Galil 50, got it to work.

[ArcFault 4]

OK, its been established in previous posts that the 50s sit to low. Bad Bob found that if he removed material from under the feed lips he could get his steel Galils to work. I still wanted mine to lock up tight like the Bulgarians do so I chose a different aproach. I have my own guide that I carved with files about two days after the now famous Vjor/AngryDutchman post(thanks guys). At the time I only had Bulgarian mags so my guide was tuned to work with them, later I tried the Orlites and they simply fed to low for my guide.

 

I could retune the guide, but I havent. The truth is there is just something about that front to back movement that you get with Orlites that bothers me, I know they work and theyre cheap, it just does OK.

 

more comming.

Edited March 6, 2007 by ArcFault

[ArcFault 4]

So, to get my 50 to work with my guide I had to add material to underside of the front and back lugs. Measurements are aproximate, and in my zeal I forgot to take pics of the built up weld metal, which is just as well because my welding skills suck with all things MIG.

 

 

I also had to remove material from the top of the rear lug and the front of the mag, similar to the mod required on the Bulgy mags. Those using Dinzags guide probably dont have to alter the front of the mag at all, as the front of the 50 is nearly identical to the Orlite geometry.

Edited March 6, 2007 by ArcFault

[ArcFault 4]

Here is how it looked after grinding.

 

Notice the rear lug is now a close match to the Bulgarian. Its not perfect but it brings the rear of the mag up higher than the Orlites and locks it in tight.

 

The top front was the weird part. I used cutting disks to hack through the sheet metal, but I left these two little "fingers" because that part of the body holds down the follower. I dont know if this was necessary because the feed lips also hold it down, but I didnt want to find out that I should have left them. After grinding I polished up the sharp edges with a Cratex wheel.

Edited March 7, 2007 by ArcFault

[ArcFault 4]

Here is a comparison of how the Orlites, Bulgys and the post mod 50 sit in my rifle.

 

Note the low feed angle of the Orlite, This is not a problem if you use Dinzags guide, repeat, this is not a problem if you use Dinzags guide.

 

Its hard to see in my pics, but the feed angle on the Orlite sends the bullet straight into my guide rather than up the front of it.

Edited March 7, 2007 by ArcFault

[ArcFault 4]

Function test and 50 rounds and one HOT! gun later I am a happy gun nut, so its off to paint. Duplicolor low gloss black engine enamel is a near perfect match.

 

Now I know that most of this may not have been necessary but its what I did and I had fun, and now I have a 50 rounder that works flawlessly. If this helps someone then all the better.

[ArcFault 4]

Gratuitous pic.

 

 

[Bad Bob 0]

I added a link to this thread here (under #4):

 

http://forum.saiga-12.com/index.php?showtopic=14852

 

Hope you don't mind (if you do, I'll change it ASAP)...

 

;>)

[ArcFault 4]

Not at all! Thanks, if I think of any more details I'll go and edit them in later.

[TEXASAK73 13]

Then there is hope for Galil mags and Bulgarian waffles and Bulgarian 74 mags with robarm followers.

[Pouchey 0]

Thank you, I appreciate you taking the time to document your work.

[Cobra 76 two 2,677]

Hell yeah man good post! I may have to take my steel LEO 35's back out and mess with them some more. I'm just so happy with my Bulgies I haven't wanted anything else in my gun. For those of you still trying to make all these cheaper mags and steel mags work, there is nothing that will ever be as perfect a fit as the Bulgies.

ArcFault great job man!

50 rds is 50 rds! Did this mod solve the side to side play problem too? I want at least one one of these if so. If not I'm sure the sides of the mag body can be built up some to fix that.

[ArcFault 4]

Thanks guys.

 

Cobra, I didn't solve the side to side wobble, but I didnt tune it to lock up super tight either. If the front lug was built up just enough to lock the top of the mag against the trunnion nice and solid, and the rear lug moved to lock the feed lips up tight against the side rails, it probably would solve the problem. I just checked with my dial guage and the Galil mag is actually about .002" wider than the Bulgarian, so it really is a lock up issue. If I had another one I think I could solve it without altering the sides at all.

 

For those with Dinzags guide it would basically mean just NOT removing material from the top front of the mag, but still building up the front lug and grinding it down until it fits in tight againt the trunnion, along with moving the rear lug accordingly.

 

On the other hand, 50 rounds create a lot of spring tension, there really isnt much wobble when the mag is loaded anyway.

 

Now I want to try again.

[IndyArms 10,186]

to solve the rocking problem... take off SLIGHTLY LESS at the front, top, tips of the mags... I took off too much on one of my Weigers... it wobbles like a weeble... but it wont fall down!

 

On the other three, I made sure to go a LOT slower, and take off much less at a whack... all three lock in with ZERO side to side wobble.

 

 

Might be just the fix for this...

 

(Might not... Just tossing that info out there...)

 

 

[ArcFault 4]

to solve the rocking problem... take off SLIGHTLY LESS at the front, top, tips of the mags... I took off too much on one of my Weigers... it wobbles like a weeble... but it wont fall down!

 

On the other three, I made sure to go a LOT slower, and take off much less at a whack... all three lock in with ZERO side to side wobble.

 

 

Might be just the fix for this...

 

(Might not... <shrug> Just tossing that info out there...)

 

 

 

Exactly what I meant in my last post. I simply removed to much material off the top front of the mag body and the bottom (after weld build up) of the rear lug. My Bulgarians dont wobble at all, but what I did there (as per Cobras instructions) was remove off of the top front SLOWLY untill they would just barely lock up.

 

What I didnt make clear is that the 50 still needs to be built up at the underside of the front lug by at least, if not more than, 1/32" to lock up solid. To solve the riddle of the wobble the Galil 50 needs to be built up at both the front and the rear lugs. The trouble here is the order of operations, since both the front and the rear need modification.

 

"Might be just the fix for this", no, I'm sure it is. You Sir, are correct.

 

I clearly need another one so I can make a second stab.

Edited March 8, 2007 by ArcFault

[oldandslow 3]

I just modified a Galil 50 magazine for 223.

 

I had to weld the front and rear tabs to add material to raise the magazine. I also had to remove material from the front of the magazine and the top of the rear tab.

 

Fits really nice. Three hours of welding, measuring and filing.

 

I obviously am posting this because of the lack of new posts.

[nalioth 405]

Since we're raising zombie threads . . .

I also had to remove material from the top of the rear lug and the front of the mag, similar to the mod required on the Bulgy mags.

There are mods required to run Bulgy mags?

 

I just opened the end of my mag well up and they run fine w/o any mods at all.

[ArcFault 4]

Since we're raising zombie threads . . .

I also had to remove material from the top of the rear lug and the front of the mag, similar to the mod required on the Bulgy mags.

There are mods required to run Bulgy mags?

 

I just opened the end of my mag well up and they run fine w/o any mods at all.

 

 

Thats just weird, I have never had to remove material from the rear of the bulgys or the ass end of the magwell. All of mine run fine, I've done three .223s and none of them had that issue. They lock up 100% with no binding at the rear. I know what you are saying because I have seen it mentioned before, but for some reason I have never had to deal with it personally.

 

What I meant but just didn't say very clearly was that the front needed to be modded in similar fashion to the bulgys. Even that I don't do anymore, now I just mill out the trunnion.

 

Furthermore, at this point I believe that I made that galil 50 mod harder than it had to be, a different bullet guide would have gone a long way. I keep meaning to try another one but its just one more project among many...

[Cobra 76 two 2,677]

From the steel Galil 35's I once played around with, it would have definitely taken more than just a taller feed ramp. The whole mag needs to be higher or the bolt rides over it. I realize you know this, just clearing it up for some who might read this and not understand. They were too sloppy side to side is the main reason I quit messing with them and went strictly with Bulgies.

Now it would be worth it to mod a 50 rdr though, just to have that extra capacity.

[Wvan1 0]

I don't have a MIG welder. How else can you add material to a magazine lug? I could try JB weld or a blob of silver solder to build it up...

[Joseph 141]

That is excatly what i do to 35 rounders

Edited March 24, 2011 by Joebanks