Black Dog Machine .22 UZI Conversion Magazine - A First Look.

[arch stanton]

Mags tested today

T Highway and myself ran the mags today

#1 Loaded mag full with Remington bulk pack full dump, however the last fired cartridge fails to extract

#2 Loaded mag full with CCI full dump the last fired round did extract

#3 Loaded mag full with Wichester X full dump, however the last fired cartridge failes to extract

#4 Loaded magazine with Aguila ran ok a few FTF

#5 Loaded magazine failed with Western Ammo many failure to extract and FTF.

The mags are starting to come apart. There seems to be a need for some screws to keep it together.

Overall they run out of the box. Keep in mind they are going to be hit and miss with 22LR you are always going to get a FTF at some point. The bolt I was using is a Vector and has been modified and I also have working modified Vector magazines. The mags were tested in a Vector gun and an IMI dealer sample gun.

Later Joe

 

[blackdogmachine]

There is no room for screws, thats why we are gluing them. I have been playing with glues and clamping meathods to get this right. The batch of mags that we started sending out this week had no glue blobs inside and have a better bond.

 

[kaen3e]

range report on 6 brand new mags:

1-rem golden bullets. mupliple bursts- FLAWLESS!!!

2-winchester bulk pack- 1ftf on first rd

3-federal bulk pack inserted tough but again Flawless

4-winchester powerpoint 40gr flawless

5-cci minimag 2FTE 1FTE

6-golden bullets tough to insert but again flawless

 

[BeachinBeemer]

:biker Correct in assuming that these early mags are covered under warranty/replacement if frequent failure?..Beemer

 

[Vegas SMG]

Beemer; I can't speak for Kevin at Black Dog, but I've read posts on several other boards regarding his no B.S. replacement policy of some of his early AR-15 / .22LR conversion magazines which proved problematic once in a while. I haven't read a single person with an axe to grind with BD, and that's saying a lot! It seems there may be a learning curve with this new magazine's materials and it's assembly process, but I have little doubt Kevin will have it solved very soon.

Based on the half dozen .22 LR Ceiner type AR-15 mags I own, I can say they are extremely sturdy, and beautifully constructed. We're VERY lucky to have Kevin in our community and filling a needed void. Based on the AR-15 magazines I own from Black Dog, I wouldn't hesitate to buy these early Uzi .22 magazines if I still had my Vector .22 conversion kit and the FA, FS gun.

* For the record, I have ZERO affiliation with Kevin or Black Dog, and my thoughts may not be shared by Black Dog.

_______________
Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys. -P.J. O'Rourke, Civil Libertarian

 

[Texas Shooter]

I applied to be a beta tester, but missed out on that. So I ordered 3 mags as soon as they became available to try them out. I received the mags today (super fast shipping, only 2 days!!), so hopefully they function as good as they look. I'll post results after I try them out.

 

[rotorhead]

I finaly got out to test my Blackdog UZI mag beta test.I loaded 32 CCI minimags. First round fired and FTF the second round. I pogoed the mag and it ran the remaining 31 rounds in one dump. When I tried to reload the mag the seam split near the feed lips identicaly to Anphibian's picture. I squeezed it back together and tried to run the 27 rounds and had a OOB which cracked the mag. So not to sucessfull first test. Since it was the only UZI mag I brought spent the rest of the day shooting my brothers M16 with Kuhl upper and Blackdog full body mags which ran great!

 

[amphibian]

I placed an order for 20 mags today!!
Yes, my test mag split but I am very confident in the product or I wouldn't have ordered any mags.
I for one am grateful that Kevin has taken up the challenge to make these mags. I think that he could have spent his time making mags for a more popular firearm than for FA UZI 22 kit owners. All FA UZI 22 kit owners owe him a huge thanks!

 

[Jerry799]

I agree, I ordered and received 10 within 2 days. Still waiting for Troy at BarrelXchange to get me my .22 kit for my Mini. Needed to order the mags because of the Osama threat. I'd had the .22 kit on order for the past 8 months...but couldn't afford to find out that Obama outlawed them before I got my prepaid kit. So now I can continue waiting patiently...lol!

 

[kaen3e]

Guys I'll give you a hint Kevin makes mags for stuff he likes to play with. If you need .22 mags made for something odd ball send him one and he will find a way to feed it. P.S. I am no way affiliated with BD other than living in the area.

 

[blackdogmachine]

Right on Kaen, thanks for that. Some of the UZI talk guys might not know what else we do so here it is-- We are a custom plastic injection mold tooling shop, that means everything from semi conductor molds to toys to gun parts to electronics. Then we have our own product line and build mags for many
.22 conversion systems like the AR-15/M16 rifles and conversion mags for the Ciener/Atchison that also fit Model 1 sales, tactical solutions and spikes tactical uppers, CZ .22 dedicated, M261/Olympic arms Bushmaster carbon 15
uppers. We make 32 rd, 27 rd 15 rd and 10 rd mags for them too. I also have a 30 rd mag for the AKT and WASR dedicated AK/.22 rifles , UZI mags now and mags for the Lage M11/.22 conversion. What we have in the works now is mags for the mini 14/ac556 and thompson .22 conversions..

 

[K2]

Tried one of the BDM Uzi Mags Sunday

Hi,

One of the Beta testers was out at the range on Sunday. He will likely chime in as soon as he gets some time. In short, I pulled my FS Uzi/22 out of the case, inserted the BDM w/32 Dynapoints, and started shooting. One round (about 5 down) didn't strip. I just pulled back the bolt and let it go again and it kept started running again. The rest of the mag ran flawlessly. (For this gun it is about as good as it has been running these days.) His testing used many rounds and the mag seams began to separate. The bonds on this magazine are in peal. This results in a lower strength bond than tension or shear joints. I'm sure it can be fixed.

I'm in for a bunch. They seem to feed and load really well. If the bonds don't hang together I think I can just set it in the CNC and machine enough off around the top of the mag to bond a metallic band around the top. Loading the mags was easy. The capacity was better than the old Vector 28 round mags. I'm looking forward o a magazine I can clean in the dishwasher

Keep up the good work Kevin.

K2

 

[FlaSport]

Beta test for UZI .22 mags

I received my test mag from Blackdog, but was unable to test until this week-end. On first loading, there was apparently some burr or glue that prevented more than 16 rounds being loaded. Used a long screwdriver to clear whatever it was. Loaded a full 32 rounds. The first mag dump had several stoppages, FTF, FTE, etc. Next 2 mad dump had 2 and then one stoppage. After that I was able to load 32 rounds (with thumbs, no loading device) and did several complete 32 round mag dumps without any malfunctions. All total I probably went through about 10 complete magazines without any stoppages. Occasionally after that, I would encounter an occasional jam. This was at Port Malabar's monthly subgun match, so I had many assistants. I did start to have some issues with feeding laater in the day, but to be fair to Blackdog and his mags, it was likely a combination of dirty firearm and dirty magazine. I did have a small objcet, maybe a piece of copper, that was stuck in the mag. I was able to easily disassemble the floorplate, shake out the mag and get running again. All total, I probably ran about 700 rounds through the magazine. Only problems was toward the very end when I believe the mag and firearm was getting very dirty. As others have noted, the very ends of the mags where the feed lips are was starting to separate. It did not seem to affect the mag feeding at the present, but could possible fail altogether in the future after more prolonged use.

PROS: Works well, easy to load, easy to disassemble and clean, cheaper than Vector mags.

CONS: Possible magazine separation after some use.

Conclusion: .22's are generally quite finicky. These mags worked well for me pretty much right out of the box. I used this sample mag interchangeably in two different UZI's and another members Full size UZI conversion. All worked well with the mags. It fed all different types of ammo without any problems. Improvements may be forthcoming, however, I would not hesitate to buy as is. My order is being placed as we speak.

 

[Jerry799]

Agreed, my thought process was better to have them now in case they get banned. Then, even if they need "tweaking" to function properly, at least I'll own them preban, and can do whatever it takes to make them work.

 

[BeachinBeemer]

ordered 10 mags last week, anxiously awaiting delvery...Beemer:biker

 

[booger hooker]

I'll have to get on the BDM website and see how much these are and will probably be in for a 10-pack or two myself...now just waiting for someone to make the .22lr conversion for my FS Vector. aranoid

I have a bunch of the BDM mags for the AR-15's and am anxiously awaiting the release of their mags for my Mini-14's and AC-556.

 

[hrt4me]

Right on Kaen, thanks for that. Some of the UZI talk guys might not know what else we do so here it is-- We are a custom plastic injection mold tooling shop, that means everything from semi conductor molds to toys to gun parts to electronics. Then we have our own product line and build mags for many .22 conversion systems like the AR-15/M16 rifles and conversion mags for the Ciener/Atchison that also fit Model 1 sales, tactical solutions and spikes tactical uppers, CZ .22 dedicated, M261/Olympic arms, Bushmaster carbon 15 uppers. We make 32 rd, 27 rd, 15 rd, and 10 rd mags for them too. I also have a 30 rd mag for the AKT and WASR dedicated AK/.22 rifles, UZI mags now and mags for the Lage M11/.22 conversion. What we have in the works now is mags for the mini 14/ac556 and Thompson .22 conversions..

Nice to know you are working on TSMG .22lr mags, I will have to order a conversion kit now.

Do you have an MP5? I have a Fleming .22lr conversion kit, and I'd send it to you for tinkering if you want to try to make a quality mag for it...

 

[blackdogmachine]

I got a MP 5 on the way, sweet, another pet project to play with!

 

[Hoser]

My review

I finally managed to get out this past weekend to do some testing. Tough these days with the cold temps (~10-15F) and all the friggin liberals moving in making it harder to find a place to shoot. First, I’d like to say thanks to Kevin at Black Dog Machine for the mag, and the opportunity to be a beta tester.
I have a full size original Group Industries SMG, with a Group .22 kit. The mags used were both Group and Vector 20-rounders, as well as the new BDM 32rd. The ammo used was Winchester Super-X, as originally recommended by GI, who said that's what the kit was tuned for.

In short, the BDM test mag loaded easily and fed well. While I did have some jams with each of the mag types, I suspect these could be attributed to either extractor wear or alignment (hope someone offers spare extractors soon). Each jam was due to a spent casing that failed to make it out the ejection port and was left bouncing around inside. But it seemed that the rounds always fed and chambered properly, aside from the occasional spent casing getting in the way.
And even though this was a beta test mag, I didn't have any splitting problems as reported by other testers. However, I only got to do a few mag dumps. In any case, judging by the type of plastic, I think that could be easily fixed if needed with some super glue if caught early enough. And I doubt that the production mags will have the problem.
I agree with another tester that the BDM mag is a little narrower front-to-back, and wobbled a little more in the mag well than the other mags. But surprisingly that didn't seem to matter, and could be easily tweaked if needed by gluing on some shims. Although I'd prefer that it had some molded-in bumps or ribs fore and aft that could be easily sanded down for custom fitting.
Before going out to shoot, I had my doubts that the BDM mag would feed properly due to the nose of the round being noticeably lower than the other mags (see photo).

But I was pleasantly suprised to find that didn't seem to matter. Actually, now I think the nose being lower to start with will allow a longer useful mag life, as the feed lips will probably eventually wear and cause the nose to raise. Better than starting high, then getting too high to chamber properly. Speaking of which, lip wear is my main concern with the new mag. Not sure how it well it will hold up, but it seems that most 10/22 shooters prefer the steel-lip version mags. And they probably don't put anywhere near the number of rounds through as the FA crowd will. Time will tell, and maybe if needed there could eventually be a premium (albeit pricier) steel-lip version like for the 10/22?

I also liked the bolt hold-open follower, which worked well. Just need to get used to remembering to pull the bolt back before removing the mag.
Overall, I like the new mag and think it's priced appropriately. And I'm grateful that someone has invested the time and effort to fill this much needed niche.
The only thing more I could wish for (short of the unlikely drum) is a 40-rounder like the straight-stick being made (by BDM) for the Lage M11/9 .22 kit (hint, hint). I know, some people are never satisfied. Anyway, nice job and thanks again! Looking forward to getting a bunch.

 

[SecondAmend]

Pre-firing, retail customer - NOT a free Beta mag tester - comments. Bought two of the new .22 mags. Neither would even come close to fitting into the mag well. Way, way too wide (left to right). Gun is full size FA Vector with ARS marked lower. I had to grind off a lot of plastic on the both front and rear ribs of one mag and just the rear ribs on the other mag to get the mags so I could insert them. Plastic was noticeably softer on the second mag. Needless to say, as I paid full price for these two mags I am not at all pleased with having to do major rework on both of them before they would even go into the gun. And, by the way, 25 and 32 rnd IMI mags have always fit perfectly so the lower is not the issue.

I'll be test firing Friday.