quote:

Originally posted by KSGM:
I sent the pictures to the email in your profile, Dan; I have yet to establish an account on an image-hosting site. Feel free to post them here, if you wish. As you'll see in one picture, the crack was epoxied, in attempt to save the mag. That repair extended it's life only slightly.

quote:

Originally posted by Malysh:
Dan, please post the pictures Wil has sent you.
I'd like to see those cracks. too.
Thanks,
M.

Here they are:

Thanks, Dan and Wil.

Those are some ugly cracks.

quote:

Originally posted by Malysh:
Thanks, Dan and Wil.
Those are some ugly cracks.

I agree. Maybe one of our Swiss members will chime in and give us more information about this.

F_u-_d_g_e. Jeez, and the cheapest I can find is $160 a mag. Ugh.

I've only managed to crack 1 30 rounder. An 03' WEZ. Was thinking of selling these two unused 20s from 88' on GB to pay for the kids college.... Prices are insane right now. I feel for anyone looking for some now

quote:

Originally posted by KSGM:
My four failed mags are from three different manufacturers, were made at four different times, and consist of three 20-rounders, and one 30-rounder. Manufacturers are alemann-agch(x2), an "H" inside a hexagon shape, and "WEZ" inside a horizontal diamond. As best I can tell, years of manufacture are 1996, 2001, 2010, and 2011. The 20-rounders seem to share a part number of 12520, across both manufacturers, and the 30-rounder has a part number of 1835. All failures originate at the back of a feed lip.

That being said, I don't think there is any one manufacturer, mag capacity, or production timeframe that is best avoided.

Thanks for including those details on the markings of the cracked mags... and I agree that this issue seems to be more a general design or materials flaw rather than an isolated bad run of mags.

I've updated my post on page 2 to include photos of my mag feed lip cracks and included additional info. It looks like a couple of my mags were caught earlier in the cracking process, before the full-on catastrophic failures some of you are seeing, and I'm hoping they serve as examples of what to inspect 55Xmags for.

There is a definite lighter color surrounding the cracks, that can be seen in certain lighting and certain angles.

Hard to tell for sure, but that third picture posted by MG_34 Dan almost looks like the crack propagated from a broken coupling stud.

What you mistook for a broken coupling stud is a hole that was drilled, in an effort to stop the crack. The crack was then epoxied ;it worked only temporarily.

I am truly surprised at all the damaged plastic magazines that are displayed above. Prior to viewing this thread, I have only seen one (1) damaged PE90/SIG 550 magazine. And that wasn't my magazine, but a friend's. Granted, I don't shoot my SIGs to excess. I play with them as fun time plinkers, nothing more. It would be interesting to know how much use one of these magazines will take before any damage appears.

Unfortunately, I have no idea how much use and/or time spent loaded it takes to cause a failure. Almost all the mags I got in new or like-new condition have been stored empty and unused; I use the mags that I got in an already-used condition. I shoot my Sigs quite a bit, to include mag change practice that has mags falling to the ground; fortunately, my shooting area isn't covered with gravel or concrete. I suppose it's unrealistic to expect these magazines to last as long as contemporary AR15 mags; it just hurts a lot more when they fail, because of their cost. I have some aftermarket ones I got just before prices busted through the roof, and have been pleased with them so far. Unfortunately even they are now super-expensive and hard to find. I intend to get an aftermarket one from gunfactory, next time I order from them, to see what it's like.

Here's some YT videos addressing some AR15 mag conversions and one referencing what appears to be a slightly different mag guide solution kit for the Sig 55X series, respectively...

quote:

Originally posted by MG34_Dan:

quote:

Originally posted by Malysh:
Thanks, Dan and Wil.
Those are some ugly cracks.

I agree. Maybe one of our Swiss members will chime in and give us more information about this.

Hi Dan.

SIG magazine cost about 5 USD a piece to produce and are consiedered consumable by the Swiss Army. If the one on an issued rilfe breakes, it will be replaced by the Swiss DoD. In Switzerland does not make sense to buy too many 30rd magazines for that reason. Storing ammunition in the magazine was not the inted when the magazine was develloped and it´s not common practics here. This is probably the reason why there is no serious reports on broken feed lips.

Thanks, OTD, for your explanation.

Of course, here in the US, these magazines are a lot more expensive.

From a Swiss Vendor: 30 rd. mag - 95 CHF plus 75 CHF for the export paperwork, whether for one item or a large order.

Total US dollars for one mag is $186.00
I don't know if that even includes shipping.


After all these posts I may not load any of my 20 or 30 round magazines to full capacity.
I did have one import restricted 30 rd. magazine
fully loaded on my 551-2 SP for many years (chamber empty). It's still in perfect shape. I think because the bolt carrier depresses the top round and alleviates direct pressure on the feed lips. Similar to what some users do with USA made P Mags for the AR platform.

quote:

Originally posted by OTD:
Hi Dan.

SIG magazine cost about 5 USD a piece to produce and are consiedered consumable by the Swiss Army. If the one on an issued rilfe breakes, it will be replaced by the Swiss DoD. In Switzerland does not make sense to buy too many 30rd magazines for that reason. Storing ammunition in the magazine was not the inted when the magazine was develloped and it´s not common practics here. This is probably the reason why there is no serious reports on broken feed lips.

Daniel, thank you very much for the information.

Cracked feed lips have always been a concern of mine. I have a couple primary mags that I shoot and the rest of my mags stay stashed away. I have one of the GS Designs kits to use Pmags, but haven’t used it yet.

It’s unfortunate that Magpul doesn’t make a 55x mag.

quote:

Originally posted by JoshNC:
I have one of the GS Designs kits to use Pmags, but haven’t used it yet.

Try it out and let us know the results!

rambo

quote:

Originally posted by rambo:

quote:

Originally posted by JoshNC:
I have one of the GS Designs kits to use Pmags, but haven’t used it yet.

Try it out and let us know the results!

rambo

I have a GS designs kit coming too. Damned 922R...

I just saw that Gun Factory in Switzerland is marketing aftermarket 550 magazines. I'm sure most here would like to know how they perform and if they are crack resistant.

https://www.gunfactory.ch/langwaf/magazin_sig.htm

I have aftermarket mags made (or imported?) by Pitchfork Systems. They're just fine, so far.

Do you mind explaining the process to purchase these aftermarket mags from pitchfork?

I don't think they have any more. I purchased them from their site. They were on GB for a while too, but prices jumped up big time, when they caught on to current demand trends. When I got some, all they had were clear; I painted them, to darken them a bit.

This is where I got mine, when they still had them...

https://www.p2tactical.com/Magazines_c_19.html

It seems they are of Swiss origin, and may be the same ones gunfactory.ch sells.