R51 Magazine lips

[pfm41]

I used a small stone to break the edge and then polished it with a small felt Demel polishing tip and the polishing compound that came with the Demel kit.  I only polished the lower edge of the tab at the front.  Now the bullet tip slides right across the tab without snagging.  I'll update when I try it.

[pfm41]

What did you use to polish the front of the magazine?

I shot my R51 for the first time today after polishing the tab at the front of the magazines.  Four magazines of  115gr Remington ball and four magazines of  124gr Remington ball fired without a hiccup. Hardly a test but I didn't have any of the nose dives that most reported in the first few mags full.

[Sirrus Rider]

What did you use to polish the front of the magazine?

I shot my R51 for the first time today after polishing the tab at the front of the magazines.  Four magazines of  115gr Remington ball and four magazines of  124gr Remington ball fired without a hiccup. Hardly a test but I didn't have any of the nose dives that most reported in the first few mags full.

Hey PFM,

Where you having feeding problems before?? I just got back from the range where my only change was ammunition. I went to using Remington Military/Leo 115 Gr which compared to the rounds I had been using is extremely short in OAL. (28.17 mm). My gun ran perfectly whereas when I shot Winchester white box or South African Surplus (the longest round 115gr rounds I had on hand) I was having all the classic feeding problems..

[pfm41]

This was a new gun and first time shooting it.  Weather was bad so while I waited I read about the various issues.  The only thing I found were the burrs.  So far so good.

[R51Fan2017]

Sirrus,

You may want to try polishing your lips (not yours, but your mags!!  ) and see what happens.

PFM,

I would call 46 trouble free rounds a good thing. It may not have been an official test, but if it functions without hiccup, that is the main thing. Hope it continues to run well for you!

[pfm41]

I think one of the purposes of the tab at the front is to move the rounds back into position when they come to the top.  Recoil from the previous rounds will probably cause the waiting rounds to move forward; the shorter it is the farther it moves.  A burr on the bottom edge will cause them to hang up instead of sliding across the edge and back into position.  Both of my magazines would put a scratch on the bullet until I polished the tab. 

[R51Fan2017]

I think one of the purposes of the tab at the front is to move the rounds back into position when they come to the top.  Recoil from the previous rounds will probably cause the waiting rounds to move forward; the shorter it is the farther it moves.  A burr on the bottom edge will cause them to hang up instead of sliding across the edge and back into position.  Both of my magazines would put a scratch on the bullet until I polished the tab.

You are probably right, but if Remington had designed the mag to work with 9mm only, they would never have had to put that lip in there. I am not sure if you have dug far enough back in time in old threads, but I started one a while back on how over-sized the R51 mags are. They are so big that they can hold a 45ACP no problem. Try it. They should have just designed a mag for 9mm only, instead of something like what we have now. Our closest estimation as to why the mag was made so big, is that Remington had put out there that they were planning on releasing a 40 S&W version in a few years. In an effort to save costs, they just made a "one size fits all"  mag and put them out there.   

[Zenshot]

It looks like the tab is very close to the leading edge of the feed ramp on the barrel. If you modify the tab, make sure the front of the bullet will not hang up on the underside of the feed ramp.

[sebvox]

I think one of the purposes of the tab at the front is to move the rounds back into position when they come to the top.  Recoil from the previous rounds will probably cause the waiting rounds to move forward; the shorter it is the farther it moves.  A burr on the bottom edge will cause them to hang up instead of sliding across the edge and back into position.  Both of my magazines would put a scratch on the bullet until I polished the tab.

PFM- After shortening the legs about 1/8" on the followers, I noticed an interesting thing, when I would hold a fully loaded magazine in my hand and try to remove the first round with my thumb, the second round would nose dive at the bent tab.  I took your advice and filed the inner edge of the tab then polished it with my Dremel.  I also polished the feed lips for good measure.  No more nose dives!  The next cartridge pops right into place.  Can't wait to see how it performs at the range.  Thanks for the tip!