I've got a couple of these rifles and had to work through some issues with them. I've got everything resolved except neither one will reliably feed the last round from Ruger factory polymer magazines. The followers just don't quite lift the last round up enough and the bolt usually just slides over the top of the round. They will sometimes feed if I pull rearward on the front of the magazine and put upward pressure on the bolt. Then the bolt will just barely catch the back of the round. This issue occurs with four of these factory magazines.

Anyway, my idea to remedy this is put a spacer on top of the follower in the shape of half a 5.56 round (cut along the length of the round). I think this would lift the last round up enough to feed reliably but the spacer would be too low for the bolt to catch on it.

I know nothing about 3D printing. I looked a bit online but the 5.56 round models I found didn't really seem to be dimensionally accurate. For instance, the rim on this one looks like it's too big which could potentially cause issues for my application. And I would need the file modified to print only half the round. I'm wondering if anyone here knows much about 3D printing who could assist me with this. Is this a lot of work or a big request?

There are more details about issues and such here.

Here's a photo of a couple of my GSRs, a .308 & one of the 5.56s. I've got a second 5.56 in stainless now.

Wouldnt a properly sized wooden dowel or Zitel rod work just as well?

After some more research I was able to modify that file pretty easily using Tinkercad. If I can verify the dimensions are at least close to an actual 5.56 round I should be able to have these printed pretty easily.

File I modified

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
Wouldnt a properly sized wooden dowel or Zitel rod work just as well?

It probably will. I was just looking for something I could easily order and throw in the magazines, maybe glue in place if needed.

Maybe a small wooden spacer in the bottom of the magazine, under the magazine spring?

PC

quote:

Originally posted by PCWyoming:
Maybe a small wooden spacer in the bottom of the magazine, under the magazine spring?

PC

I think there's a fit issue with the follower and the interior of the magazine at the top. The rear of the follower just won't fully rise with consistency. I can fiddle with the follower when the magazine is empty and get it to rise fully. More spring tension from a spacer at the bottom might help but based on my testing I think a riser on top of the follower is the best solution, but I could be wrong. I might mess with that too.

This is really an annoying issue for this rifle. A real goof from Ruger. I've got many factory polymer mags for the .308 in 3/5/10 round and they all work great. I bought four of the 5.56 10-round polymer mags not expecting any issues. The factory metal mags are just too damn big & heavy for these GSRs. I'd love to get 5-round polymer mags for these. I mostly use 3 & 5 round mags with the .308.

I have discovered some potential alternative magazine options as well. When funds allow I'm going to try those.

I do really enjoy these 5.56 rifles though. They make awesome suppressor hosts. Lots of fun to shoot.

Maybe find the spot on the follower that binds on the magazine body and lightly hit with a file.

Similar but different issue.

I have a Bergara B14R in a KRG Bravo stock that has a similar issue. In my case, I was able to add a shim to the front outside of the mag which in turn made the rear of the mag sit higher in the stock. Solved my issue.

Of course, it’s a different gun/stock in .22LR but I thought I’d share.

I'd like to try to help you with the 3D printing aspect of this. Feel free to email me when you get a moment.