OK. . .Orlites conquered!

[inparidel 4]

OK guys. I tried the buildup of the front mag lug/tab, and I also rolled some 100 grit on a pencil to angle up, and thin out the feed lips. I used Home Depot epoxy putty mixed with aluminum filings as an aggregate for strength (but you still have to hard smear some "pure" putty on the roughed-up surfaces in question tom strike up a bond).

 

After letting the putty cure for about 24 good hours, (it's allegedly a 10 minute putty), I tried the mags by hand racking a mag through the gun. TOO F***ING COOL! total flawless feed! The putty on one mag was not cured enough, or just plain not strong enough (that's more likely), but even though some chipped off, the mag STILL fed without a hiccup!

 

The point is that I believe I have beaten the Orlite challenge. I believe that the attachment of three or four small pointed screws under the front lug/tab, OR some of the mag's own plastic from another part of the mag that has been melted and "welded" onto the lug bottom, WILL WORK FLAWLESSLY--or so it seems from the data I have thus far. Woo Hoo!!

Edited September 5, 2006 by inparidel

[dinzag 31]

Good info, thanks! I think the front catch could be done by melting plastic to build it up.

I've seen the putty come off catches before.

 

Thanks for the info, thats pretty much what we did minus the front catch.

[inparidel 4]

Gentlemen. . .I am getting my soldering iron ready to soften up the lug boottom, and the little bar of mag plastic I am going to hacksaw from that overly generous slab of plastic on the back-upper-side of the mag. Hell, I may try to squish in some aluminum or brass filings to beef up thhe wear surface. Guys. . .I ythink we have just entered the world of inexpensive--and sexy-looking--30, 35 AND 50-55 rd. mags for our S .223s. DOUBLE WOOO HOOO!!!!

[IndyArms 10,186]

Good luck!!! :up:

 

[inparidel 4]

My Saiga conversion uses Galil Orlites with the addition of a bullet guide and a small bevel below the chamber. I shot another 60 rounds this Labor Day weekend with no problems. I used Wolf FMJ , HP and Radway Green 5.56 X 45 ammo.

 

 

Cool! But, Dude. . .Without adding something to the bottom of the front mag lug, the mag can shift WAAAAY beyond what is necessary for front feeding and rear stripping--unless you did something in that regard and just forgot to mention it. If you didn't. . .I don't see how it will work reliably. Please fill us in! Thanks much, bro!!

[vjor 2]

Edited September 7, 2006 by vjor

[inparidel 4]

Sir...... I am not sure what movement you are reffering to. My Galils have less side to side movement than the Wiegers do in my Sar-3s. There is a little movement if you pull the mag towards the rear , but this doesn't seem to be a problem. I have Dremeled a little plastic off the mag sides. There is a photo of this in a sticky in this forum. I have also made my own bullet guide. This bullet guide is longer than most bullet guides. It extends slightly over the mag when the mag is seated in the receiver. The Galil mags are seated lower in the receiver than the stock mags. They are actually below the trunnion. So it takes a little longer bullet guide to lift the bullet up towards the chamber. I experimented by varying the lengths of my bullet guides and the longer ones lifted the bullets higher. Unfortunately I still needed to bevel the area below chamber to get the rounds to feed reliably. My Sar-3s have a much bigger bevel than what I had to do to my Saiga. I would hand feed a round by pushing a bullet into the chamber by pushing the bolt carrier forward. If the bullet tip was banged up I would Dremel a little more metal off below the chamber. Then repeat again (I dinged about 20 rounds of ammo). I also learned that one of my Galil mags was different than the others. The tip of the bullet was actually lower in one mag than the others. This caused it to misfeed a hollowpoint. So far I have converted two Saiga .223 rifles to use Galil Orlite 35 round mags with no problems. I will start my third this weekend. Just thought I would offer my observations. Believe it or not !

 

OK. We are in agreement that the mag uper sides need to be filed, BUT. . .the mag will rock forward and back, which means that the bullet tips will hit the bullet guide and get mashed. If I am reading you correctly, you got flawless performance WITHOUT sanding the inside of the feed lips, or thickening the bottom of the front mag lug?

 

I have a standard Bulgy .223 bullet guide, and without sanding the feed lips, AND raising the angle of the mag (by building the bottom of the front mag lug) the bullet tips are below the bullet guide, or get mashed. We are in agreement on the need for a SAR 3-type chamber opening bevel, but if you did nothing more than thin out the mag top, and bevel the chamber opening, I am not understanding how it works, especially since you said that your bullet guide is LONGER than standard.

 

In the interest of helping out me and other readers, please confirm if all you did was thin the mag top, and bevel the chamber opening. My tests revealed that I would get a negative function if I did not also sand the feed lips AND build up the front mag lug bottom.

 

THanks for ther info, bro!

[24kshooter 0]

Nice job - lot's of fine effort - However just think you could have bought an AK 74 and saved all that work and had mag reliability. Spare me the ammo availability argument - 5.45 is cheaper per 1K, more accurate than the training level 5.56 and the guys in blue helmets will have plenty to borrow.

[JK-47 33]

Nice job - lot's of fine effort - However just think you could have bought an AK 74 and saved all that work and had mag reliability. Spare me the ammo availability argument - 5.45 is cheaper per 1K, more accurate than the training level 5.56 and the guys in blue helmets will have plenty to borrow.

5.45 is cheaper, but harder to find. You can get .223 off a shelf pretty much everywhere (in the US anyway), and its available in reloadable brass, HP, SP, frangible, tracer, Glaser saftey slug, and a variety of grain weights. About the "guys in blue helmets"; I assume you are implying Nato troops? I thought nato adopted 5.56mm and 5.45 is a warsaw pact standard. Regardless, I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for them to show up so I can pry some 5.45mm ammo from their cold dead hands.

Edited September 22, 2006 by JK-47

[Bad Bob 0]

JK-47: "You can get .223 off a shelf pretty much everywhere (in the US anyway), and its available in reloadable brass, HP, SP, frangible, tracer, Glaser saftey slug, and a variety of grain weights."

 

^^^

 

Amen to that. Unless you're planning to go overseas, 5.56 is IMHO a lot easier to obtain than 5.45. If you love to reload (like I do) and love 'odd-ball' cartridges (like I do - although with me, I prefer it if they're at least 100 years old ;>), then go with 5.45, and more power to you, and I'll even buy you a beer or two or six to toast your 5.45, if we are lucky enough to meet (more beers on me, if you're smart enough to stash more ammo ;>)!

 

One final note: based on the general track record (that means minus much of the Korean War UN contingent [like the Turks, S. Koreans, Ghurkas, etc.] and the US, Brits, Australians, etc. - meaning your average non-committed, poorly-trained, third-world blue helmets ;>), I don't know how many blue helmets would stick around long enough for their hands to get very cold...

 

;>)

[vjor 2]

[Deadeye008 2]

OK guys. I tried the buildup of the front mag lug/tab, and I also rolled some 100 grit on a pencil to angle up, and thin out the feed lips. I used Home Depot epoxy putty mixed with aluminum filings as an aggregate for strength (but you still have to hard smear some "pure" putty on the roughed-up surfaces in question tom strike up a bond).

 

After letting the putty cure for about 24 good hours, (it's allegedly a 10 minute putty), I tried the mags by hand racking a mag through the gun. TOO F***ING COOL! total flawless feed! The putty on one mag was not cured enough, or just plain not strong enough (that's more likely), but even though some chipped off, the mag STILL fed without a hiccup!

 

The point is that I believe I have beaten the Orlite challenge. I believe that the attachment of three or four small pointed screws under the front lug/tab, OR some of the mag's own plastic from another part of the mag that has been melted and "welded" onto the lug bottom, WILL WORK FLAWLESSLY--or so it seems from the data I have thus far. Woo Hoo!!

 

Instead of using putty you should use JB Weld. That stuff is amazing. I'm working on some Orlites myself that will feed without any mod to the trunion. I'm using the "screw in the mag" mod. I can hand cycle a full magazine. Gonna go try it out with live rounds tomorrow probably. I'm gonna use some JB weld to fix the back of the mag so that it doesn't rock up and down. Will post pics when I get them all done and gotten a test run done on them.

[inparidel 4]

OK guys. I tried the buildup of the front mag lug/tab, and I also rolled some 100 grit on a pencil to angle up, and thin out the feed lips. I used Home Depot epoxy putty mixed with aluminum filings as an aggregate for strength (but you still have to hard smear some "pure" putty on the roughed-up surfaces in question tom strike up a bond).

 

After letting the putty cure for about 24 good hours, (it's allegedly a 10 minute putty), I tried the mags by hand racking a mag through the gun. TOO F***ING COOL! total flawless feed! The putty on one mag was not cured enough, or just plain not strong enough (that's more likely), but even though some chipped off, the mag STILL fed without a hiccup!

 

The point is that I believe I have beaten the Orlite challenge. I believe that the attachment of three or four small pointed screws under the front lug/tab, OR some of the mag's own plastic from another part of the mag that has been melted and "welded" onto the lug bottom, WILL WORK FLAWLESSLY--or so it seems from the data I have thus far. Woo Hoo!!

 

Instead of using putty you should use JB Weld. That stuff is amazing. I'm working on some Orlites myself that will feed without any mod to the trunion. I'm using the "screw in the mag" mod. I can hand cycle a full magazine. Gonna go try it out with live rounds tomorrow probably. I'm gonna use some JB weld to fix the back of the mag so that it doesn't rock up and down. Will post pics when I get them all done and gotten a test run done on them.

 

Clearly, you have never used J&B on the Galil, front lug to make it work in a Saiga .223. Guess again.