Tikka CTR mags and 204 Ruger

[MarinePMI]

Both

 

[carbon]

Both

Weird. As I mentioned, the 10rd accurate mag works great for 204.

 

[scotch_egg]

CTR magazines are not a push to load like the double stake Accuracy International AW/AX/AT or AR15 magazines. The lips hold the round in place for the bolt to ride through the gap. They should be loaded like the AICS magazines.

If you don’t already have a stock inlet for the CTR bottom metal I would just go with an aftermarket AICS bottom metal and use the magazines you are using with your R700’s.

 

[Edinburgh Rifles]

Do you load by pressing straight down?

Sadly not
Centre feed
Double stack
Slide in

 

[carbon]

Sadly not
Centre feed
Double stack
Slide in

Thx for that. I must be able to get away with pressing straight down because of the additional flexibility of the .223 inner plastic feed lips.

As people mention, I suppose continuing to load that way will mess the lips up. Anyway, thanks everyone for the help!

 

[Edinburgh Rifles]

I wasnt aware they did a version with plastic lips
The 223 version I have here is all metal

 

[carbon]

I wasnt aware they did a version with plastic lips
The 223 version I have here is all metal

Wow…all metal CTR would seem to be better. I was disappointed when I saw the plastic liner. When was that one purchased?

I see that Tikka makes a standard single-stack plastic mag with metal feed lips. Not sure if one can purchase them in the US, but shouldn’t be a problem getting them shipped. I hope.

 

[eldon]

I've watched this thread without commenting so far but observed intently as now and again had similar issues.
I have a Tikka super varmint in 204 and it shoots really really well ....... the only issue I have with it is occasionally it will misfeed a round after the initial one never failing.
The issue becomes more of a problem with night vision where you can't possibly see the round entering the chamber so you have to very carefully listen, but that's easily missed especially on a quick follow-up shot, what should be a boom can easily turn into a deadmans click

After reading the detail here, I've messed about with a few rounds in the mag tonight and noted the angle of delivery can easily change due to lip wear, and consequently the bolt doesn't receive an edge to then collect the next cartridge with.

I've just ordered a new steel lipped polymer x4 shot magazine so watch this space.

 

[carbon]

I've watched this thread without commenting so far but observed intently as now and again had similar issues.
I have a Tikka super varmint in 204 and it shoots really really well ....... the only issue I have with it is occasionally it will misfeed a round after the initial one never failing.
The issue becomes more of a problem with night vision where you can't possibly see the round entering the chamber so you have to very carefully listen, but that's easily missed especially on a quick follow-up shot, what should be a boom can easily turn into a deadmans click

After reading the detail here, I've messed about with a few rounds in the mag tonight and noted the angle of delivery can easily change due to lip wear, and consequently the bolt doesn't receive an edge to then collect the next cartridge with.

I've just ordered a new steel lipped polymer x4 shot magazine so watch this space.

Looks like you have the single stack regular non-CTR plastic mags, correct? If so, Riflemags.co.uk sell some Tikka-branded ones like that only with steel feed lips. Might solve your problem:

Tikka T3 & T3x 6 round steel lip extended magazine .204 .222 & .223

Online shop for rifle magazines and accessories based in Nottingham, UK.

riflemags.co.uk

They make a 4 rounder too.

 

[eldon]

Looks like you have the single stack regular non-CTR plastic mags, correct? If so, Riflemags.co.uk sell some Tikka-branded ones like that only with steel feed lips. Might solve your problem:

Tikka T3 & T3x 6 round steel lip extended magazine .204 .222 & .223

Online shop for rifle magazines and accessories based in Nottingham, UK.

riflemags.co.uk

They make a 4 rounder too.

You are spot on and that is what I've just bought

Steel lipped does sound like the answer hence my purchase as there is only a tiny bit of wear on my polymer one, but enough to allow the round to tip up to allow the bolt to miss and glide over the top.

 

[carbon]

B

You are spot on and that is what I've just bought

Steel lipped does sound like the answer hence my purchase as there is only a tiny bit of wear on my polymer one, but enough to allow the round to tip up to allow the bolt to miss and glide over the top.

Bravo! I missed the part in your original post that you said you had already bought a steel-lipped mag You are way ahead of me.

And your admittedly different mag’s erosion issue points the way!

To sum up:
The unanimous consensus on the many forums in which I asked my “CTR 233 push down ok?“ question is…DON’T DO IT. Apart from the probably clueless Beretta customer service phone lady.

 

[carbon]

Id like a 5 round aics mag for my 204 and accurate mag make one. Did you have to alter your accurate mag in any way to get it to work for the 204 ?

They won't load 20 Tactical either. Body taper is too straight, and the feed lips are "padded" by the plastic insert. For .223 they work really well, but straighter tapered cases...not so much.

So, a byproduct of this thread is that it got me started fooling around with my 5 rd 223 AICS accurate mags.

By Jove I think I've got it! And this trick improved the feeding of my 10 rounders too! (which were already quite good…memory is a fickle thing, see below).

So, the shoulders on the 204 are much further forward than the 223's. What I noticed is the plastic insert on my mags followed the shape of the 223 round pretty closely. The shoulder part of the plastic bit was pinching the 204 case.

After disassembly, first I used a 204 round and moved it up and down the plastic insert to see where it was touching. It leaves a little bit of brass on the plastic. Then I used a very sharp chisel to carefully slice away some of the plastic. You could sand it, but that will take a long time. After a few rounds of slicing, rubbing the brass, slicing, reassembly, testing by loading rounds and sliding them out with my fingers, voilà! 204 pops up with authority just like 223 rounds do.

I then sanded the areas I cut with 400 and 1000 grit sandpaper. Washed off the particles and I'm done.

The fickle memory part: So I had said that the 10 rounders were "flawless". Well, silly me. When I was messing with the 5 rounders I decided to also see how the 10 rounders worked up-close by sliding out rounds with my fingers, just like I was doing with the 5 rounders.

What I noticed is with the 10 rounders is sometimes the rounds popped up in slow motion (not ultra-slow motion like the 5'ers, and not getting totally stuck either like sometimes on the 5'ers).

They did all pop up, but it trigged a memory of being out in the prairie and occasionally trying to cycle the bolt in the heat of the moment and it stopped. I'd back off and try again and it would load a round and I'd go shooting on my merry way. Didn't think too much of it as it didn't happen much. It must've been the bolt pushing the round against the mag interior before the round got all the way up! D'oh!

The 5 rounders were much worse than the 10 rounders for some reason, but the root cause was the same.

I've got a few mags done and I'll go test them at the range. They work great in my hand and cycling through the rifle.

I do believe I've got it licked!

 

[palo]

I remember reading before about some gunsmiths altering the follower on the accurate mags to get them to work with the 204.
I might get one to try

 

[eldon]

204 and conventional mags ( not ctr)

My metal lipped 204 Tikka plastic mag arrived.
Comparing the two mags, plastic lip and metal lip, the support of the casing protrudes a lot further forward towards the bullet. Not only are the edges more defined but longer.
No amount of fiddling with dummy rounds could get the bullets to present themselves other than as ideal so let's see how I get on in practice.

I'm now wondering if I could bond some formed metal edges, down the inside of the dodgy mag to replicate the new one.

 

[carbon]

My metal lipped 204 Tikka plastic mag arrived.

Is that a Tikka-made mag? I thought they only made plastic 223 mags, metal-lipped or otherwise) that just happened to work for 204.

 

[carbon]

I remember reading before about some gunsmiths altering the follower on the accurate mags to get them to work with the 204.
I might get one to try

Yeah, didn’t touch the follower. But whatever works!

 

[eldon]

Is that a Tikka-made mag? I thought they only made plastic 223 mags, metal-lipped or otherwise) that just happened to work for 204.

It arrived in a sealed Tikka bag and was marked up for .223 and .204.
This is a x4 round mag of the same polymer/plastic as the original previous one but has some thin metal insert that offers x2 lips down the sides of the top round. In addition the top of the mag, at the primer end, is covered in the same steel both on the flat and across the primer face.

Looks pretty good and although not yet used it, it certainly looks confidence inspiring to be a really good solution.

 

[carbon]

I remember reading before about some gunsmiths altering the follower on the accurate mags to get them to work with the 204.
I might get one to try

So I went to the range with the 204 Rem700 yesterday and the modified 5 rounder worked perfectly, as did the 10 rounder.

If you need pics of what I did, let me know.

 

[carbon]

Just an update, the new 223 CTR mags have been redesigned, and now the final lip that touches the cartridge is metal and not plastic like the old ones still use a plastic sleeve as it’s a 308 mag body (like the AICS mag construction) but with the fix they new CTR 223 mags work flawlessly with 8 rds in there.

 

[carbon]

Here’s what the new 223 CTR mags look like. First pic is with 8 rds of 204 in there. Much, much improved!