magazine feed using magnets instead of springs

[jackssmirkingrevenge]

Interesting concept:

[youtube][/youtube]

He claims to have a patent out (N^o. 61279898102809) but I haven't been able to find it after a quick search.

[ilovefire]

i dont get it what dose he need the magnets for? is it to hold to the gun or is it to do with the actual mag?

[jackssmirkingrevenge]

is it to hold to the gun or is it to do with the actual mag?

The mag attaches normally, but instead of a spring pushing the cartridges into the breech it uses magnetic attraction/repulsion, still no idea how exactly.

[Crna Legija]

i dont see the need for it, springs have done the job just fine for a while

[POLAND_SPUD]

it probably uses neodymium magnets... nice but doesn't it increase the chance of getting hit if your enemy uses bullets with steel core ?

[Ragnarok]

Does leaving your magazine loaded really hurt the Spring, now it doesn't matter.

So this guy has apparently never heard of a "magnet Keeper" and how/why it works (and why keeping magnets pole-to-pole repelling each other is even worse). While NdFeB magnets have high magnetic coercivity, they can still demagnetise.

The fatigue limit on a steel spring should be huge, way beyond the normal use of a magazine. If it really bothers anyone, change the spring every year or so.

[jrrdw]

Maybe he's never heard "If it ain't broke, don't fix it".

Trying to improve older idea's I understand, but this isn't any improvement. If anything it makes the current design heavier.

[Fnord]

I agree springs are a perfectly good solution already. High-strength magnets are very fragile and also lose power at temperatures above 175 F.
Whereas springs are tough, light, and depending on the alloy can probably still be workable at over 500F.

A magnetic mag spring would probably be built something like the picture below, where gray=iron, blue=plastic, and green=magnet.
The magnet assembly (green/blue rectangle) would of course ride in grooves in the magazine's walls to keep it level, and may need some grease to cut down on friction.

[nature-boy]

I am almost sure it works like this.
I think the lowermost magnet is fixed in the mag, and the rod is fixed to the topmost magnet. You can see that the rod moved into the mag while shooting.
And I don't think that your design would work Fnord, not even with a very strong magnet.
But as the others, I don't see a significant advantage of using a magnet spring.

[Gippeto]

That's got to be one of the dumbest ideas I've seen in a while. Don't know about the dirt where you guys are, but around here if you stick a magnet in the garden, it'll come out with little bits of iron ore on it.

Great way to ruin a weapon.

[saefroch]

That's got to be one of the dumbest ideas I've seen in a while. Don't know about the dirt where you guys are, but around here if you stick a magnet in the garden, it'll come out with little bits of iron ore on it.

Certainly not around here. Once you get past the first bit of topsoil, you have to drill through clay or bedrock

Wouldn't a rare-earth magnet also be a lot more expensive than a spring?

[Hubb]

That's got to be one of the dumbest ideas I've seen in a while. Don't know about the dirt where you guys are, but around here if you stick a magnet in the garden, it'll come out with little bits of iron ore on it.

Great way to ruin a weapon.

And the AR don't need any more help with that...

I agree with jrrdw. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

[SP00K]

That's cool

[jackssmirkingrevenge]

nice but doesn't it increase the chance of getting hit if your enemy uses bullets with steel core ?

[linuxexorcist]

probably increases your hit chance about as much as the gravitation between you and the bullet