[LCPL4ever]

Hello, I am having a minor problem with my SL8-6. The mags are not tripping the bolt catch on the last round. When I pull the charging handle back after the last round, with the empty mag still in place, to see if the bolt catch is tripped, the bolt just goes home. It does this with all seven (7) magazines. The strange thing is if I pull the empty mag out, push down on the follower, reinsert the empty mag and rack the charging handle the bolt locks back. The bolt catch button does work by the way. At first I thought the ammo wasn't cycling the weapon all the way (pushing the bolt back far enough), so I put in some LC M193 and then LC M855 with the same results. So it definitely looks like a mag problem, but with all seven (7), most being brand new, is just weird, so I am asking for some second opinions. Even though its a minor problem it just bugs the **** outa me.

Thank you for your time
Shawn Y

Semper Fi

 

[gunhappy_ie]

thats weird...... are you usin SL8 mags or G36 mags ??

 

[LCPL4ever]

thats weird...... are you usin SL8 mags or G36 mags ??

Using the 10 round SL8 mags, even the stock one it came with did not hold the bolt open on the last round...weird

 

[LongDuck]

Yup. Pretty common, actually.

The SL8 proprietary 10-round single stack mags that we get here in the US are simply a CAD/CAM cross-section of a G36 magazine with an extra wall on the right side. This creates the right-side-feed only magazines but also brings with it some technical issues. The first of which is that the magazine follower is much tighter in the SL8 mags than a comparable G36 magazine. Secondly, the 10-round limitation means a softer spring is used which applies less force to the follower at it's 'empty' position, and lastly, the BHO is operated a tab on the back of the follower with 1/2 the surface area of a G36 mag.

When you combine these factors, it means that the BHO won't always work reliably with the factory magazines, and I experienced this with my G36 conversion as well until taking the BHO apart. Once you see that the BHO is dragging on the inside of the lower, it's just a matter of taking the BHO out, removing some minor flashing around the BHO exit hole, filing gently on the track that it rides within, and I went the extra step of installing a flat head screw into the back of the mag well portion to create metal-on-metal contact of the BHO so it slides more easily. This last step seemed to have the greatest effect on my G36 conversion, and pretty much fixed the issue.

Oh, and one other thing to check - one of the legs of the spring that keeps the BHO down can be cocked over a little step on the left side which effectively bypasses the BHO. Be sure yours hasn't been reinstalled incorrectly and is purposefully bypassing the BHO.

 

[LCPL4ever]

Thank you

Wow, thank you for the info. Kinda bites that this is common, and I will definitely check out the BHO device.

Thank you
Shawn

 

[gunhappy_ie]

long duck.......excellent answer.... i never thought that at all .. completely forgot about the single stack mags ye have on american SL8s !