Author Topic: How are Tapco Mags in a Bushmaster AR-15?  (Read 16987 times)

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JKale2923

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Re: How are Tapco Mags in a Bushmaster AR-15?
« Reply #30 on: August 03, 2014, 08:24:44 PM »
I was watching some AR youtube videos and one guy had and AR that would not lock the bolt open with Magpul magazines. This is not my issue, but my rifle is touchy on which magazines it wants to lock open with. I partially fixed it with some instructions Bushmaster sent me and the Tapco magazines do not have this issue, but getting back to the point he was able to correct his rifle by swapping out the B.A.D with one from Brunel. Since a couple of you sound like you have some real AR build experience, does that sound like something I might do to correct my problem?

mogunner

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Re: How are Tapco Mags in a Bushmaster AR-15?
« Reply #31 on: August 03, 2014, 11:19:26 PM »
I've never used one so no help from me, but I have seen some posts from people who solved their problems by changing them. I'm old school AR, my first issue one was in 1979, lol.

JKale2923

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Re: How are Tapco Mags in a Bushmaster AR-15?
« Reply #32 on: August 04, 2014, 08:02:10 AM »
I've never used one so no help from me, but I have seen some posts from people who solved their problems by changing them. I'm old school AR, my first issue one was in 1979, lol.

ok so you have been around as long as I have. In 1979 I had several interviews with the military but just decided against it. I bought my first AR in 1984...a Colt SP1. I doubled my money on it when Clinton was president but miss that rifle dearly. The sad part about it is, I never even learned how to shoot and care for it properly. I just took it out in a woods a few times and popped a few magazines through it. I figured out how to open it up and run a patch through it and wipe down the trigger assembly from the top, but never even took the bolt out. I didn't fire it enough, so I don't think it made much difference. It didn't even have a forward assist and I wondered what those thing were when I saw them on M-16s in the movies.

JKale2923

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Re: How are Tapco Mags in a Bushmaster AR-15?
« Reply #33 on: August 06, 2014, 06:56:12 PM »
I contacted Tapco and explained my situation with Tapco magazines jamming in my new Bushmaster Carbon-15. I got the response below and they were willing to take care of me like the professional company that they are. I rejected their offer because I do like their mags in my other AR, but here is what they wrote.

"I apologize about the issues you are having with our magazines. We are aware that our mags will not work well with some Carbon-15 rifles. We aren't sure why this is happening or how to correct it since our mags work great in every other model. There is just some minor difference with the Carbon-15's receiver tolerances that our magazines don't like. I wish I had a better answer for you on this or at least a fix for it. I like to refer to this issue as a rocky marriage between the two. Sometimes they work and sometimes they don't. If you would like to try our aluminum magazines, I can certainly swap them out for you. I have done this with other customers who have the Carbon-15 rifles and they seem to a lot happier with them. I can email a Pre-paid return label to you so you won't have to pay for any shipping. Would this be an option you would want to do?"

So apparently there are known issues with the Carbon-15 and Tapco magazines. I felt a lot better knowing I am not alone and it is probably not something I am doing or the way I am cleaning or oiling. Tomorrow I plan to go to the range with the uppers swapped to see if it I can tell if it is the upper or lower causing the issue with the Tapco mags. I also found some Remington .223 ammo that has been laying around for a while. I may check the mags out with another brand of ammo just to see what happens.

mogunner

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Re: How are Tapco Mags in a Bushmaster AR-15?
« Reply #34 on: August 06, 2014, 08:22:59 PM »
Sounds like outstanding customer service. I've never had the need to contact them on anything so nice to know.

Hodgie

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Re: How are Tapco Mags in a Bushmaster AR-15?
« Reply #35 on: August 06, 2014, 11:00:32 PM »
Tapco get's bashed a lot on the other tacticool web sites but their mags are excellent and hold up better then some of the more respected high end competition. It's nice to know they stand by their products.

I didn't know they had a aluminum AR mag out on the market.

JKale2923

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Re: How are Tapco Mags in a Bushmaster AR-15?
« Reply #36 on: August 07, 2014, 08:13:57 AM »
Tapco get's bashed a lot on the other tacticool web sites but their mags are excellent and hold up better then some of the more respected high end competition. It's nice to know they stand by their products.

I didn't know they had a aluminum AR mag out on the market.

It is not my first good experience with Tapco, they seem to always stand by their products. I didn't know they had any metal magazines either. If I can find one, I will pick it up.

JKale2923

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Re: How are Tapco Mags in a Bushmaster AR-15?
« Reply #37 on: August 07, 2014, 08:23:55 PM »
Well I tested tonight with the uppers switched. I had some different ammo I had never tried, 60 rounds of Remington UMC from about 15 years ago. I loaded each mag with 30 and both dumped right through both rifles. I then went back to Wolf Gold and had an extraction issue the Bushmaster receiver and feed issue with the Bushmaster upper. The round was definitely below the bolt on the feed issue so maybe there is a rifle problem behind the scenes. Ammo does seem to make a difference though. Anyway, I am getting tired of testing and going through box and box of ammo. I was hoping to narrow the issue down to the upper or lower, but now I think it could be a combo of magazine, upper, lower and ammo and how well they play together. I got some higher end Hornady ammo, one of these days, I will try that out

mogunner

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Re: How are Tapco Mags in a Bushmaster AR-15?
« Reply #38 on: August 07, 2014, 08:55:35 PM »
One thing I would do is throw some calipers on the ammo and check the overall length.

JKale2923

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Re: How are Tapco Mags in a Bushmaster AR-15?
« Reply #39 on: August 07, 2014, 10:05:02 PM »
One thing I would do is throw some calipers on the ammo and check the overall length.

You think there is enough size difference between .223 or 5.56 brands or styles to make a difference?

mogunner

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Re: How are Tapco Mags in a Bushmaster AR-15?
« Reply #40 on: August 07, 2014, 11:35:01 PM »
I've never shot any Wolf gold so can't say what it might be as far as quality, but I've seen the OAL vary widely amongst Tulammo, Federal, American Eagle, PMC, Perfecta and others that I've shot. I had a slight burr on a barrel that would catch on a longer round but feed the shorter ones fine, took a bit of work tracking it down but noticed that it would only jam on the round that was feeding from the left side of the magazine. Bit of work with a dremel and all's good.

What sort of extraction problem were you having with the BM lower and the PSA upper?

JKale2923

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Re: How are Tapco Mags in a Bushmaster AR-15?
« Reply #41 on: August 08, 2014, 09:29:33 AM »
I've never shot any Wolf gold so can't say what it might be as far as quality, but I've seen the OAL vary widely amongst Tulammo, Federal, American Eagle, PMC, Perfecta and others that I've shot. I had a slight burr on a barrel that would catch on a longer round but feed the shorter ones fine, took a bit of work tracking it down but noticed that it would only jam on the round that was feeding from the left side of the magazine. Bit of work with a dremel and all's good.

What sort of extraction problem were you having with the BM lower and the PSA upper?

well, a round fired and the empty casing just never made it out of the chamber. it was still pointed straight, not sticking out the side of the action.

My rage does not allow Tulammo. They tell me it has a steel core that will tear up the wall. I have seen too many people curse it, including someone at one of the board shoots. I have also read some bad reviews on it so I stay away from it. Wolf is supposed to be a better alternative if you are looking for cheap steel cased ammo and when I saw brass cased Wolf Gold, I thought it would be even better. It has fired pretty well for me so far, just a few malfunctions in my Bushy.

Oh yea, I had what I think was a total fluke. I put my rifles back to their original configuration and was shooting my "trouble free" PSA rifle. I fired about 3 rounds and CLICK. I pulled the charging handle back, ejected the shell and CLICK again. I thought there was something wrong with the firing pin, so I removed the magazine pulled the charging handle back again, ejecting the round that did not fire. I took the upper off again and went to take the bolt carrier out and the charging handle would not budge. I want to play with it too much without making the range aware so I asked for some help. No one could move the charging handle. We ended up having to pry the bolt open with a copper cleaning rod. When everything was apart, we discovered a bad primer had somehow broken off and jammed between the bolt and chamber. I am hoping that was just a case of bad ammo. I was firing some M193, "Made in Malaysia" ammo, dated 1982. I have had no other problems with this ammo and have read good reports from others online that used it before also, but I guess everyone is entitled to a bad round once and a while.
« Last Edit: August 08, 2014, 12:31:38 PM by JKale2923 »

cbdolphin

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Re: How are Tapco Mags in a Bushmaster AR-15?
« Reply #42 on: August 08, 2014, 11:07:12 AM »
I've never shot any Wolf gold so can't say what it might be as far as quality, but I've seen the OAL vary widely amongst Tulammo, Federal, American Eagle, PMC, Perfecta and others that I've shot. I had a slight burr on a barrel that would catch on a longer round but feed the shorter ones fine, took a bit of work tracking it down but noticed that it would only jam on the round that was feeding from the left side of the magazine. Bit of work with a dremel and all's good.

What sort of extraction problem were you having with the BM lower and the PSA upper?

well, a round fired and the empty casing just never made it out of the chamber. it was still pointed straight, not sticking out the side of the action.

My rage does not allow Tulammo. They tell me it has a steel core that will tear up the wall. I have seen too many people curse it, including someone at one of the board shoots. I have also read some bad reviews on it so I stay away from it. Wolf is supposed to be a better alternative if you are looking for cheap steel cased ammo and when I saw brass cased Wolf Gold, I thought it would be even better. It has fired pretty well for me so far, just a few malfunctions in my Bushy.

Oh yea, I had what I think was a total fluke. I put my rifles back to their original configuration and was shooting my "trouble free" PSA rifle. I fired about  I pulled the charging handle back, ejected the shell and CLICK again. I thought there was something wrong with the firing pin, so I removed the magazine pulled the charging handle back again, ejecting the round that did not fire. I took the upper off again and went to take the bolt carrier out and the charging handle would not budge. I want to play with it too much without making the range aware so I asked for some help. No one could move the charging handle. We ended up having to pry the bolt open with a copper cleaning rod. When everything was apart, we discovered a bad primer had somehow broken off and jammed between the bolt and chamber. I am hoping that was just a case of bad ammo. I was firing some M193, "Made in Malaysia" ammo, dated 1982. I have had no other problems with this ammo and have read good reports from others online that used it before also, but I guess everyone is entitled to a bad round once and a while.

I've never heard of any Tula ammo being "steel cored' so I'm not quite sure what your range is talking about. I've used Tula ammo in all of my AR's (which are all Bravo Company with the exception of the RRA I just picked up and haven't shot yet) and they all run it just as well as brass and I'm 1000's of rounds into it by now. Get quality parts and you really won't have to worry about ammo. I also have ran steel cased in AK's, Glocks, Mosins, and never have had issues. I think some people just need something to turn their nose up to and steel-cased ammo is what quite a few choose.

Turn4811

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Re: How are Tapco Mags in a Bushmaster AR-15?
« Reply #43 on: August 08, 2014, 12:13:32 PM »
I have run into range workers not allowing steel case ammo because "all steel cased ammo has steel core bullets" mentality. But then again another time at this range I was also told that the aluminum Blazer rounds were not allowed either. I think it was more like someone was too lazy to sort the spent casings for resale.

JKALE, Do you know when your Carbon-15 was manufactured? The current Carbon-15 now has an aluminum upper.  I have one of the older ones that had the poly upper and lower - I gave the upper to my son recently for the lower he built and I have a PSA upper on the Bushmaster poly lower. I didn't have any problems when they were together (except for poly mags which is still an issue) with about 5K rounds of mostly reloads through it.
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JKale2923

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Re: How are Tapco Mags in a Bushmaster AR-15?
« Reply #44 on: August 08, 2014, 12:59:59 PM »
I've never shot any Wolf gold so can't say what it might be as far as quality, but I've seen the OAL vary widely amongst Tulammo, Federal, American Eagle, PMC, Perfecta and others that I've shot. I had a slight burr on a barrel that would catch on a longer round but feed the shorter ones fine, took a bit of work tracking it down but noticed that it would only jam on the round that was feeding from the left side of the magazine. Bit of work with a dremel and all's good.

What sort of extraction problem were you having with the BM lower and the PSA upper?

well, a round fired and the empty casing just never made it out of the chamber. it was still pointed straight, not sticking out the side of the action.

My rage does not allow Tulammo. They tell me it has a steel core that will tear up the wall. I have seen too many people curse it, including someone at one of the board shoots. I have also read some bad reviews on it so I stay away from it. Wolf is supposed to be a better alternative if you are looking for cheap steel cased ammo and when I saw brass cased Wolf Gold, I thought it would be even better. It has fired pretty well for me so far, just a few malfunctions in my Bushy.

Oh yea, I had what I think was a total fluke. I put my rifles back to their original configuration and was shooting my "trouble free" PSA rifle. I fired about  I pulled the charging handle back, ejected the shell and CLICK again. I thought there was something wrong with the firing pin, so I removed the magazine pulled the charging handle back again, ejecting the round that did not fire. I took the upper off again and went to take the bolt carrier out and the charging handle would not budge. I want to play with it too much without making the range aware so I asked for some help. No one could move the charging handle. We ended up having to pry the bolt open with a copper cleaning rod. When everything was apart, we discovered a bad primer had somehow broken off and jammed between the bolt and chamber. I am hoping that was just a case of bad ammo. I was firing some M193, "Made in Malaysia" ammo, dated 1982. I have had no other problems with this ammo and have read good reports from others online that used it before also, but I guess everyone is entitled to a bad round once and a while.

I've never heard of any Tula ammo being "steel cored' so I'm not quite sure what your range is talking about. I've used Tula ammo in all of my AR's (which are all Bravo Company with the exception of the RRA I just picked up and haven't shot yet) and they all run it just as well as brass and I'm 1000's of rounds into it by now. Get quality parts and you really won't have to worry about ammo. I also have ran steel cased in AK's, Glocks, Mosins, and never have had issues. I think some people just need something to turn their nose up to and steel-cased ammo is what quite a few choose.

I have nothing against steel cased ammo. I have heard all the arguments for it and against it but I think I would check it out if I was sure my range was ok with it. They have specifically told me Tula is OUT. Some are friendlier towards Wolf, but I do not want to buy 1000 rounds only to have them tell me it is not acceptable. I guess it would depend on who is checking people in at the time I show up. I have seen Tula cause issues in Glocks. Twice at the last SKS Board shoot, one of our members had two squib rounds, however the price probably still makes it worth it. If I lived in a place where I could just walk down the street and unload a few magazines into the side of a hill, I would be more inclined to buy volume Tula.