all just hate it up here already.