catnipman Posted November 13, 2004 Report Share Posted November 13, 2004 So, a few weeks ago I used one of Glen Whittenberger's mag anvils to work over a bunch of f**ked off magazines a friend of mine purchased from "What A Country". I think WAC must have sent him all the ones they had thrown in their RMA box, because only about half worked at all, and all of them were rough and beat up. I did, however, learn a lot about fixing these magazines and using Glen's anvil. And though I am not an expert by any means, I will explain what I did, and others can comment and correct. The picture below shows the anvil along with a modification I made to it at the bottom (which will be discussed in a bit). http://catnipman.home.comcast.net/PicsforMagAnvilPost/sideviewofanvilshowingbottomplate.JPG The idea is to slip the anvil inside the magazine and shape the lips against the anvil by hammering them against the anvil with a brass hammer. This is shown below: http://catnipman.home.comcast.net/PicsforMagAnvilPost/topofmagonanvil.JPG Unfortunately, this usage does little to obtain two of the three principal lip dimensions necessary for the mag to function properly. In a post quite some time ago, PK lists the three most important dimensions; namely, .22 inch lip radius, .55-.56 inch gap between the lips, and the hole to lip-top measurement of 2.303 inches. I measured the diameter of the top anvil elements and saw .444 inches, so the anvil will impart an interior lip radius close to the .22 inches. I show a picture of this measurement below: http://catnipman.home.comcast.net/PicsforMagAnvilPost/point22radiusmeasurement.JPG However, without modification, the anvil isn't useful for gaging the other two dimensions. The following two pictures show the gap measurement and lip-top to hole measurements respectively: http://catnipman.home.comcast.net/PicsforMagAnvilPost/lipmeasurement.JPG Lip-Top to Hole measurement (link used because max images exceeded) However, I did modify the anvil so that it would assist with obtaining these two dimensions. What I did was to take a magazine with the correct dimensions, slip it onto the anvil, and then bore a 1/4 hole through the bottom of the anvil, such that the magazine bottom sits flush against a stop-plate held above a bolt in the 1/4 hole when the mag lips were tight against the top of the anvil. The picture below shows the mag on the anvil with it's base almost touching the top of the stop-plate. (It's should be touching, and because it isn't the lip-gap and hole-to-lip dimensions are off. More about this later.) http://catnipman.home.comcast.net/PicsforMagAnvilPost/magonanvil.JPG A couple more detail views of this modification are shown below: http://catnipman.home.comcast.net/PicsforMagAnvilPost/bottomviewofanvilstop.JPG http://catnipman.home.comcast.net/PicsforMagAnvilPost/bottomofanvilshowingstopboldandplate.JPG Note that the washer is being used only because I didn't get the hole drilled correctly for the plate I was using, and I needed to move the stop plate up a little bit. For what it's worth, after making this modification, I measured 8.622 inches from the top of the mag anvil to the top of the added stop-plate. Given the poor accuracy of the equipment I used to make the modification, I doubt the above measurement is exactly what it should be. To continue, I figured that for a properly manufactured mag, and given no other dimensional problems, that there must be a relationship between the lip radius, the lip-gap, and the lip-top to hole dimensions. That is if one was off, it would throw one or the other two out of whack. For a mag whose bottom wouldn't touch the stop-plate, then the lip-gap would be too narrow and the lip-top to hole distance wouldn't be long enough. For a magazine whose bottom touched the stop-plate, but whose lip insides weren't touching the top of the anvil, then the lips were too tall and too far apart. After experimenting with several f**ked off mags, my surmise appeared to be correct. To fix a magazine that was not touching the stop-plate, one could slide-hammer it against the anvil to open the lips until the mag-bottom touched the stop-plate. To fix a mag whose bottom touched the stop-plate but whose lips didn't touch the anvil, one could hammer the lips against the anvil, bringing them lower and closer together. (Really hosed mags have to have the whole top body squeezed together or pried apart or otherwise straightend.) I needed to make one further addition to make slide-hammering and shaping effective. Namely, I had to manufacture two wooden spacers to hold the magazine steady inside the anvil. The following photos show these wooden spacers: http://catnipman.home.comcast.net/PicsforMagAnvilPost/layoutofanvilmagandwoodside.JPG http://catnipman.home.comcast.net/PicsforMagAnvilPost/layoutofanvilmagandwood.JPG http://catnipman.home.comcast.net/PicsforMagAnvilPost/magonanvilshowingbottomofwood.JPG Finally, here's a picture of yours truly down-hammering a magazine against the anvil to open the lips: Down-hammering a mag (link used because image max exceeded) (Note that you don't want to over down-hammer or you will squeeze the floor-plate slots shut.) Summary ----------- Below is a picture of the modifications I made: Final Pic of Mods and Parts (link used because image max exceeded) The thickness of the larger piece of wood used against the rib side of the mag is approximately .375 inches. The thickness of the smaller piece of wood used against the front of the mag is approximately .433 inches. I think the mag anvil would be much more useful if Glen would add these modifications, namely drilling a 1/4 inch stop hole for both the 30rnd and 20rnd mags, as well as supplying the stop-plate and wooden spacers. One other very useful modification would be to lengthen the steel spacer he's welded under the anvil top and drill a hole in it of a size and location such that a pin could be inserted through the mag catch hole and into this mag anvil hole to provide an exact gage of the lip-top to mag hole distance. Catnipman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deerslayer Posted November 13, 2004 Report Share Posted November 13, 2004 Thanks for the ideas, I bought one too, and only found time to redue one mag so far. Kind of needed three hands to make it work as it was so it will be good to add some of your ideas. Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zamm Posted November 13, 2004 Report Share Posted November 13, 2004 Excellent info Catnipman.... Thanks, Zamm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZDoug Posted November 14, 2004 Report Share Posted November 14, 2004 Lots of good info. Thanks. Any reason a hole couldn't be located in the back of the anvil pillar that correspondes with the mag catch hole, and insert a pin to ensure correct feed lip height? Doug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyGunner Posted November 14, 2004 Report Share Posted November 14, 2004 Nice work! I also noticed the room for improvement on the one I purchased. It was kind of clunky to use as the mags were not held in place. I was going to weld additional blocks on to steady the mag...but your wood solution should work out nicely. What I did not think of is the adjustable stop...was going to mark the shaft and set in the vice for each size. Seems like you nailed it pretty good...will rethink what i was going to do. Good job, Damon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supershooter Posted November 14, 2004 Report Share Posted November 14, 2004 Being in the market for the anvil myself, I'd been wondering about the lip height part of the equation too. Nice piece of development, Catnipman! Now I'm wondering about Doug's idea of having a hole in the bar for locating correct top of lip to hole distance. Is it possible that such a hole could be used as a pry hole for forcing the lips up when the distance is shorter than spec? Moderate downward pressure applied on the magazine in this manner while hammering the lips might do the trick without the consequence of mashing the bottom plate lips together from the down hammering. Just a thought. Rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catnipman Posted November 14, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 14, 2004 Rich, based on my experience of the amount and nature of the force needed to open the mag lips by down-hammering the mag against the anvil, using a pin in the catch hole against a hole in the anvil to lever the mag down as a means to bend the lips upward isn't going to work. What would happen instead is to twist the crap out of the rib metal around the catch hole. I think an anvil hole and pin could be used as a gage, though, so one would know when to quit down happering. However, for a mag whose lips were too open and too high, and thus needed to be bent down around the anvil top, an anvil hole with a pin in the mag catch hole would probably work quite nicely to hold the mag in just the right position as the lips were bent down around the anvil top. By the way, the back bar on my anvil isn't long enough to drill a hole where the catch hole in the mag is. In fact, my back bar ends almost exactly in the middle of mag catch hole. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catnipman Posted November 15, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 15, 2004 Phil, I agree with you regarding the value of a book or online organization of some of the move valuable information posted on the board. It would probably be relatively simple to do a webpage-type of copy of some of the more useful posts to another part of this site and include links to them in the existing FAQ. A technical book regarding the practical care and feeding of Thompsons and their accessories based on information extracted from the board and other places would be a very valuable thing, but the time and energy in writing such a book would be quite large. Whoever did this would need to recover the value of their time in terms of the price of the book, which no doubt be worth the price to the buyers if the book was nicely done. I for one would be willing to waive all copyright issues of everything I've ever posted here regarding usage in such a book, so long as I was given credit in a footnote or other reference in said book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catnipman Posted November 16, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 16, 2004 Phil, you are a very astute predictor of the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
giantpanda4 Posted September 27, 2006 Report Share Posted September 27, 2006 had to revisit this.... Anyone got one for sale? email me! Thanks, Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Jr Posted September 27, 2006 Report Share Posted September 27, 2006 Very nice. Thanks!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
giantpanda4 Posted April 25, 2007 Report Share Posted April 25, 2007 I gotta bump this back up... I got a pile of 60 mags for under a buck each, and of course you get what you pay for. Does anyone have one of these? I need one! After re-reading this post, it seems one could make a mag insert that would fit precisely inside the mag, for removing dents etc.,and establish all dimensions mentioned. By indexing off the mag hole with two locations, both 20 and 30 rounders could be done. Any new thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hrt4me Posted November 19, 2009 Report Share Posted November 19, 2009 Thanks for the informative post; I should check all my stick mags now... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doc_odonnell Posted September 21, 2019 Report Share Posted September 21, 2019 Does anyone have any way to see the pics the OP posted? This is great info Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ppgcowboy Posted September 22, 2019 Report Share Posted September 22, 2019 What do they look like? Anyone have a photo? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bridgeport28A1 Posted September 22, 2019 Report Share Posted September 22, 2019 (edited) What do they look like? Anyone have a photo? Here is a Glen Whittenberger's anvil. It would be nice if any new magazine anvils could index off the magazine catch position and also was the full magazine body diameter. But long enough to be secured in a vice. Similar comments to catnipman comments above. I made some wood spacers to fill out the magazine body but indexing inside the magazine is up to the user. I would leave that to any of the numerous engineers on the forum. I would gladly test a new anvil and compare it to my Glen Whittenberger's anvil. Edited September 22, 2019 by Bridgeport28A1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bridgeport28A1 Posted September 22, 2019 Report Share Posted September 22, 2019 (edited) Part 2 photographs of Glen W. anvil with wood blocks (oak) that were made to keep the anvil from rocking back in forth inside the magazine body. Edited September 22, 2019 by Bridgeport28A1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ppgcowboy Posted September 22, 2019 Report Share Posted September 22, 2019 Who did the wood? I was hoping this is what were talking about. I have one, it seems to have cut outs on the top that measures the lip separation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bridgeport28A1 Posted September 22, 2019 Report Share Posted September 22, 2019 (edited) Who did the wood? I was hoping this is what were talking about. I have one, it seems to have cut outs on the top that measures the lip separation.I made the wood pieces, I also made some wood pieces that are the proper length for 20 round magazines. I think the ideal magazine anvil would be machined as a single piece that one could slide into the magazine body and have a stop to prevent from being inserted too far. Edited September 22, 2019 by Bridgeport28A1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ppgcowboy Posted September 23, 2019 Report Share Posted September 23, 2019 I agree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSU Tiger Posted September 23, 2019 Report Share Posted September 23, 2019 (edited) Bridgeport28A1, on 22 Sept 2019 - 17:56, said: ppgcowboy, on 22 Sept 2019 - 17:19, said: Who did the wood? I was hoping this is what were talking about. I have one, it seems to have cut outs on the top that measures the lip separation.I made the wood pieces, I also made some wood pieces that are the proper length for 20 round magazines. I think the ideal magazine anvil would be machined as a single piece that one could slide into the magazine body and have a stop to prevent from being inserted too far. And fit snug enough in the mag body to be used to remove dents from the sides of the mag. Edited September 23, 2019 by LSU Tiger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiz Posted September 25, 2019 Report Share Posted September 25, 2019 (edited) It appears that this would be easy enough to fabricate. Basically two pieces of cold rolled steel welded to a steel bar. What is the diameter of each of the pieces of steel rod? The diameter of a 45 ACP case? Most likely not since the rounds do not sit exactly side by side in the magazine, in that case a piece of steel rod could be turned on a lathe to that exact diameter. I would love to tackle this project. Just provide the dimensions and I will give it a shot and let everyone know the results. Edited September 26, 2019 by Tiz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSU Tiger Posted September 26, 2019 Report Share Posted September 26, 2019 (edited) "It appears that this would be easy enough to fabricate. Basically two pieces of cold rolled steel welded to a steel bar. What is the diameter of each of the pieces of steel rod? The diameter of a 45 ACP case? Most likely not since the rounds do not sit exactly side by side in the magazine, in that case a piece of steel rod could be turned on a lathe to that exact diameter. I would love to tackle this project. Just provide the dimensions and I will give it a shot and let everyone know the results." Maybe the owner could mic the rods. I'd guess .010" smaller than a live round. Edited September 26, 2019 by LSU Tiger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiz Posted September 26, 2019 Report Share Posted September 26, 2019 (edited) "It appears that this would be easy enough to fabricate. Basically two pieces of cold rolled steel welded to a steel bar. What is the diameter of each of the pieces of steel rod? The diameter of a 45 ACP case? Most likely not since the rounds do not sit exactly side by side in the magazine, in that case a piece of steel rod could be turned on a lathe to that exact diameter. I would love to tackle this project. Just provide the dimensions and I will give it a shot and let everyone know the results." Maybe the owner could mic the rods. I'd guess .010" smaller than a live round.Yea. I am hoping the owner of "Glen's Mag Anvil" will post that information. Better than taking a "SWAG" at the dimensions. I would try and make the steel bar the size of the inside of a magazine so it would correct any dents or other anomalies in the mag body itself as well a gauge the feed lips from the mag catch hole, and make the bar long enough for both 20 and 30 round mags. I hope Catnipman still frequents the board. Edited September 26, 2019 by Tiz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bridgeport28A1 Posted September 27, 2019 Report Share Posted September 27, 2019 Tiz, check your private messages. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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