Pro Mag for Mini 14.

[murf205]

Man! I wish they had named Murphy's law after some one else. A couple of weeks ago I saw where Midway had some Pro Mag 20 rnd magazines for my Mini 14 so I sprung for 3 of them. What a bust that was. The first one would not even go into the magazine well; the 2nd one would go in but not latch, and the 3rd one went in but I had to take the action out of the stock to get the thing out. Is it just my luck or has anyone else had Pro Mag problems? The 20 rnd Ruger factory mags are ultra scarce and the 10 rounders don't exactly grow on trees either. I have had not one problem with the factory magazines and I don't know who makes them--Ruger maybe or a contractor (probably). I know that they are very hush hush about the source.

[Burnt Fingers]

Friends don't let friends buy ProMags.

I'd return them.

[Buzz Krumhunger]

Squeeze one end in a vise and they are useable as door stops.

[zarrinvz24]

Friends don't let friends buy ProMags.

I'd return them.

Yes. If you can find them, the Ruger mags are worth the extra cost. It’s been about 20 years since I had a mini-14, but back during the AWB I remember I tried nearly all the cheapie brands. The only ones that ever worked predictably well were the Ruger factory mags.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Hi murf205-- you have surely raised an interesting topic! I have never had any experience at all with plastic magazines (but am about to!), and it never seemed like a good idea. I've had Mini-14s in my accumulation since just a few months after they hit the market. I've got two of the original 180- series rifles, and one 182- series. I've always been on the lookout for steel mags, and did jump on it one time when I saw some Ruger 20 round mags and picked up 4 of them. That has been maybe 15 years ago. They sure don't make many of them.

But, just a couple of weeks ago I received an e-mail ad from Sportsman's Guide offering various magazines. One deal just seemed too good to pass up, 3-paks of Thermold 30 rd. Mini-14 magazines for really cheap. I figured I'd roll the dice and ordered two 3-paks, but they haven't arrived yet, so I can't comment. I'm either going to be celebrating, or smacking myself on the head saying, "Stupid, stupid, stupid." They still show them in stock, if you want to visit their website.

As for ProMag, I have no experience, but SG is selling blued steel 10 rounders for $19.97, and they are ProMag brand. They are also selling Ruger 10 round blued steel mags for $35.99. I think they're Ruger factory mags, and judging by the price they should be! Then, they are also offering ProMag polymer 42 round mags at $16.19 each.

Over the years I've had pretty good luck with CDNN Sports for magazines. Once you buy from them and give them your e-mail address you'll get a big ad from them every morning. It pays to skim through them, because about 6 months ago I was able to pick up five 20 round Ruger factory Mini-30 mags. They were almost $50 each, but they're an even rarer bird than the Mini-14 mags. Their stock comes and goes, so you have to keep looking. Right now CDNN has 30 round Ruger factory blue steel mags for $49.95 each and that same ProMag 42 round Zytel mag for $19.99. I'd jump on the Ruger factory 30 rounders, but I've always found them to be awkward, and prefer the 20 round size.

Hope you find something that works for you.

DG

[murf205]

Very true about the akwardness of 30 rnd magazines in the mini. Actually the most handy ones are the 5 rnd and maybe the 10. I guess I got hung up on wanting 20 rounders because that's what I carried in the Army for an M-14. These magazines are steel and look exactly like the Rugers but the devil is in the details. Since I bought these, I have read that the Ruger factory mags are the ONLY one that is reliable. I read that Megar mags were really good and they made the ones for my P-99 Walther that has never had 1 hiccup ever. The factory mags are not cheap but in this case, I'm afraid that you get what you pay for.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Ahhhh Hah! Same thing here. I had an M14 in the Army and 20 round mags, and wanted them for my Minis. Like we already said, hard to get. Then when I got a Mini-30 I got lucky and got 5 of the 20 rounders, blue. Too bad they aren't stainless to match the rifle, but I feel lucky just to have them. The Thermold mags should show up in a few days, and if I remember to do so I'll give a report. I thought you were talking about the ProMag polymer mags, but I also bought some of the ProMag blue steel 10 round mags a couple of months ago and had just about the same experience as you. Two of the Five fit in the rifle I tried them in, no luck with the other three. Since I had the 20 round mags I didn't want to fool with them, so I oiled them up and stored them away. I thought that since my guns were early production they might fit better in late production guns, as they did a redesign on the Mini a few years ago.

DG

[fatnhappy]

Got a mini-30, 583 series. I didn't have friends to give me the sage counsel found here.

Hi my name is Dean and I bought 2 pro-mags.


I had better luck than you. I was able to fit them in the mag well. That's where the excitement ends. The next time 2 sequential rounds feed will be the first time. I deep sixed them. Strictly ruger factory mags in the house now. I was fortunate to land half a dozen of them back in the days of yore when primers were on shelves, powder was available and police were respected.

[FLINTNFIRE]

CDNN used to have 20 round straight mags marked OEM , I saw people online discussing that they were the real deal as far as fit and function so when I saw them in stock I bought some , no failures to feed or function in my mini 14's .

[Mrlucky353]

Have never, ever, ever had any success with any, any, any aftermarket Ruger Magazines for any Ruger rifle. Took many failures and much wasted money for the lesson to finally sink in.

Once had a 10/22 Ruger magazine get intermittent jams inside the magazine, like the internal spring was binding. Called Ruger for advice on how to fix it.

Ruger customer service insisted that I send it to them, and they replaced it, no charge, not even the cost to ship the replacement magazine back to me.

Am glad others have had better luck.

[murf205]

That's another caveat to using Ruger magazines. If something goes south, they will stand behind it and fix the problem, period. I contacted ProMag about my problem and the said let them know the model and make of the rifle. I did and they have chosen not to contact me since. There are just too many reports of problems with aftermarket magazines--and not even fitting into the gun is a real problem! When I bought my 581 series Mini, it had a fail to feed and some fail to fire problems. 1 call to Ruger and I had a shipping label. In just a little over a week it was back to me and works like a charm. I've got a 20 rnd. 2-10 rnds and 2-5 rnd mags , all factory and since most of my shooting is off the bench to test loads, the 5 rnd mags are more bag friendly.
I try not to bash manufactures too much but when your product gives this much trouble, Pro Mag needs to tighten up their process.

[richbug]

I have a few newish Ruger mags for my Mini. Ruger had them a few weeks ago for $40 on their website, I have a couple from the 90s too.

I must be the exception... I saw the 20 rd Promags hanging on the wall at Rural King. I bought one to try at $21.99 they seemed reasonable enough. The first one locked in fine, functioned fine, and held the bolt open one the last shot. I bought a few more when I went back to the store, I didn't shoot them all, but they all locked in and locked back the bolt fine. Biggest noticeable difference is the pro mags have less sharp edges than current factory mags.

[marlin39a]

I’ve got many Ruger Factory 20 & 30 rd magazines, that I don’t use much for range use. Years back, I bought several Tapco, Generation 2, 30 rd magazines for range use. They work perfectly.

[MostlyLeverGuns]

Long ago I bought a couple Pro-mag 'Blued steel' magazines from Sportsman's Guide. The 'blued steel' was plastic the color of blued steel, guess I did not read the fine print, stopped buying from SG after that, too many weasel worded descriptions, CAVEAT EMPTOR. Worked when I got them into rifle, not a smooth fit, until dropped on concrete, a chip broke and then function became suspect, I also have a steel magazine unmarked that came with rifle, not Ruger, that is also NOT a smooth fit. My Ruger 5 ,20's, and 30's work very well. Modern polymer magazines from Magpul work just fine but they don't make a Mini-14.

[Cargo]

Friends don't let friends buy ProMags.

I'd return them.

Well it seems some things haven't changed after all these years...

[JRD]

I don't have any direct ProMag Mini-14 experience, but will offer the internet wisdom that ProMags are for people who want to own a bunch of mags (on the cheap) but don't actually have any intent of using them. So long as you are happy to have a stack cheap of hi cap mags to look at and don't use them, you won't be disappointed. Otherwise stay away.

ProMags business model must rely on there being a lot of shooters who just want to own mags and don't use them.

[Murphy]

Man! I wish they had named Murphy's law after some one else.

Brother, I feel your pain. That joker that wrote Murphy's Law must have used Murphy as a pen name. He sure didn't make any exemptions for folks with the same last name!


Murphy

[murf205]

Brother, I feel your pain. That joker that wrote Murphy's Law must have used Murphy as a pen name. He sure didn't make any exemptions for folks with the same last name!


Murphy

AMEN! I guess it wouldn't sound right saying Smith's Law.

[Texas by God]

I bought a couple of Pro Mag " rollermag" 20 rounders for $10 each here while back. They are for AR15 and so far I'm only using them for target shooting. I've noticed stiff fit in my CavArms but not the standard lowers. They feed perfect with 5.56 and .300BO but might or might not lock the bolt back. Funny thing, they have the RamLine type measuring tape spring.
Other ProMags I've used (including Mini 14) haven't inspired confidence except.....once I had a Ruger P89 that came with two steel Pro Mag 30 rounders that worked flawlessly for spraying cheap 9mm ammo. Of course they stuck out of the pistol a foot.

Sent from my SM-A716U using Tapatalk

[elmacgyver0]

After market mags are a hit and miss preposition, sometimes you have no choice.