TargetTalk

I have heard that the Hammerli 208 magazines are easily damaged if you drop them. Where is the best place to buy a couple of extra magazines and extra magazine bases for the 208s? I have seen the magazines listed at a little over a hundred bucks a piece but no online retailers seem to list the bases as available for the magazines.

Larry's Guns in Maine, see http://www.larrysguns.com/

Larry's I know about. I was hoping for possibly a less expensive source. :-)

Isabel1130 wrote:I have heard that the Hammerli 208 magazines are easily damaged if you drop them. Where is the best place to buy a couple of extra magazines and extra magazine bases for the 208s? I have seen the magazines listed at a little over a hundred bucks a piece but no online retailers seem to list the bases as available for the magazines.

What will likely break if you drop a mag is the little plastic lips on the base of the mag that hold it to the tube. Been there and done that. Larry has some replacement plastic bases for $15 I was able to find on the web site (page 19 of the 208s parts) but he showed me some metal ones he had gotten Hammerli to approve several years ago at Perry. Call and ask about them as they are much more solid and won't break easily. Far less expensive than buying a new magazine.

The ones I found are here: http://www.larrysguns.com/Departments/R ... px?page=19

try here as well http://www.rocosystem.com/

Isabel1130 wrote:Larry's I know about. I was hoping for possibly a less expensive source. :-)

Being that Larry is the US agent, he's hard to beat.

The declining value of the $US is a big part of the equation.

OK so I am going to assume that the magazines that Larry sells for the Hammerli 208s are the ones with the aluminum base. I think it says that in the description. I know the exchange rate has been a problem. I lived in Germany for three years in the 80's so I have been there, done that :-) I will give him a call on Monday and see what we can work out. I have also have talked to the Roco people about other Hammerli issues. They have been very helpful and knowledable and I feel from their customer service they would be great people to deal with, but they put very little pricing on their website. If Larry has a less breakable magazine for sale, I had better go with those.

With a little work, I've been pleased with using S&W Model 41 magazines with my 208s. The magazine base is not long enough to get ahold of within the 208s grip, but if you make the magazine loose enough within the frame, that isn't a poblem. For me, a little work on a $26 magazine outweighed the current cost for an original.

I must point out that at least one individual contacted me with considerable problems getting his 208s to function properly with M41 magazines, but otherwise mine have become more reliable than my remaining original mags.

If anyone is interested in trying the M41 magazines, I invite you to read my post in the Bullseye-L archive located at:

http://groups.google.com/group/Bullseye ... 6e8792f30b

(Membership is not required to access the archive.)

Remember to proceed at your own risk if you choose to try this route.

BTW, the price quote of $26 for the M41 magazines was the price I paid through Gil Hebard. There are higher prices all over and his might be a little more now, too.

Also, if you choose to try this, please return to TargetTalk with your results.

Take Care,
Ed Hall
US Air Force Shooting Teams
Bullseye (and International) Competition Things

Ed,

Thanks for the tip! I guess I have two reason to buy some... 1) To fit the GF's 208 and 2) To fit to the GSP (Seen one guy do it, just a matter of filing the mag catch notch on the back of the mag body).

I'll let you know how it turns out.

Michel.

Hi Michel,

I also had to slim down the magazines a bit so they would insert and drop out freely. One of the posters to TT that I know used to just "friction fit" his mag(s). He allowed the tightness to secure the magazine. I would find that too inconsistent and difficult to extract. I like to have them just fall out when I pull the mag catch. Actually, mine still stick a bit when the mag well gets dirty.

Take Care,
Ed Hall
US Air Force Shooting Teams
Bullseye (and International) Competition Things

I have also been using mod 41 clips in my 208s. No problems in the last 5 years. I did have to rub an abrasive stone over the outside of the mags on a couple of them to slim them down a bit, but with a little bit of work they are just fine. I also made a little brass filler to snap on the front of the mod 41 clip to fill in the small gap at the bottom of the grips.

I bought aluminum base plates from "Brothers" in New York State. This was a few years ago (7 or so) and I do not know if they still make them. I believe that they used to advertise in Shooting Sports. I bought 5 of them. I also have 2 from Larry's (also 7 years ago). The ones from Larry's are beautiful, annodized but they were much more expensive.

I am still making them,,, they are $15.00 each.. Email me at docholiday45@frontiernet.net if interested

Just completed a conversion of a m41 mag for my 208.
I bought an abused early mag, removed the rust and made the adjustments after a proper cleaning. Test firing was
perfect.