 |
Technical
Bulletin |
October 27, 2001
Technical
Bulletin 7, Magazine Catch Malfunction
We
have learned that some AR-10 rifle owners have magazines that fall out of
their rifles. This problem was
identified several years ago and corrected by replacement of the AR-10
magazine catch. Evidently some
owners didn’t receive the news.
The problem is due to an interesting interaction of the magazine and
magazine catch. In rifles
equipped with early AR-10 magazine catches, the magazine can actually
release itself.
That’s because the AR-10
magazine catch is based on the M-16 magazine catch.
Because the magazine well of the AR-10 is slightly larger than that
of the M-16, a small edge of the magazine catch can protrude into the
corner of the magazine well. The
normal magazine movement that occurs during firing can cause the corner of
the magazine to strike the catch and pop the catch slightly outward.
ArmaLite corrected this problem by changing the magazine catch
design so that nothing sticks into the magazine well.
Rifle owners can use a file to remove the offending material of
their magazine catch if they wish to avoid having their rifles out of
service. We will trade new
magazine catches for the old ones to help other owners.
If your rifle drops a magazine from time to time, check your rifle
for the condition by pivoting the upper receiver downward and looking down
into the lower left corner of the magazine well, near the magazine catch.
If a small square of material sticks into the corner of the
magazine well, it’s probably the cause of the problem and magazine catch
replacement will solve it. The
magazine will show a corresponding shiny spot on it’s corner near the
magazine catch hole.
Send the magazine catch to ArmaLite,
attention Zach, at the address above, for exchange.
If your rifle has never dropped a
magazine, you can ignore the whole issue even if the magazine catch does
protrude a bit.
MAW
© 1998 ArmaLite, Inc. |
