I don't want to hi Jack Chad's thread so here is a new one.
The goal is to build a great casting inshore level wind that can handle SoCals inshore, maintain level wind features and not grenade.
Chad's mod to a 30-49 seat, Bryan's 5 stack, Cortez sleeve filed to accept Alan Ts under gear washers set, Lee's stainless dog, Alan C's knob and Adams titanium handle blade. Stock bearings lubed with TSI
Spooled with generic 40lb spectra with a 3 foot 30lb flouro top shot. Mounted on a Phenix Abyss PSX806 and throwing a 1/2 ounce Waxwing I was consistently getting 50-60 yards measured at 19 inches per crank from 2/3 to full spool. It was giving my Tranx 300 a serious run and was a tad easier to control.
Testing to destruction was planned today. We went looking for Yellow Tail. Instead first up we're brown Rock fish up to 2 pounds - no stress at all.
Then spawning Calico bass to 5 pounds, of course the bigger bass were camera shy. The reel didnt even blink on these hard pulling fish.
Then the final for today was a thresher that just spanked me. It was in front of and around the boat before we could motor out of the way. I was fishing 12 pounds of drag and this guy melted 1/2 a spool off like it was nothing before biting through the leader. We only saw a portion of the tail so guessing at 50-80 pounds.
No hiccups and very pleased with the old school cast control which was more user friendly and effective than the newest Shimano. The quest will continue next week for something this reel can't catch with the stock level wind.
Bravo! I'm not a bit surprised by the reels performance. Penn levelwind mechanisms are much stronger than popular belief allows them. Can't wait to see what finally blows 'er up! 8)
Glad to see it's working so well Randy!
Nice fish, and that thresher must have been fun! ;D
Quote from: mo65 on July 02, 2018, 01:32:46 PM
Bravo! I'm not a bit surprised by the reels performance. Penn levelwind mechanisms are much stronger than popular belief allows them. Can't wait to see what finally blows 'er up! 8)
Yessir, the casting was always excellent. The reel seat gives me confidence and the ability to mount onto a jig stick. Landing that thresher would have put an end to the argument for me. But I am committed to see if the LW fails.
My guess is if the levelwind fails it will not be a fatal error that locks up the whole reel. The idler is plastic as a safety precaution to keep someone from loosing a finger tip. It doesn't take much to make the worm and pawl wear out prematurely and start to click and catch. But, the adventure would be well worth the price of a few replacement parts.
-steve
Quote from: oc1 on July 03, 2018, 08:45:01 AMwell worth the price of a few replacement parts.
-steve
You have that right Steve. I honestly think I'm going to see just failures from normal wear and tear, like the pawl or worm ends wearing from repeated long casts.
Test outing 2 was uneventful. Probably 70 casts with the Waxwing or live bait resulted in bass of the 1lb class. No big fish. Before trip 3 today I felt a little looseness and had to tighten the side plate screws just a nudge. Today was more bass, the YT did not show. A hundred or more long casts with live bait for 20ish bass to two pounds. One observation is that the TSI on the levelwind and in the bushings didn't last past two outings and after fish rinse with fresh water. The first 10 casts we're measurably shorter than normal. A drop on the worm and each bushing and it was back to crazy good casting. I didn't even pull the Tranx out of the rack today since the Mag 10 is still working great. Someday Mr Yellowtail will show for the real test.
Quote from: JRD on July 16, 2018, 09:08:04 PM
One observation is that the TSI on the levelwind and in the bushings didn't last past two outings and after fish rinse with fresh water. The first 10 casts we're measurably shorter than normal. A drop on the worm and each bushing and it was back to crazy good casting.
I'm getting the same results with my Mag 10. I noticed after rinsing the reel the worm was dry...BUT...clean. Any type of lube that sticks to the worm well is also going to hold dirt well. I can't wait 'til Mr. Yellowtail takes that reel for a spin! 8)
Great to hear Randy!
I received the second Mag 10 I found (also an early model without the AR switch ;D ) and it is in beautiful shape!
I slapped it on my 9' Fenwick and tried it out on Wednesday night. No fish caught, but I was amazed at how great it casts!
Can't wait to start on that project!
You are a master caster using only 1/2oz lures. That's amazing from this old reel.
Quote from: handi2 on July 16, 2018, 10:05:07 PM
You are a master caster using only 1/2oz lures. That's amazing from this old reel.
I am not that good. My Conquests and TE GTs out cast my abilities regularly. For some reason that factory mag on the bridge and the 8 foot Phenix jig stick just make it easy when you can load the rod up with such a light lure. Here is the 1/2 ounce shimano waxing. It requires little wind to really move it around in the air.
It's also fun when the deckies and captain come down to see the "newest" reel and find out it's almost 40 years old.
Quote from: xjchad on July 16, 2018, 09:26:49 PM
Great to hear Randy!
I received the second Mag 10 I found (also an early model without the AR switch ;D ) and it is in beautiful shape!
I slapped it on my 9' Fenwick and tried it out on Wednesday night. No fish caught, but I was amazed at how great it casts!
Can't wait to start on that project!
I'm not as adventurous as you are. Tuned and modded is enough for me, I don't have the skills to re-engineer li,e you guys but I enjoy watching. A charter in the same area took a 60lb white sea bass, that would have been good test but just not in the cards. We also saw a free swimming mako but could not get him interested in the waxwing
Well I could not wait after two hard fishings I wanted to see what was going on inside this reel. I have to say that I'm surprised by the results.
1. The level wind assembly looks new, with no extreme wear. The worm is wearing into the bushings but that's normal and the pawl shows a little wear. The worm tracks are not worn The line guide looks new and the drive gears show no wear.
2. The surprise. The stainless gear sleeve has picked up some scoring from the top eared washer and the top keyed washer is worn from making contact with the bellville washer.
Not the outcome I was expecting.
Wow Randy, this is great news!
Those parts look great!
I'm going to keep looking for more of these reels :D
Quote from: xjchad on July 19, 2018, 06:05:35 PM
Wow Randy, this is great news!
Those parts look great!
I'm going to keep looking for more of these reels :D
I got my three plus a parts reel after reading Mo's write up so for once was ahead of the demand curve.
So here is the final update. The reel has 4 more trips on it with a large number of bass, baracuda and others. No pelagic fish yet but what put an end to the question for me was yesterday's trip. Fly lining sardeans on a kelp for dorado I hooked a pelagic Ray which headed for the bottom. Unusual since they normally stay near the surface. It dumped 3/4 of the spool in 30 seconds. Turn it around and got it close enough to pull the hook with a gaff hook. Next comes the furbag who wasn't smart enough to leave me the head with a hook in it. This guy headed for the horizon and was just unstoppable. With the knot on the spool fast approaching and the drags hammered I finally had to use a cloth on the spool to break the 30lb leader. I hate to leave any line on anything but it couldn't be helped and it's dragging a 4 leader.
A tear down revealed black drag grease but not much more. The gear sleeve score didn't look any worse and the wear on the top metal disk was just slightly more pronounced. I'm trying to source a full sized delrin washer to go between the belville and the top stainless drag stack washer to stop this wear. The level wind is still in perfect shape. The general thought that these level winds are the weak point just hasn't held true for me. I'm going to keep pushing these little things without fear. Now if I can just find yellow tail this year!
Quote from: JRD on August 21, 2018, 10:23:19 PM
The level wind is still in perfect shape. The general thought that these level winds are the weak point just hasn't held true for me.
Fantastic! Sounds like we can put that silly levelwind myth to rest. 8)
I think as long as the mechanism isn't too far out of sync with the line coming off the reel it's no problem with line going out. The stress comes from re-spooling. With a straight grind maybe the system fails, but using the rod correctly should take a lot of the tension off as your pulling up and winding down.
The real problem is the popularity increased and so did the price, I've got a few friends that want one but the prices on the auction site are crazy!
Awesome to hear Randy! Wish I could get out and try some of that! ;D
I'm always looking for more as well, I got lucky with the two I found.
Hoping to start the next one when I get back from vacation in September.
I thought that I put to rest this issue, at least in my mind of whether the level wind mechanism could stand the stress.
So I have one session of boiler Rock fishing on it with some decent size calicos and many many snags in the rocks. And then today I noticed I'm starting to see a failure in the reel.
But not the failure that I was expecting.
I hopped on a local half-day boat today and we went fishing Bonito, these are decent sized fish in the six to eight pound range. After catching my own personal limit of 5 I kept helping others fill their bags by hooking and handing, I I think the total was around 20 good size hard pulling, drag burning Bonito. As I am putting the reel away I noticed there is quite a bit of lateral movement in the gear sleeve that was not there before.
I'll tear it down later this week but I'm expecting to find that the stainless gear sleeve has worn the bridge post. The reel was torn down and fully serviced two outings ago including penn blue grease in the gear sleeve. I am thinking it's just too much pressure on the Bridge pin with the added leverage of the longer counter balanced handle. If so I'm going back to the smaller GTI counter ballanced crank and knob and try that. I've got two new bridges on the way from JDL.
Will keep ya posted
Quote from: JRD on September 25, 2018, 01:38:34 AM
I thought that I put to rest this issue, at least in my mind of whether the level wind mechanism could stand the stress.
So I have one session of boiler Rock fishing on it with some decent size calicos and many many snags in the rocks. And then today I noticed I'm starting to see a failure in the reel.
But not the failure that I was expecting.
I hopped on a local half-day boat today and we went fishing Bonito, these are decent sized fish in the six to eight pound range. After catching my own personal limit of 5 I kept helping others fill their bags by hooking and handing, I I think the total was around 20 good size hard pulling, drag burning Bonito. As I am putting the reel away I noticed there is quite a bit of lateral movement in the gear sleeve that was not there before.
I'll tear it down later this week but I'm expecting to find that the stainless gear sleeve has worn the bridge post. The reel was torn down and fully serviced two outings ago including penn blue grease in the gear sleeve. I am thinking it's just too much pressure on the Bridge pin with the added leverage of the longer counter balanced handle. If so I'm going back to the smaller GTI counter ballanced crank and knob and try that. I've got two new bridges on the way from JDL.
Will keep ya posted
Interesting results Randy.
Sounds like a fun trip!
I still haven't had a chance to test my full framed Mag 10. I took it back apart and sent the frame for anodizing.
Still planning to make a few half frames, just have a couple other projects first.
Great report JRD, text, pictures and all! Can't wait to see more...
[quote author=xjchad
Interesting results Randy.
Sounds like a fun trip!
I still haven't had a chance to test my full framed Mag 10. I took it back apart and sent the frame for anodizing.
Still planning to make a few half frames, just have a couple other projects first.
[/quote]
Chad I'm waiting for updates on your beast. Im interested to hear your experience with anodizing small batches also. And waiting patiently to see the half frames too!
Quote from: JRD on September 25, 2018, 01:38:34 AM
Today I noticed I'm starting to see a failure in the reel. But not the failure that I was expecting. As I am putting the reel away I noticed there is quite a bit of lateral movement in the gear sleeve that was not there before.
How about that? While we're all waiting for the levelwind to take a crap...the upgraded gear sleeve loosens! I
never saw that one coming! :o
Quote from: mo65
color=maroon]How about that? While we're all waiting for the levelwind to take a crap...the upgraded gear sleeve loosens! I never saw that one coming! :o[/color]
I'm having trouble believing that its actually the stainless steel gear sleeve, I truly think it's either the pin on the bridge came loose or is worn so that it allows a little movement.
I'll post pictures as soon as I get it taken apart and cleaned up and can figure out what happened
The reel was taken apart this morning, as I feared the problem was with the gear sleeve Bridge pin interface. I cannot get a great picture but the band around the base of the bridge sleeve pin is significantly worn on the Inside Edge of that pin. The bridge itself experienced some scoring where from the base of the gear sleeve dug in.
The level wind mechanism as you can see it's still in fantastic shape with no discernible wear on the worm or pawl.
I Believe by putting the extended counterbalance handle on it that I have over stressed that bridge pin. And caused the bridge to flex which creates that wear. You can see the silver grease on the q tip which came from inside the gear sleeve.
The drags shed a little CF dust into the grease but are still in fantastic shape.
I'm going to keep fishing it hard, if it ever breaks I will update the post.
I ordered two new Bridges from JDL and two of the plastic retainers for the magnets but cannot locate replacement magnets, does anybody have a source for those?
Thanks for the update Randy!
I have one of the original magnets I pulled out of my Monster Mag as well as some of the ones I replaced it with.
I'm sending one of each to you today.
I love seeing you work these reels hard! I love the Mag 10!
I'm surprised we don't see more of these bridge pins coming loose with all the power handles and upgraded drags we put into these reels. I don't know where to find those stock magnets Randy but eBay is loaded with similar size magnets...maybe do a search. 8)
Quote from: xjchad on September 28, 2018, 04:25:54 PM
Thanks for the update Randy!
I have one of the original magnets I pulled out of my Monster Mag as well as some of the ones I replaced it with.
I'm sending one of each to you today.
I love seeing you work these reels hard! I love the Mag 10!
That's great Chad, thank you!!! There is still hope to get my target species (Yellow Tail) this year and I'm sure the reel will handle it just fine.
I'm waiting to see what the monster mag does!
Quote from: mo65 on September 28, 2018, 04:42:25 PM
I'm surprised we don't see more of these bridge pins coming loose with all the power handles and upgraded drags we put into these reels. I don't know where to find those stock magnets Randy but eBay is loaded with similar size magnets...maybe do a search. 8)
I'm with you there, it wasn't horrible but I changed the bridge any way before I hurt the sleeve itself.
Quote from: JRD on September 28, 2018, 05:33:05 PM
That's great Chad, thank you!!! There is still hope to get my target species (Yellow Tail) this year and I'm sure the reel will handle it just fine.
No Problem Randy! They are in the mail now!
Quote from: JRD on September 28, 2018, 05:33:05 PM
I'm waiting to see what the monster mag does!
Me too! As soon as I get the frame back, I'm going to go play ;D
Quote from: JRD on September 28, 2018, 05:40:12 PM
Quote from: mo65 on September 28, 2018, 04:42:25 PM
I'm surprised we don't see more of these bridge pins coming loose with all the power handles and upgraded drags we put into these reels.
I'm with you there, it wasn't horrible but I changed the bridge any way before I hurt the sleeve itself.
The Mag 10 bridge is a little thinner than other bridges at ~ 1.7 mm for the 3-10 compared to ~ 2.0 mm for the jigmaster and 210 brides and ~ 2.4 mm for the longbeach 3-66 bridge.
Not sure if that would be a problem but I think it would give the peened sleeve post a little less 'ground' to support it. ???
Mike
Randy,
Did you get those magnets?
Back together with a new bridge just in time to get in end of the season limits of 5 to 6 lb Bonito. These things Fight Hard!
The more I think about it the more I feel like I caused the bridge to flex by horsing the bigger Bonito in without allowing the rod and the drags to do their thing. I don't feel like I'll have another bridge failure even fishing this real as hard as I will keep doing.
5 months fishing on the new bridge. 4 days ago hooked a mystery fish in 200 feet of water off a canyon. Of course I only had a 25lb top shot so couldn't really turn it and had to let it run. Twice into the final 50 yards of spectra based on Alan's stop light spooling method and it finally came towards the boat fast, about 50 yards out it turns and just gone!! This is bigger than anything else I've hooked on this reel. New 25lb test just broke clean about 15 feet from the hook. I was hoping a giant yello tail but it was likely a spring time thresher. Anyway the familiar wobbly handle is back.
Level wind parts are pristine still, not so the bridge. Can anyone save me some time with the part numbers at McMaster for the under sleeve stainless shims they are using on the jiggy / squidder bridges?
I'm finihing thelast of last years smoked bonita tonight. Man is it good, great job on that.
Ron Jones
Quote from: JRD on April 01, 2019, 08:33:02 PM
5 months fishing on the new bridge.
Level wind parts are pristine still, not so the bridge.
It sounds like you've identified the weak link...not so sure it's really a weak link though, as it performed very well until that giant fish stressed it. I think it's safe to say a Mag 10 can be pushed pretty hard. Great fishin'! And thanks for the report. 8)
I finally hit the target species for this reel but it turned out to be a baby, no real test for the reel. Every time I hooked a yellow tail this year I've always had a different rod and reel set up in my hands. I'm going to keep trying for a bruiser.
That looks like a cool catch to me Randy! 8)
Yeah man. There's nothing wrong with that.
-steve
Looks good to me !
Quote from: JRD on September 21, 2019, 02:28:59 AM
I finally hit the target species for this reel but it turned out to be a baby, no real test for the reel. Every time I hooked a yellow tail this year I've always had a different rod and reel set up in my hands. I'm going to keep trying for a bruiser.
pound per pound YT pull harder than many fish of the same size and weight, so I say thats a really nice catch with the ilttle reel
Randy,
Have you tried playing with the shimmed bridge yet to see if the helps?
Not yet Chad, my fishing benches sit gathering dust as my work is interfering with my passion. Soon though and will let you know if it resolves the bridge wear - which I'm sure it will.
Sorry to hear about all the work getting in the way of your fishing Randy :(
Hopefully it clears up soon and you can get back on the water!
Thanks Randy for the reports & updates, nice pics, and thanks MHC, Mike for your good info on the bridges, it looked to me that the beveled & eared washers, need a good honing out in the centre, so they do slide freely, cheers Don.
Any updates on this setup? I've been fishing a lovely stone stock Mag 10 (courtesy of xjchad, thanks again!) on a 7' "medium" Ugly stik lite Pro as my primary rig the last few months, and love it so much that a Penn 210 is going to be delivered today, and I may have to do a jigmaster handle and a 5+1 stack on it :)
Jigmaster has 24-66 handle; I put them on all my 210 / 209's. 24-49 is the next one up and really has long throw. I replaced my stock 10 handles with 24-310's; they have an extra half inch or so vs. stock 24-155 the Mag 10 comes with and a nice modern football knob ans stainless blade. These are my go-too rigs for schooley stripers; I just made sure all have greased carbontex drags and they fish 20 lb that I use quite fine.
John
Quote from: Lingwendil on February 10, 2020, 05:38:26 PM
Any updates on this setup? I've been fishing a lovely stone stock Mag 10 (courtesy of xjchad, thanks again!) on a 7' "medium" Ugly stik lite Pro as my primary rig the last few months, and love it so much that a Penn 210 is going to be delivered today, and I may have to do a jigmaster handle and a 5+1 stack on it :)
The update is that I can't break this reel no matter how hard I try. It goes with me on every trip and has caught most of our inshore SoCal fish and a few pelagics. The under sleeve shims solved my bridge wear issues. I use Bryan's 5 stack with no issues. I had 210s but let them go since Spectra gives me enough capacity on the Mag 10 and the drags are more than I need.
I like counter balanced handles and use either Accurates or Motives on mine with Alan's EVA knobs. I do have one that I'm testing Okumas ergo knob handle from a Cortez on and really like it so far.
Quote from: Lingwendil on February 10, 2020, 05:38:26 PM
I've been fishing a lovely stone stock Mag 10 (courtesy of xjchad, thanks again!) on a 7' "medium" Ugly stik lite Pro as my primary rig the last few months, and love it so much that a Penn 210 is going to be delivered today, and I may have to do a jigmaster handle and a 5+1 stack on it :)
Glad it's working out well for you! These are great reels! I'm really excited that I was able to re-aquire my greem Monster Mag, and I'm starting a new Mag 10 build soon as well :)
Quote from: JRD on February 10, 2020, 07:15:39 PM
The under sleeve shims solved my bridge wear issues.
I'm so stoked that those shims solved that issue Randy!
PS- your 10-49 adapter shims are done. Working on the levelwind deletes now.
Just picked up my stock m10 and looking to join the club.... ;D
Quote from: Rocket Dog on April 18, 2020, 12:29:01 AM
Just picked up my stock m10 and looking to join the club.... ;D
Congrats! Mag 10's are awesome reels!
Quote from: Rocket Dog on April 18, 2020, 12:29:01 AM
Just picked up my stock m10 and looking to join the club.... ;D
Down the rabbit hole!!! Make room in your reel bag because your gonna want more than one.
Over 2 years now and I finally found the limits. Yesterday I went 4 for 6 on Yellow Tail up to 35lbs. One 17 pounder on the Mag 10 using 50 lb braid and 30 lb flouro. Caught on the Wax Wing, a first for me. Quite a lot of questions and comments about a little old level wind and the crew were not behind the idea of me using this little reel. They quit talking after the first fish.
The second fish blew up on the Wax Wing and headed for the reef, there was no stopping him as he could pull 15 lbs of drag at will, I saw fresh spectra many times. Drags were flawless, level wind was perfect (great noise when the level wind mechanism is going a million miles an hour). No clamp as I was using a reel seat but absolutely solid! Everything worked fine on the runs, it was turning the handle where problems start.
I've got an Accurate counter balanced blade with a Black Pearl EVA knob and could feel the drive train flex every time I tried to gain line. I'm just able to overpower the bridge with the leverage of the bigger handle.
When I pushed too hard on the handle I would get enough flex in the bridge to start hearing bad noises from the gears as the interacted in a bad way with each other and I'm guessing the bridge.
So not to completely grind the inside to pieces I lightened the drag and tried short pumping the fish to use the rod more than the reel. Bad idea as the fish just kept taking more than I could gain. He finally found something rough and sharp to break me off on. Unfortunately he is still wearing a Wax Wing as a piercing.
I will post details once I tear the reel down but I think the quest to find a breaking point is over.
I love these reels and will always grab one to go on a trip but the need to test it to destruction is gone for now.
A shout out to:
Alan T for the SS sleeve
Keta for the SS dog
Brian for the Drags
Chad the seat spacers and sleeve shims
Mo and Chad for the idea
Ted for the seat
Randy P for the Arm
Alan C for the knob and bridge screws and star
There are also JDL and Mystic parts in there as well.
Great work Randy...looking forward to the report. 8)
Alright, this great thread continues...
What do think about the possibility of frame flex and(or) head-plate stability as maybe a precursor to the bridgeplate stud("pin") tweaking?
Quote from: Gfish on September 09, 2020, 07:13:49 PM
Alright, this great thread continues...
What do think about the possibility of frame flex and(or) head-plate stability as maybe a precursor to the bridgeplate stud("pin") tweaking?
There's absolutely no frame tweaking or flex, you'd feel it as the level wind would be out of alignment and free spool would suffer. It never happened. As far as plate stability I don't see that as an issue these plates are pretty robust.
What seems to be the problem is the plate opening where the sleeve and sleeve spacer go through leaves enough room for the sleeve and spacer to move around when winding under heavy loads and flex the bridge. Short of an AR bearing mod to hold the shaft aligned in the plate I'm not sure how to change the result. I guess you could use a thicker sleeve spacer but then may end up with extra drag on the drive train when reeling.
I'm going to accept that asking more for that much drag when reeling is beyond my ability to mod the reel. I'm confident this will take down fish up to 15lbs using a drag setting up to 8-10 lbs, but over that it will start ruining bridges.
I love all the mods, testing, and feedback in this thread Randy!
Awesome work and so cool to see such quality fish landed with the Mag 10 ;D
Nice Randy, nothing like real world first hand testing limitations of a reel. Sounds like you had some fun fishing. Any weight estimate on the one that kept taking line at will ??
Maybe add an old school leather thumb brake to turn the fish your way
Quote from: Maxed Out on September 09, 2020, 11:26:50 PM
Any weight estimate on the one that kept taking line at will ??
Ted they always seem bigger when you don't land them. 😁. It felt way bigger than the 17 pounder and with way more attitude. My other three fish were in the 30s and the large YT on the boat that day was 42. The other fish came on a Tern 400 and Komodo 471P both on stouter 20-50 lb 9 foot rods. The Mag 10 was on a 15-40lb 8 footer.
Honestly I thought I had him and I sorta regret turning the drag back to save the reel.
Great read brother. Glad you kept at it until the failure occurred. Bill
I tried fishing the reel again yesterday without tearing it down, well stupid is as stupid does. Small 1 lb Bonito and it goes full knuckle buster.
Torn down today and unexpected failure appeared so maybe I'm not giving up with testing this to destruction just yet.
The main gear sleeve pin is still tight in the bridge. There is it less wear from the sleeve on the bridge thanks to Chad's shim but the base of the sleeve pin is worn down pretty good. Unexpected is that the AR dog pin is slightly bent which allowed the dog to raise up and chew the tip off the dog and round the teeth on the sleeve, both stainless.
So I think that double dog simultaneous engagement would distribute that stress over 2 dog pins not one. I've got to look at it and see if the bridge screws can be used as the dog pins which would really strengthen the AR. I've got a sheet of 316 coming that I will hand fashion dogs out of. I'm also going to turn down a thick spacer to minimize bridge sleeve slop where it goes through the plate.
I think though that this goes way past the point of reasonable investment for most people in this reel and it will be aways back in the queue and behind actual fishing of course. But I'm going to keep going just because I can.
My only camera is my phone and it wouldn't capture clear shots but here are a few.
Quote from: JRD on September 19, 2020, 02:00:17 AMUnexpected is that the AR dog pin is slightly bent which allowed the dog to raise up and chew the tip off the dog and round the teeth on the sleeve, both stainless.
So I think that double dog simultaneous engagement would distribute that stress over 2 dog pins not one. I've got to look at it and see if the bridge screws can be used as the dog pins which would really strengthen the AR.
That stock AR dog was one of the reasons I decided to go with a "4-stack" type drag and keep my drag power under 15 pounds. At the time I modded my Mag 10, I wasn't well versed yet in AR dog mods.
I'm a firm believer that the strongest AR system uses the bridge screws rather than bridge pins. My only personal AR dog failure was, like this, the pin type. Also, this failure demonstrates why I use brass dogs. In the event of a failure, only the $2 dog is chewed up, not that $30 ss gear sleeve!
Thinking about it...I wonder if just moving the dog to a bridge screw would handle the pressure. That would be a lot easier than putting
two on a bridge screw. This research has been a blast Randy, great work! 8)