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Thread: Pro Mag for Mini 14.

  1. #21
    Boolit Buddy
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    magazine

    I picked up two 45 ACP Grease gun magazines that where after market and they where not reliable I started shorting them by one inch at a time and would clamp a block in the bottom to act as a bottom I ended up with two 10 round magazines that work great .
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  2. #22
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    I have a 583 series Mini-14. Tried Pro Mags and sent them back, they were less than useless in my Mini. Was able to get 4 Ruger 10 rounders (live in New Yorkistan 10 rounds max) work like a charm. Every one in my gun club that shoots a Mini only use Ruger factory originals.

  3. #23
    Boolit Master gnostic's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by richbug View Post
    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.
    I use Promags in my Mini 30, they look and function the same as my Ruger mags. I've made small modifications (with a file) to no name mags for the Mini 14 with good results. When I lived in LA mags were hard to come by...

  4. #24
    Boolit Buddy
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    Mini's have always had issues with after market mags,,, even back in the pre-ban days when old man ruger wouldent allow anything but the 5rd mags be sold to citizens.
    Pro mag plastic 20rd AR mags are all Ive used for cast boolits in 300 blackout for about 6yrs now and Ive had nothing but good luck with those,,, but they dont inspire confidence that they would survive a fall or any rough treatment.

  5. #25
    Boolit Bub
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    You need to take them apart and de-burr all the edges and areas of flash. I have four 20 rounders that are now reliable.

  6. #26
    Boolit Master
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    I have had several Mini 14's, mine were earlier ones. They were totally reliable with Ruger mags but every after market was junk or needed work and then you were never really sure. Have a couple of Pro-Mags around for pistols, not even heavy enough for paper weights.

  7. #27
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    W.R.Buchanan's Avatar
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    My Mini 14 was slightly used when I got it in 2006, and it came with a 10 rnd. Promag. It never worked very well so I bought a bunch of Ruger Mags 10 and 20 rounders.

    About a year or so ago I had some Ruger 10 round mags that wouldn't holed the bolt open, and I called Ruger and asked for some new followers that would trip the bolt hold open. They sent me two new magazines, and they were made by Pro Mag! I got my original mag out and compared it to the new ones and the only difference was that the Ruger mags had the Ruger Emblem in the round hole in the Plastic Floor plate adn the Pro Mag did have it. Otherwise they were identical.

    I called Ruger and talked to my guy and found out Ruger had been sourcing Promag for these Magazines for a long time. I indicated my displeasure and he agreed and said that the decision came at a time when they were swamped and couldn't make the mags fast enough.

    As far as other brands? I only have 10 and 20 round Ruger mags, and I bought 5 2nd Gen 30 rnd. Tapco Mags a few years ago for $12 ea. at Basspro in LV. I initially had problems with them not running if loaded with 30 rounds. Cut that back to 28 rounds and they run perfectly! I like them alot.

    I'm shooting my Mini 14 at a 3 gun shoot tomorrow, with my Tapco Mags. Remington bought up Tapco and then shelved the company, now Sportsman's Warehouse owns them and we'll see if they start making the mags again. I was lobbying them to make 10 and 20 round versions too.

    Randy
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  8. #28
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    Quote Originally Posted by murf205 View Post
    AMEN! I guess it wouldn't sound right saying Smith's Law.
    https://www.urbandictionary.com/defi...mith%27s%20Law

    Smith's law is similar but different.
    NRA Benefactor.

  9. #29
    Boolit Master murf205's Avatar
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    Ha! I didn’t know that existed but it’s true. Learn something new every day
    IT AINT what ya shoot--its how ya shoot it. NONE of us are as smart as ALL of us!

  10. #30
    Boolit Master murf205's Avatar
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    I might have solved 1 (and only 1) of the Mini 14 mysteries. The after market magazines that gave trouble with coming out of the rifle, after releasing the latch, have the softest metal I've seen ina long time. When you release the magazine, you have to hold the magazine latch forward until the mag clears the magazine well or it gouges into the soft metal on the rear of the magazine and stops it from clearing the rifle. This was a complete mystery to an old guy like me, who used an M-14 in the military, because those magazines were, probably made from heat treated metal as hard as woodpecker lips and slid in and out like a greased pig, without holding the release forever. The range has a covered roof and I really couldn't see in mag well of the rifle today plus, I learned a loooong time ago not to take a rifle apart at the range. When I got home, I took these picks.Attachment 282334Attachment 282335
    The rear of the mag with the bluing scraped off is the after market one with the chatter marks and the other is a Ruger magazine with the bluing barely marked at all. MUCH harder material! The other aftermarket mag had chatter marks on it that were removed with only a couple of strokes of a fine file.
    IT AINT what ya shoot--its how ya shoot it. NONE of us are as smart as ALL of us!

  11. #31
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    I got My Mini-14 180-Series in 1976, not 200th 1776 stamped bbl.
    Was given a New no name 30rd mag by Bowers Whlse to test. Worked Fantastic, but not for others. Guess I got the only good one.
    Bought 3 Factory 5 rounders for Jackrabbit hunting. They all worked great. Got 2 30rd and 3 20rd Factory mags, tested great and put away with odd 30 rounder. Got a Promag 10rd about 25 ? Years ago. Works well, I leave that one in the Rifle. Only Promag I've ever tried.
    I HATE auto-correct

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  12. #32
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    Hoookay....so here it is as promised, the Thermold Mini-14 magazine review.

    I ordered (I thought...but can't imagine making a mistake..., who...me! Never!) two 3-packs of Thermold 20 round magazines from Sportsman's Guide. They finally showed up yesterday. There were 6 magazines loose in the box with some other stuff.

    First impression...wow! They sure are light and sort of flimsy feeling. Next, I got out my 180-series Mini-14 and, wow again, they fit perfectly. Snapped right in. Taking them out there's a catch at the front of the mag where the hole is and a stud fits in, but really not bad, and I'll bet it goes away with a few sessions of using. For plastic, they seem well made. Have stainless springs, feed well when just hand cycling. But, it slowly dawned on me that they were 30 rounders! Almost immediately decided to re-order.

    Well, I visit the SG site for that purpose and discover that 3-paks of 30 rounders are $19+, (Item # WX2-221355), but 20 rounders are $23+ for ONE MAG. (Item # WXZ-230831) ! I phoned SG and chatted with a customer service lady who agreed that the pricing is crazy.

    So, what can I add? If you like 30s and want 30s they're still in stock and you better get on it. If you like and want 20s, which I did,maybe things will change because of my conversation with the customer service lady. Get 'em while you can.
    Click image for larger version. 

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    DG

  13. #33
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    DG do those mags have a metal Reinforcement around the hole where the stud goes?.

    The 2nd Gen Tapco's do and they run perfectly.

    Don't leave your mags loaded. It will distort the feed lips.

    Randy
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  14. #34
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    Randy-- no they do not, but I can see where that would be a great improvement. I can see where pulling the mag off the steel locking stud would probably enlarge the hole in short order. I'll put a little grease on the stud and maybe that will prolong their life.

    This morning, just on a whim, I tried one in my Mini-30. With the bolt closed it would not lock in, but with the bolt locked back it snapped right in place. Also, I loaded 5 rounds of 7.62x39mm in the mag and they fed and ejected perfectly! I didn't actually fire them, but just worked them through the action. Also, when empty it locked the bolt back, and wasn't any more difficult to remove than from the Mini-14.

    I still think steel mags are the way to go, if one can find them. CDNN seems to have a supply of 30 round Ruger steel factory mags that they sell for just about $50 each, but I wanted 20 round mags. I managed to get 5 Ruger factory Mini-30 mags from CDNN, but haven't seen any since. I thought these Thermold mags were Mini-14 20 rounders, but they turned out to be 30 rounders. I can't complain about the price, but the old axiom probably holds true that "you get what you pay for."

    DG

  15. #35
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    It is not uncommon for Mini Mags to not want to go all the way in with a closed bolt, and really not want to if they are full.

    I can't have that,,, so I take a file and remove some from the bottom edge of the little plate that hooks the mag catch until they will go in on a closed bolt with a full mag.

    One other point about full mags, when you are trying to push them in against a closed bolt the cartridge stripper on the bottom of the bolt has to compress the rounds in the magazine. If the mag is completely full sometimes there isn't enough space in the mag for the rounds to go down any farther. Hence down loading.

    The Tapcos all went in just fine but had to be down loaded -2 so they would run. After that they have been flawless.

    Randy.
    "It's not how well you do what you know how to do,,,It's how well you do what you DON'T know how to do!"
    www.buchananprecisionmachine.com

  16. #36
    Boolit Buddy
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    30 round PMI

    30 round magazines that where made by PMI Precision Magazine Industries some are marked with a logo and some are not they have two 1/4 inch holes on the side and the bottom plate has a 3/16 hole . All of them that I have are perfect they all work like Ruger factory magazines .

  17. #37
    Boolit Master murf205's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Murphy View Post
    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
    Well...I did a little research and believe it or not, there was a Murphy behind the Law. He was Captain Ed Murphy in the Air Force and they were testing the "G's" on a rocket sled on the desert. They strapped a poor Major into the rocket sled to see if he could withstand x amount of g's. They almost turned the poor guy into a pancake and when he got out of the sled, he asked just how many g's he had been subjected to. That is when capt Murphy told him that who ever installed the guages had done it wrong and there was no reading at all! Afterward, when they interviewed the Major, he said that it was Murphy's Law that whatever could go wrong ..will.
    IT AINT what ya shoot--its how ya shoot it. NONE of us are as smart as ALL of us!

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BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
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GC Gas Check