GSR Poly Mags - a review

[justsaymo]

The new Ruger poly mags make a good rifle even better and easier to use.  Thanks to some excellent reviews I've read here I took the plunge and ordered some.  I'm very glad I did.


The new and the old

Easier to load and lighter weight.


The polymer mags can be topped off while inside the gun.  I'm not certain if I'll ever use it in the field but I like that it can be.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlS5N-ny7EI

[BugIn762]

Justsay Mo?,

I have the 3 round Poly and it allows one to carry at the balance point.

I also have 1-5 round and 2-10 round metal mags for the Rorke's Drift standoff if needed.

My GSR is like a new puppy. Can't wait to play.

BugIn

[lefty RGSR]

 8)Good mags, polys also have ss spring in them.  Mine came with the AICS 10 round, I bought 4 of the alpha mag 1, and got one of the 5 shot Ruger polys from the Ruger  store last week for 39.95 plus tx and ship..48(for 3,5, or 10 rd), compared to 74 +t/s for 10 round accuratemag.  Base plate on the polys also allow easy pull of empty mag.

Lefty.

[alukban]

I actually do not like that the 3 round poly is not flush to the bottom of the stock, that it is still somewhat bulky for being only 3 rounds.

I can however understand that it was done because the poly needs to be thick to be stiff. If a 3 round mag were made of metal then it could certainly be flush the bottom of the mag well.

If they did a composite poly-lipped mag with a metal body then one can have the best of both worlds: top load capability + maybe 4 round capacity in a flush fitting mag.

[Normanmp]

I just got in 2-5rnd and 1-10rnd and aboslutely love them! A three rounder is on the Christmas list so hopefully there will be one in the stocking this year! Even if you don't plan on topping off inside the rifle I find the poly mags a lot easier to load, worth the purchase alone. The price can't be beat either! Thanks to whoever posted the info about registering your GSR with ruger and getting the discount made things very affordable, and they have them in stock were alot of the online retailers don't, expecially the ten rounders.

[geminijim]

I've become a believer.  I was skeptical at first blush when handling them because they seem too light and not very solidly constructed but they performed perfectly at the range.  I stand corrected.

[Longhair1957]

Hello all, 1st Post, I got here while searching for a reason why my new Polymags dont work.... nobody seems to have the same problem... My rifle will function great with the factory 10 rounder, and 3 Alpha mag 1 10 rounders.......However, the New Poly 10 round mags dont function.  The rounds as you work the bolt start to chamber then get jambed and the bolt will dent the cartridge if you try to push to hard.... if I start pushing the bolt forward, and as it starts to catch, pull the bolt back a bit....then it chambers......... Sometimes if I go slow enough it will feed. However, with ALL of the steel mags Ruger and Alpha and can rapidly work the bolt and feed through all ten rounds with no problems.

Any Ideas before I send these back?

[Rick R]

I've run into a similar problem with my five round poly magazine, it will sometimes override the base of the cartridge and catch the top of the round.  The problem appears to be that somehow the magazine is allowing the nose of the cartridge to rock up before it's fully left the feed lips and that is pulling the base down before it can engage the extractor. 

When I got home from the range session I tried with some shorter OAL cartridges and the problem seemed to go away.  I'll try to sort that out next range session. 

My metal magazines have proven to be pretty reliable.

[wjkuleck]

Kind of a double post....but I thought I might reach more with topic update notifications on this magazine thread,
I got here while searching for a reason why my new Polymags dont work.... nobody seems to have the same problem... My rifle will function great with the factory 10 rounder, and 3 Alpha mag 1 10 rounders.......However, the New Poly 10 round mags dont function.  The rounds as you work the bolt start to chamber then get jambed and the bolt will dent the cartridge if you try to push to hard.... if I start pushing the bolt forward, and as it starts to catch, pull the bolt back a bit....then it chambers......... Sometimes if I go slow enough it will feed. However, with ALL of the steel mags Ruger and Alpha and can rapidly work the bolt and feed through all ten rounds with no problems.

Any Ideas before I send these back?

This is a real, but rare, problem.  I believe Ruger is working on a fix.  I'm having the same trouble with mine, alas.  Which reminds me; as soon as my hands heal from surgery, I have a few things to explore re: this problem.

Regards,

Walt

[justsaymo]

Interesting.  I have three magazines but only tested two.  The two I have tested have performed flawlessly with several hundred cycles on each with both live fire and dry fire practice.  I'll open up the third and test it.

[rodteague]

Pulled my 10 rounder out; had a few of the same issues. Read my post and the last update:


http://libertytreeblogs.blogspot.com/2011/11/breaking-down-rugers-new-polymer-gsr.html


Took a little sand paper and removed a small amount of material off the outside of the feed lips. No more FTF's

I'll update my review that I posted earlier with pics and the same solution.

[Roadie]

Longhair1957

I have the same problem. I talked to Ruger and they have my rifle to work on the fix.

The issue is the feed ramp. With the metal magazines the spring is much stronger than the plastic magazines. When the bullet runs up the feed ramp the softer spring lets the cartridge rock on the front of the magazine feed lip and the rear of the cartridge will drop below the bolt face.

With the metal magazines the heaver spring it does not let the cartridge rock as much.

I have observed the bullets will get chatter marks from the feed ramp tooling marks. try to feed a round next time you are at the range then remove it and look for the marks on the bullet. On a lead tipped bullet like the Partition it will remove lead and push the tip over to the side.

All the Ruger's have a controlled round feed when the cartridge leaves the magazine it moves up into the bolt face and never or just touches the feed ramp. This does not happen on the RGSR. The cartridge rides up the feed ramp until it is almost in the chamber.

When they figure this out on my rifle I will post the fix they come up with and let you all know how it works.

Best regards,

Roadie

P.S. Mark I talked to them about our little engineering adventure and they are going to look into that also.  

[rodteague]

Roadie,

Posted a solution just above yours. Also updated my review on my blog and the one I did here, as well as the one one  ar15.com. I really do not believe the spring is the culprit. It appears to be excess material on the feed lips that prevent the new Ruger mag from engaging far enough into the mag well. Remove enough material (evenly sand down the marks left by the receiver ) and the FTF's appear, for now, to go away. The magazine engages a little further into the receiver which allows the cartridge to ride a little higher in the mag well. This facilitates the bolt face capturing the cartridge.  I admit it wouldn't hurt for the spring to be a little stiffer as well. YMMV

I have no doubt this will be addressed by Ruger very quickly. The fix appears to be simple; but from a production stand point, may be a bit tricky.


Rod

[Roadie]

Enforcer,

I saw your post you put it up while I was writing mine. I think you may have found a cure for the plastic magazine not seating with out a bit of a pop on the bottom. The metal mags do have clearance within the action the poly mags are tight to the bottom of the receiver.

The original metal magazines seem to put the most pressure on the bullet riding up the feed ramp and puts the deepest marks and removes the most material off the bullet.

The new poly magazines have less pressure with fewer marks on the bullet and less material removal but the most cartridge movement. This with a robust bolt motion causes the ramp to put enough energy into the rocking of the cartridge to overcome the lighter spring in the poly magazine and the cartridge will rock under the bolt face. I think you have solved your failure to feed but the cartridge is still rocking.

My original issue was and still is the feed ramp damaging the bullets the failure to feed IMHO is a symptom of the ramp angle, rough surface and lighter spring in the poly magazines not the original issue.

I made a couple of sets of dummy rounds with various bullets including Berger, Barnes, Hornady and others. The most failures to feed came with the shorter and more blunt bullets and the lead tipped bullets that seam to dig in on the feed ramp. The more sleek bullets like the Berger 165 gr. took the most force or hardest operation of the bolt to fail but they did fail to feed not as often as the 150 gr. Hornady but they did fail.

If you seat a poly magazine and move the bolt forward slowly it engages the cartridge base more than enough to feed the round. The spring will not keep the cartridge engaged with the bolt face when you operate it correctly.

Rick R,

I think you have identified problem correctly. when you tried shorter cartridges the problem went away this seems to support my thoughts on this.

What type of loads are you shooting? Have you tried different types to verify the fix?

Enforcer,

Thanks for the help on this you always have something good to to add to the discussion. 

Walt,

Get well soon we need your help with this one.

Best regards,

Roadie

[Roadie]

Walt,

FYI, When I talked to Ruger they told me I was the first to call about this issue. I sent them my rifle and they are working on it.

Regards,

Roadie