[Review] Prowin m16VN GBBR magazine

Lemming

I ordered two Prowin m16 VN-variant GBBR magazines to trial with prior to putting down any further money on my new project last weekend from Ehobby and selected 10-20 days shipping as the next option up was half the price of my order.

The postman left me a lovely - and very unexpected - surprise today (the UK has Saturday post before anybody asks). A note with failed delivery. Fortunately for me, the local post depot is literally across the road. So off I skipped with a fair idea of what it was yet perplexed at such a short timeframe for delivery; somebody somewhere is on a serious amount of speed that divides 10/20 days into five days. Not that I'm complaining of course ...

Packaging:

The box in which the delivery came was well wrapped and inside were two branded boxes with a magazine each; both well wrapped again.





Magazine Externals:

The magazines themselves feel solid and nothing on them looks flimsy in the slightest, which is unsurprising given that these buggers have been subjected to some crazy "proof tests", including loading with CO2 (ref. youtube) to prove they hold gas well under silly pressure, never mind "normal" pressue.

The finish on the mags is matt and appears to be reasonably realistic to any pictures from the era that I can find. It is also similar in colour and tone to some of the surface on my Inokatsu m60 which gives me the impression that Prowin have made a good attempt at accuracy for the colour rather than "any old grey will do". Also, whilst there has been some 'wear' around contact points, scratching does not yield a cheap paint finish, so I don't think there's a fear of these mags looking "unsightly" after 30 minutes of use.


Logo-stamp.


Side-by-side comparison with an AGM m4 GBBR mag


Top-plate comparison with AGM mag (left)


Valve layout comparison with AGM mag


Magazine Fit:

I'm trialling these magazines with an AGM m4 RIS (062 model) GBBR, although what I'm about to write should be held in context, as part of my project involves removing the receiver (for the upcoming G&P m16VN colt-trademarked GBBR receiver) and some of the internals as well so these comments may be null and voided.

So far, the mags are a 'snug' fit. Perhaps a bit too snug. The problem for me rests around the cutout for the bolt-stop lever on the top of the mags is sitting too close to the right-side of the bolt-stop on my AGM m4, and thus causing problems with allowing the bolt to charge fully. I have two options; to either file away a small section of the mag bolt-stop lever cut-out, or to file away part of the bolt-lever, both of which seem to have addressed this issue for the two posters on gasguns.info who suggested it.

here are two pictures (taken from the aforementioned gasguns.info thread) to illustrate what I'm talking about.


edit: unfortunately the two images are not appearing when linked here, but they can be viewed on the gasguns.info thread linked above.


Others do not seem to have had this particular issue even with AGM guns, so it could just be my rifle. I think I'll have a go at the bolt-lever for the moment as I intend gutting the rifle and rebuilding it with new parts so this issue may simply resolve itself that way.


Magazine Performance:

Until I carry out the above modification I wont be able to test-fire; which is a shame as I've been eager to try these mags out; they appear to be getting very favourable comments from owners thus far elsewhere.

Lemming

After filing down the right-hand side of the AGM m4's bolt stop lever/arm by a millimetre or two, the initial issue has been resolved. Unfortunately, the bolt is catching against the gas block rubber and the feedlips as the mag is sitting approximately 0.2mm too high, judging by some instructions for the issue I found on the homepage for the Prowin website.

So what i need to do now is dissassemble the lower receiver to get the magazine-release catch and file down one part of it by the corresponding 0.2mm which should fix the issue.

I must stress that from what I've gathered anecdotally elsewhere; other makes/models are not having such issues with prowin VN mags. AGM GBBRs are, well ... cheap out of the box, but they are donkeys and you'll get what you pay for (as I'm finding out).

More later

Lemming

Oh f*ck me ... and that was just 134a maintenance gas

Update so! I've managed to file down the magazine bolt-catch, although still need to do a marginal amount more to get the bolt cycling freely as it still sticks a little.

But all said and done, these mags have got some welly in them!

Lemming

I have dropped the bolt-catch by between 1/2 mm as suggested by Prowin, although I noticed my bolt was sticking regardless of mag presence randomly. I have sanded down parts of the bolt surface to remove the coating and it seems to improve matters a bit.

I suspect I have incorrectly reassembled the trigger sears and inadvertently set up a three round burst instead of semi-auto. Which if correct is cool since I didn't think that possible. If it is not the case then I need to file down the bolt-catch some more as it may be still sitting too close to the bolt.

I'll say this though; the sound of these bad boys is terrifying! They are loud.

Pictures of mod-work to follow and I'll see about a video