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Reviews (3)
Jul 27, 2016
Good value, functions flawlessly
I purchased this magazine for use in my 1988 Marlin Camp 9 Carbine. It fits perfectly and feeds both FMJ and JHP rounds without issue. It appears to be modified by the manufacturer with a longer follower to limit capacity, which is the preferred solution to meet the law in states with 10 round magazine limits. Very good product and it arrived quickly. I recommend both the seller and the magazine.
Jul 27, 2016
Poor fit required some rework
2 of 3 found this helpful To determine the quality and function of this ProMag magazine, I used a factory Ruger 10 round magazine as my baseline. ProMag's magazine, which is very well made and finished, looks great. However, looks alone are not enough.
Inserting the magazine took considerable force with 10 rounds in it and the rifle bolt closed. Taking out a round and less resistance was encountered. It inserts better with the bolt locked open. But keep in mind that unless you want a round in the chamber, you don't want to insert the magazine with an open bolt. I made note of this, because it means that there is inadequate internal travel when fully loaded.
Also, the actual fit in the magazine well is not great. It wobbles a bit once in, but it binds as you rock it back to latch. I noticed that this is due to some interference, which scraped off the blued finish the top rear on the magazine on both sides. I will use a machinist's stone to polish the steel at those locations and fit should improve. Quality of materials is very good, by the way.
Feeding... So far, I have not experienced feed issues, but I've only shot XM193 55 grain FMJ ammo to date. I have purchased some Russian .223 steel case ammo and some M855 62 grain FMJ as well. I'll try both during my next range visit.
One more thing to note.. Fully loaded, the spring force pushes the polymer floor plate away from the steel shell of the magazine. Installed in the rifle with 10 rounds and a closed bolt, it looked worse. I could only wonder if the floor plate would eventually pop off. With this in mind I disassembled the magazine, first by sliding off the floor plate. Under the floor plate is an injection molded lower spring guide, that also serves to take up interior volume and limit capacity to ten rounds. I removed it, and reassembled the magazine. Immediately, I could feel a reduction in spring force on the cartridge follower. This was expected as the spring is under less compression. I loaded the mag with ten rounds. Pushing them out with my thumb, feed was smoother with less pressure on the cartridge retainer lips. If you really push hard, you can jam an eleventh round into the magazine, by it is extremely tight and I could not get the magazine to install into the rifle. Suffice to say that for all practical purposes, it is still a 10 round mag. With ten rounds, the magazine now installs into the well without the excessive force required before I removed the lower guide/spacer. There is no gap between the floor plate and the magazine. I emptied the mag and loaded four 5.56 mm snap caps into it. Operating the bolt manually, I cycled each snap cap through the action. There were no issues feeding the last one, where spring force is the least. I repeated this with the factory Ruger mag and could observe no difference in function between them. If anything, the ProMag feeds smoother than the Ruger mag.
I will test the reworked magazine at the range this weekend. I expect it to function well with all three types of ammo on hand.
This ProMag magazine has some design issues related to limiting capacity to 10 rounds. The bottom spring guide is the major culprit, but the bolt hold-open tab on the cartridge follower is a bit too tall as well. This contributed to the excessive force required to install the magazine with the rifle's bolt closed. Moving .010" of material with a jeweler's file and taking out the lower spring guide appears to have solved all issues I experienced.
If you're handy and not adverse to reworking the magazine as I did, the ProMag magazine can be made to fit and function well. At less than half the price of a factory mag, you may find it worth the effort as I did.
Jul 15, 2016
Simple and quick fix for older Marlin Camp 9
I took my old Marlin Camp 9 out of the safe for the first time in 15 years. During a range session, the old bolt buffer literally disintegrated. I field stripped the rifle to find the old buffer in a gozillion pieces. Worse, the hammer strut bridge had broken as well. I order this buffer and a new strut bridge from this seller. They arrived together in just a very few days.
Today, I disassembled the Marlin's trigger group and cleaned it thoroughly. I brake all edges on the sear with a stone and reassembled the trigger group. The hammer strut bridge was installed and fit perfectly. Indeed, this stainless steel piece is considerably stronger than the factory stamped part.
Installing the recoil buffer was as simple as things get. It popped in securely. Fit was perfect. Newer urethanes and polymers are far more durable and this will buffer should last a very long time.
Upon reassembly of the rifle, function was flawless.
Great products. My Camp 9 is better than new.