Magazine falls out, fail to feed.

1trkyhntr

Well-known member
I have a RRA Predator Pursuit.
I transport it in a rack in the back of my jeep. The magazine release button is not in contact with anything.
A few weeks ago I noticed that the magazine was laying on the seat directly under the rifle. I put it back in, no big deal.
Next hunt my buddy pulls the trigger on a fox. "click" on an empty chamber.
A couple of days ago I pulled the rifle out of the jeep and the magazine fell to the ground. I put it back in.
Last night I pulled the trigger on a fox. "Click" on an empty chamber.
I'm thinking that the magazine is somehow being released at some point. The rifle will fire the chambered round but (maybe?) because the magazine is no longer fully seated it fails to feed the next round. I don't know that has happened until the next time that I pull the trigger. Any ideas on what might cause the magazine to release?
The magazine is the original that came with the rifle. I could switch to a colt mag that I have but I am pretty frustrated with 2 accidental releases because I don't know what the cause is. My jeep rides pretty rough and the mounting screws on my illuminator loosens up every now and then. Could vibration cause the magazine to release? And I don't understand why if the magazine has partially released why does it not immediately fall out? I keep it full or close to full at all times.
 
Try a different mag and make sire its seated all the way. Once you chamber a round pull the charge handle back and make sure it picked one up. Most likely its a mag issue.
 
Originally Posted By: Widow maker 223Try a different mag and make sire its seated all the way. Once you chamber a round pull the charge handle back and make sure it picked one up. Most likely its a mag issue.

Thanks, I have gotten into the habit of making sure the mag is seated but admittedly not every time that I handle the rifle. I'm thinking that maybe it becomes unseated after a shot and fails to feed, but not every time. I'm going to start checking the chamber after every shot, for a while, to see if that is what is happening
I just switched magazines, hoping that the problem is solved. As much work as I put into hunting it is very frustrating to call an animal in and pull the trigger only to hear "click".
 
Try raping the bottom of the mag upwards with the palm of your hand a couple times and see if it ever falls out again ! I have seen this happen before when the mag is inserted by grabbing the mag body with the hand and inserting it....
 
try a different magazine, the tolerances on the slot that holds the magazine in and also in the lowers magazine catch sometimes are off.

I find this issue often in 80% billet lowers.
 
Ok,
Has happened with only 1 magazine, the only one I've ever used in the rifle.

I have started tapping the bottom of the mag every now and then just to be sure and I've never found it to be not seated, but on the 2 occasions that I mentioned it obviously came unseated somehow and I did not catch it.

It is a 20 rd mag and I have been keeping it topped off. I switched mags today and only loaded 10 rds. Maybe 20 rounds was too much. I don't know.

Thanks everyone for taking the time to respond.
 
It can be the mag. It can also be the mag release in the lower. If the malfunction is repeated with other mags -especially if you can use some that have a known history of no issues in another rifle- it may indicate a problem with the release, perhaps not fully installed & needs another turn?
 
I know that I'm dragging this out, but thinking back,,
This rifle is 3 years old. I never loaded the mag with more that 10 rounds, until this year when I started filling it up. I never once had a problem until this year.
I did have a new hunter on the rifle last Sat night. He had never handled an AR before and he was fiddling with it trying to get familiar with it. Maybe he hit the release button, I don't know. I shot a coyote with it after he handled the rifle, when we got back to my house is when the Mag dropped to the ground. Last night was the first time that I have puled the trigger on it since, and "click", empty chamber.
Apparently there several possible reasons for the unintentional mag release and I can't at this point rule out user error. I'll keep a better check on it for a while.
 
What brand mags are you using. I see in one of your posts you changed mags but I didn't see any you said what the results were.
 
Well apparently I was wrong when I said that I was using the same mag that came with the rifle.
I used the original magazine the first 2 years with no problems. Long story short I switched some things around and ended up putting a Colt magazine in the rifle this past summer. I did not realize that until I went out to check. It is the Colt brand that I have been using this season and having the problem with, if the problem is in fact the magazine.
 
you will start to notice that a few people run their mags 1 down from max. When you load a mag into a chamber with the bolt closed the bottom of the bolt carrier pushes down on the top of the mag. if there is not enough "give" in the mag with the mag topped off then it will not fully seat.

next time you're out shooting take that 20-rounder your having problems with and load it to 20. open the bolt and hold it open with the bolt catch. Insert the mag and drop the bolt. if this works and the mag is fully seated then there is not enough space in the mag for 20 rounds on a gun with the chamber closed.
 
There is a reason we carry 28 rounds in the mag in the Sand Box. Those last 2 rounds really put a big amount of pressure on everything. That combined with the weight of the mag bouncing and pulling downward on the vehicle seems like it could be the issue.
 
Originally Posted By: pahntr760There is a reason we carry 28 rounds in the mag in the Sand Box. Those last 2 rounds really put a big amount of pressure on everything. That combined with the weight of the mag bouncing and pulling downward on the vehicle seems like it could be the issue.


Yup. An AR-15 (like a 1911) is designed to be loaded with the action locked to the rear. Gotta load less than max in magazines if you want a reliable seating with the bolt forward.
 
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