Magazines and Snap Caps

Post by Navymid2011

Hello all,

Well I finally obtained two model guns. They are;

1.) A MGC Colt Delta Elite 10mm.
2.) A Tanaka P226 Heavyweight Non-Railed with 2 Magazines.

I may soon be selling the Delta Elite in favor of a GI or Mil Spec 1911. If you're interested, offer up, but that is beside the point.

My question is; can these magazines be dropped on dirt/grass/the floor during reloads like real magazines can be, or are these like airsoft mags where if you drop them they break. How durable are they in that respect?

Also, can I use real P226 or 1911 magazines in these weapons or no? I gather that the spring tension is too high, but if I clipped the springs a little bit?

Also, seeing as I have real ammo around my house, I'm not a fan of playing with "real look" cartridges in my guns, due to the possible confusing and accidental discharge. So, instead can I use "snap caps" to dry fire without hurting the gun? They're plastic cartridges with gel filled primers used to dry fire real guns. They're also painted bright red.

Thanks for answering these two newbie questions.
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Very respectfully,
Navymid2011

Post by ljerr2

I'll throw in my two cents.
Well, the mags are metal, so they are somewhat durable. However, often times the feed lips can be slightly distorted and this will cause all kinds of feeding problems on some models. I imagine a drop from any sort of height could cause deformation of this area of the mag and cause you heartache. I wouldn't recommend dropping them.

Some models have real-steel mags that fit, but the springs are definitely an issue. I think the Marushin Uzi will accept real uzi mags, with a little modification. However, I believe by design that the models are slightly off-spec to the real steel to prevent use of real firearm parts on them.

As far as snap-caps, I'm not sure, but I think you'd be fine if your models are "real-size cartridge" models.

Hiya,

First off, glad to see you got yourself your model guns at last

If you want to dry fire you could always use the model cartridges supplied with the gun if you wish.
If I'm checking anything on mine I'll load the cartridges with pre fired dead caps so they won't ignite.
The gun then operates with the breech loaded as it should and seems to work fine.

Certain modelguns will indeed accept real steel mags, Marushin's UZI takes genuine UZI ones although I haven't actually got around to checking the feed lips yet!
MGCUKs steel STEN uses genuine magazines too.

Dropping mags on the floor should be avoided really as model mags are not as robust as the real ones. As already mentioned, feed lips are thin and bend very easily.

Cerwyn
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Hobby collector of mainly WW2 era uniforms, headgear, field equipment and replica weapons.

Post by Spencerman



As you are using the model to cycle manually then real magazines shouldnt be an issue. The problem with the spring tension is that it is too high, putting too much pressure on the breach block as the gun cycles, slowing down the slide movement too much for it to properly clear the fired round and strip the next one without jamming.

With reguard to the ammo, with the pin in the chamber needed to detonate caps, you could not chamber a live round because the pin would prevent this. If you stick with the tanaka rounds then you should be ok, they look good, probably one of the best looking, but are fiddly little fellows should you fire them. The big hole in the end of the cartridge is a dead giveaway if you know what it is, although to the untrained eye it would look like a bullet.
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