Help with 6.5 Grendel Mags

[ATTkid]

Anybody had problems with Alexander Arms 6.5 Grendel magazines? All of mine (4) are jamming 123 gr. A-MAX loads on the first 3 out of these mags. Any suggestions, fixes or alternatives would be welcome and much appreciated. Alternative springs, followers or new magazines? The rifle (Tactical Rifles in FL) is awesome: first group for record was 5 shots just under 3/8" @100 yds. I gotta make this bad boy work!

[caporider]

Anybody had problems with Alexander Arms 6.5 Grendel magazines? All of mine (4) are jamming 123 gr. A-MAX loads on the first 3 out of these mags. Any suggestions, fixes or alternatives would be welcome and much appreciated. Alternative springs, followers or new magazines? The rifle (Tactical Rifles in FL) is awesome: first group for record was 5 shots just under 3/8" @100 yds. I gotta make this bad boy work!

Are you using 25 round mags? Does your rifle have extended feed ramps?

FWIW -- in my experience the 25 round Grendel mags are consistently more reliable than other capacity mags. I've junked my fair share of 15/17 rounders, but all my 25 rounders (C-P with ISMI springs) work flawlessly.

And due to how the noses of the rounds sit lower in the mag because the cases are larger than 5.56, extended feed ramps are a must on any 6.5 Grendel rifle.

[LRRPF52]

I just haven't had malfunctions over the years, even with the old CProducts mags. The 15rd mags were never supposed to exist in straight form, which is why AA refused to even carry them, having ordered curved mags to deal with the case taper.

If all 4 mags are not working, that usually is a sign of something wrong with the gun. I personally blend, de-edge, and polish my feed ramps.

What magazine capacity are your mags? What upper and lower do you have? Are you riding the charge handle forward, or letting the BCG go home on its own? Lubrication on the BCG?

Ejector radiused?

What barrel length and gas system length?

Describe the malfunctions:

Failure To Feed
Failure To Extract
Failure To Eject

What do the malfunctions look like? Something else is going on. What magazines did Tactical Rifles use for test-firing?

[ATTkid]

Maybe I wasn't clear enough in my original post, but the failures to feed only occur with the top 2-3 rds in each mag. The mags are 25 rd Alexander Arms. The rifle does have extended feed ramps, though I have not polished them. 20" bbl, mid-length gas system. Letting the BCG go on its own. Lubrication is either CLP Break free or TW-25B, depending on location. The upper & lower are both billet, from Tactical Rifles In FL. I have an M40A5 in 300 WSM from them bought 5 yrs ago, best bolt rifle I've ever touched, sub .25 MOA, so I have every confidence that they did their part re: building the gun. I'll try the ISMI springs, I think the stock springs are part of the problem, but the followers look pretty funky too (blue, marked "6.5"). Thanks for your responses, lots of food for thought and some good, actionable ideas. You guys are the best!

[corym465]

You said the first 2 or 3 rounds jam.

How many rounds do you have in the magazine when that happens?

Is this happening when you're racking the charging handle or when you're firing the rifle?

Can you take a picture of the feed ramps and post it?

[ATTkid]

Mags are at capacity when jams were occurring (25 rds). Since I posted the question originally, I've disassembled all 4 mags and inspected, thoroughly cleaned and lubed them. Following re-assembly all the mags functioned perfectly, 0 faults, whether racking the charging handle or releasing the bolt stop. The problem was solved by not loading the mags to capacity. I currently have 22 rds in each mag and they function perfectly. I'll fire a few hundred rds through them and gradually increase the number of loaded rds until capacity is reached. I had the same problem with some Barrett 6.8 SPC mags, applied the same fix and now they work flawlessly at full capacity. Thank you all for your suggestions and responses, I found them invaluable and really appreciate the fact that so many of you took the time to help me. What a great forum!

[corym465]

Good deal. Happy to see you got it fixed especially with such a simple fix. Not lets see some range reports! haha Hope you enjoy that rig.

[constructor]

Mags are at capacity when jams were occurring (25 rds). Since I posted the question originally, I've disassembled all 4 mags and inspected, thoroughly cleaned and lubed them. Following re-assembly all the mags functioned perfectly, 0 faults, whether racking the charging handle or releasing the bolt stop. The problem was solved by not loading the mags to capacity. I currently have 22 rds in each mag and they function perfectly. I'll fire a few hundred rds through them and gradually increase the number of loaded rds until capacity is reached. I had the same problem with some Barrett 6.8 SPC mags, applied the same fix and now they work flawlessly at full capacity. Thank you all for your suggestions and responses, I found them invaluable and really appreciate the fact that so many of you took the time to help me. What a great forum!

Some times a Springco(Tactical Springs) "red" or SSS extra strength buffer spring will solve that problem . If the barrel is also over-gassed it can solve 2 problems with one spring.