British mag springs

[XHairs]

Does anyone know if the springs that come in the SA80 parkerized English 30 round mags are up to specs of USGI M16 mags? I have a few FTF's with them (1%) and thinking of changing the springs first to see if it eliminates the problem. I have polished the feed ramps and installed green followers.
Thanks.

[Noah Zark]

The springs in my British mags have the same number of coils and are of reasonably the same length as those in USGI 30 rd mags.

I would suggest "burnishing" the inside of the parkerized mags by loading in four cartridges and using a ruler or paint stirrer to push the rounds to the bottom of the mag and then allowing it to return to the top. Do this repeatedly, like 20 ro 25 times. It burnishes and smoothes the phosphate crystals where contacted by the follower and cartridges. Once the phosphated mags are burnished, the rounds slide much easier inside the mag whe loading and firing.

Not all green followers are created equal, and if yours have any mold flash or burrs, remove them with a sharp knife or with 220 grit sandpaper. I use the original dark blue followers in my Brit phosphated mags and I've had no trouble once I cut about 1/8" from the bottom of the center leg. That let me insert and lock a fully-loaded mag in place in my one Bushie and my preban Colt.

HTH,

Noah