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15 Comments

1. @JWR, Good advice on the Magazines! My bi weekly visits to my local sports store always include such purchases. Currently, my magazine collection fills nearly a cubic yard sized box. The “shop chatter” about the possible bans, etc., is the same as you discussed. As always, thanks for helping us all stay informed. God bless.

   1. In Canada , we are not looking at so much as buying more magazines , rather burying them deeper … out of site ….out of mind

2. Good Golly, after the Obummer years you should already have mags coming out of your ears.

3. Palmetto State Armory has both their own allow mags and PMAGs for under $10 in their stores.

4. U.S. Assault Weapons Ban of 1994, that expired in 2004,

   I remember having to replace a 13 rnd OEM Glock 21 mag for almost $200, with a worn out used one.

   Younger folks don’t seem to feel the pain of that ten years of purgatory…

   Up until that point, mags were cheap and expendable…

   A cheap piece of metal or plastic that was easily replaceable…

   https://infogalactic.com/info/Federal_Assault_Weapons_Ban

5. “Debt Worldwide Hits Record $184 Trillion, or $86,000 Per Person.”

   I only wish my house mortgage were that low ($86,000). It’s the only debt I have. Everything else is paid off in full monthly.

6. Are there are any plans out there for a homemade AR magazine? You know, for purely academic study purposes. I know there’s a 3D-printed one, but that’s not practical for everyone.

   1. Perhaps a better tactic would be to use an existing, say 5 or 10 round mag and modify it into a 20 or 30 round mag. This would probably be less expensive and more reliable than building one from scratch.

      I’m not an expert in these matters, but I’ve done a little research. The most critical part to manufacture are the “lips” that retain the cartridge before its stripped by the bolt. This part can cause the majority of mis-feeding problems, if they aren’t shaped exactly right. They have to be precise and properly heat treated. A lot of poorly manufactured or used mags have this problem.

      That being said, I’d like to see a book or article detailing the process of making a magazine from scratch if anyone knows of one.

7. Also, does anyone know if full-cap magazine parts (full-length springs, followers, etc) were affected by the 94 ban? I can’t seem to find that that information anywhere.

   1. During the AWB, mag rebuild kits with springs, followers and base plates, were available for purchase.

      The only problem with that is a lot of mags wear out in the feed area, so the rebuild kit doesn’t help with that issue.

      If you find them on sale, a whole new mag right now is cheaper than the rebuild kits were back then.

      Also, due to the 3D printer thing, rebuild kits might not be an option this time around, with the legislation closing that loophole.

      Buy ten mags per semi-auto right now…

   2. “During the AWB, mag rebuild kits with springs, followers and base plates, were available for purchase.

      The only problem with that is a lot of mags wear out in the feed area, so the rebuild kit doesn’t help with that issue…”

      The BATFE made a ruling at one point on this, though it did take some time to surface. The basic premise was that if you owned a full capacity magazine, the springs, followers, baseplates, and even the body, were serviceable items, but cautioned that using parts to assemble a new magazine put you in contravention of the law, though one must wonder how that would be proven.

8. An article on maintaining older mags…

   http://blog.cheaperthandirt.com/magazine-maintenance/

9. @JWR: “When will people wake up an get out of their debt slavery, and demand honest money?”

   It’s a worthwhile question, but sadly, I think the answer is that most never will. Proud graduates of the Public Fool System, they didn’t learn enough arithmetic to fully comprehend their (our) peril in mathematical terms, and the only history lesson they learned really well, was that they so hated studying history, that they are now unable to understand how the Fedgov betrayed us into this dishonest money mess.

10. Re: The DJIA dropped 500 points on Friday. Over at the CNBC Cheering Section, the stock hucksters are still urging: “Buy on this dip.” As Batman would say: “Those poor deluded souls…”

    I know a woman whose grandfather was a member of the AMerican Communist Party from the 1920s, when he lost his farm to the banksters until the 80s when he died. She quotes him as often saying that “The stock market is a game rigged by the rich to steal from the rest of us.”

    I often note, as I read SB and left-leaning sites, the many similarities of opinion. It appears there are liberty-loving people at both ends of the political spectrum.

    Carry on.

11. I was an active collector, shooter and competitor before and during the high cap magazine ban, the Brady Bill, the assault weapons ban. In my opinion, we would be better off if a ban were announced today than we were back then for a couple reasons related to increased production capacity and capability. Here are a few thoughts on the subject:

    There are more magazine manufacturers today with far more production capacity than there were 25 or 30 years ago. Since MagPul paved the way, there has been an explosion of manufacturers using new materials and new designs and most of them work darn well: Lancer, HexMag, and Troy spring immediately to mind.

    Getting a magazine for an AR in 7.62×39 during the ban was next to impossible. If I was going to stock magazines as an investment, I would diversify to also include magazines forcalibers and guns that are popular, but have less infrastructure in place to support them than the AR15, such as the AR10, the M14, the FAL, the Mini 14, Mini 30, etc.

    Pistol magazines are also a good investment, IMHO, but here I would aim for common brands, models and calibers to ensure good demand. I bet most pistol owners have only 2 or maybe 3 mags for their gun.

    25 years ago, you owned a Colt if you were lucky and a Bushmaster if you couldn’t afford the Colt. OK, I’m exaggerating a little, but today there are far more manufacturers of AR guns, parts and accessories than there were then. We are truly in a sweet spot of low price, high quality, and enhanced capability today compared to 25 years ago. And it probably won’t last.

    AR prices are also lower than ever. You can buy stripped lowers for $39 and full parts kits for $300 to $350 or a base model from a major manufacturer for $500.

    Magazine are still a good investment because they wear out, get damaged, get lost, and their absence renders a semi-auto less useful than a bolt action. But I would also stock ammo, the ultimate consumable. And right now, you can buy 1,000 rounds of 55 grain 5.56 for under $300. That’s hard to beat for new, U.S.-made ammo from big name.

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