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Attention!! New 541/581 magazines!

20K views 213 replies 59 participants last post by  Macc 
#1 ·
Hi all,

I have developed replacement 5 round magazines for the 541/581 rifles! (technically they hold 7 rounds, but I recommend keeping it at 5 to avoid risk of damaging the spring over time)

These have a removable floorplate for ease of cleaning and are made of durable Nylon!

I will post an ad in the Trading Post when the time comes (hopefully within a few weeks), but first...I need some help from the community!

There is a significant cost difference to you determined by how many magazines I have manufactured at one time. The initial investment is significant enough that I want to get a real world feel for the market of these magazines before I determine whether to pre-order in a decent size lot or simply have them manufactured as folks order them (one or a few at a time).

So...

1) Does anyone know the numbers of how many 541's/581's were manufactured?

2) How many 5 round magazines would you be interested in buying if they were priced around $60-$65 each?

Thank you for any/all help you can provide! I look forward to helping you keep shooting these beautiful firearms for many years to come!

Jim
 

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#4 ·
Another question for the community...

These new mags will fit 541's and 581's alike. I have them marked currently (as seen in the photos) as 541-5 for the part number.

Does that cause any heartburn for those of you who would be using them in a 581?
 
#9 ·
Very neat. Looks a lot like the originals (which I have). In my case, I will be interested in buying some whenever a new design is available where the magazine bottom is as flush as possible with the bottom of the stock - like the Remington 511 magazine for example. I am hoping that type will be coming next which would offer a much better situation for carrying the rifle with one hand at the balance point in front of the trigger ( and lots mare sales I predict ).
 
#11 ·
That's interesting...Part of the reason I designed this shape was to make it easier to remove from the rifle. Making it shorter is likely to be easy enough if that is what the market prefers, but it will make it more difficult to remove.

Either way is fine with me. I will just need some sort of consensus before making an order of them.

Thanks for the input! Ease of use in the field is part of why I didn't want to market a 10 round version.
 
#12 ·
I want to correct my previous post. I just reviewed my rifles and actually the Anschutz 54 and 64 action series rifles have the least protruding magazines and would be better examples to copy than the Remington 511 I had mentioned. The CZ 452 magazine design is also fairly good but not as low profile as the Anschutz design which is actually rounded ( convex ) on the bottom surface for best smoothness.
 
#14 · (Edited)
At the price you have them at I could probably only get one. If the price was closer to $40. I would go for two. But I am a broke cheep fool. I know the originals are going for around $100. so you price isn't that bad especially if they function well. I do have a original one still in the box waiting for the one that came with the gun to crap out.
 
#17 ·
Sounds like a nice collection A1M! Thanks for the note!

I just modified the design to have rounded edges on the floor plate and the overall length matches the OEM overall length. That shaves roughly 0.305" off of it.

I hope to have prototypes of that design late next week.
 
#18 ·
" I know the originals are going for around $100 ".

Are we talking about the original Remington plastic 5 rd mag
that came with my 541T that cost me $15-20 last time I bought some?

If so then I guess I've been asleep for awhile. I would assume that means Rem no longer makes them?
 
#25 ·
Pricing

Hi all,

I am working to get the best magazines I can for the most reasonable price I can, but there are some things we have to take into account...

So far, this is a low to medium (hopefully) volume project. As such, it is not financially viable to invest in tooling for either metal formed parts or plastic injection molds as the original magazines were.

These parts are produced locally here in Oregon and I personally assemble and ship each one to verify quality is up to par.

In order to achieve a reasonable cost to you, I have to pre-pay for 100 magazines at a time. At that price, with the additional cost of packaging and assembly time I would be losing money at $40 each. The margin on these is low enough that I will need to sell hundreds just to cover the time that I spend in design, manufacturing oversight and initial capitol investments.

I will continue to work toward getting the best price I can to you good folks so we can all continue to enjoy our old toys with new additions/upgrades! :Blasting_

I sincerely thank you all for your input and continued conversation. Maybe someday we can arrange a field shooting day! :)

Jim
 
#26 ·
I, and I'm sure others here, look forward to hearing about availability and price. This is, IMO, something that has been needed for long time. I suspect you know, however, that you will not be able to sell your magazines via these posts in the Remington forum. I know some members have done some sales of items they make via PMs (e.g., DBlue's Cooper Bore Guides), and there are others such as the Tuffer Buffers that are sold in the Trading Post via "Featured Ads" (not sure how that works vis-a-vis a formal RFC Sponsor). You may want to look into the various options.

Again, good luck! :)

Doug
 
#27 ·
Good morning!
Yep, I ran into that with my first postings regarding the 591 magazines. Totally my fault. I then (per admin suggestions) listed a link in the Trading Post section "Other Auction Sites", which is likely what I will do here. Once the design is finalized, I will post a comment here that will direct people to that section where the ad will be listed.

Hopefully...word will eventually spread well enough that folks who need them will already know where to go! :)

Thanks Doug! Happy Friday!

Jim
 
#28 ·
Hi Jim,

Your magazine looks good! Kudos!

Yes, please post pics (both in and out of a rifle) of the shorter version w/ rounded corners.

Once you're up & running, you'll be able to sell a flock of them on eBay w/ a BIN price.

Best Regards,
 
#29 ·
Hi Jim,

Your magazine looks good! Kudos!

Yes, please post pics (both in and out of a rifle) of the shorter version w/ rounded corners.

Once you're up & running, you'll be able to sell a flock of them on eBay w/ a BIN price.

Best Regards,
Hi UM44,
Will do! I hope to have prototypes by the end of next week.
I have some 591 magazines listed on ebay now using BIN, but I hope to avoid using them soon. Great service, but the fee is 10% of each sale and my margins just aren't high enough to justify that. I'm mostly using ebay in the short term to get my company name out there and drive traffic to our website. You can buy magazines on our website using a credit card as well! :)

Thanks for the note!

Jim
 
#30 ·
Jim,

As one of the other posters noted, the 77 mag has a slightly deeper notch.

The good news is the 77 mag works in both the 77 & 581/541. If you make the notch the 77 depth, your mag will work in all the models.

Please post a link to your website.

Best Regards,
 
#33 ·
Has anyone from RFC field tested these?

Bill

WPS
Hi Bill,

There are only two prototypes currently. One of them was just sent to John Gyde for his review. The one he received is the original version though and has not been shortened nor does it have the rounded edges on the floor plate.

Functionally, it will be the same as the next rev though as it pertains to feeding shells through the rifle.

Jim
 
#34 ·
Are these 3D printed?

I just purchased a printed floorplate for a Kahr 9mm mag, no hard use, but seems OK.

Not sure how many I could purchase for $75...but, considering I was about to retire my 581 because of a lack of mag availability, I have 4, this does change things.

FWIW, the factory 10 rounders are still available. Of 3 or 4 I have, one self destructed when I loaded it for the first time, the remaining ones will not accept a singe round of ammo.
 
#35 ·
Are these 3D printed?

I just purchased a printed floorplate for a Kahr 9mm mag, no hard use, but seems OK.

Not sure how many I could purchase for $75...but, considering I was about to retire my 581 because of a lack of mag availability, I have 4, this does change things.

FWIW, the factory 10 rounders are still available. Of 3 or 4 I have, one self destructed when I loaded it for the first time, the remaining ones will not accept a singe round of ammo.
Hi,

They are. They're printed with Nylon and are very durable!

The 541/581 will be $60 each at most. I am working to get them down to about $50 each, but can't commit to it just yet.

Man, that sucks! I'm sorry to hear you're having that much trouble with the 10 rounders. Given the number of complaints I've heard about them, I'm surprised their still being produced.
 
#36 ·
The biggest problem I've had with the original 5 rounder is the metal tab at the top wanting to come loose upon removal. If your product is proven to be reliable, then I would be a buyer of at least a couple in the $50 to $60 range, maybe more. I would think with all the models it fits, and the number of rifles out there, you could probably sell at least 1000 (over time of course, as word gets out). What would an order of 1000 do for your unit cost? I looked at costs to become a sponsor on RFC at one time, and they seemed reasonable. Would be a good start. First you have to demonstrate they work. I too prefer the more flush fit 5 rounder over the 7 rounder. Best of luck with it.
 
#38 ·
Hi MMP,
Assuming you're talking about the formed metal clip at the top rear of the OEM mag...my replacement does not have it. That little clip was one of the reasons that it isn't financially viable to reproduce the original design. Tooling would have included three molds for plastic injection molding and one for that tiny steel part. That capitol investment for that is very large. I'm happy to say that it is not a necessary part in my magazines.
I recently spoke to my vendor about pricing at larger volumes. The difference between order 100 at a time versus 500 at a time was roughly $1.00 per magazine. Not enough to make a difference in the final price and definitely not enough to justify me putting out that much capitol in the hopes that these magazines sell.
I look forward to presenting the prototypes soon that are the original length (5 round) and have the rounded floor plates!
Thanks for the note and input!

Jim
 
#37 ·
Nice looking work.

Here is my perspective.

$60 each seems a little steep, but I realize the start up cost probably set you back a goodly amount and I don't know what actual labor and materials costs are.

Perhaps a pricing option could be based on volume where you have a price for one magazine, another price for two magazines and a price for three or more.

For me, I would want at least 3, maybe 4 magazines. I would also buy at least two, 10 round versions.

Also.......I would want to know how you are going to respond in the event of any sort of failure and whether replacement springs and floor plates etc will be available. i.e. Will you stand by what you sell for at least the foreseeable future as these go out into the field? At least long enough while any bugs are ironed out and to see how well they hold up. At that sort of price, obviously one would want reliability and durability.

I guess I also mean......will this be a limited run type of deal where you do this as an enthusiast and to help shooters here solve this problem......and then stop making them at some point when RFC folks have what they need? Or are you looking at it more as a long term type of business thing and planning to make these available for a long time?

If you are using 3D printer technology, will there be color options? That would be kinda cool.

I'm definitely interested. I have dialed out my 581 to be a very accurate rifle but the magazines are the weak point, in essence making the rifle unreliable. These magazines will cause you to score badly in a comp. FTF instances could be the difference between a win or lose.

I'm definitely going to be keeping an ear out about these. Thank you for tackling something that a lot of people have been asking about for a long time.

I also thought I would throw this out........perhaps a limited run where you offer RFC members a special low introductory price for a maximum of 1-2 magazines per person..... to real world beta test them for you. This way you find out how they are performing in a wide variety of rifles as well as possibly in other models.
 
#39 ·
Hi Fumbles,
It sincerely is my pleasure to be tackling this! But thank you for the recognition of the effort! :)

$60 each is a first guesstimate. I'm hoping to get them down to $50 each, but I can't commit to it yet. The only way to get anywhere near that is if I'm putting out the capitol to purchase at least 100 at a time.
Given the extremely slow recovery of the $10K I have invested in the 591 mags, I'm a little trigger shy on jumping in with both feet on this version.
BUT..I will absolutely do so when I feel that the community is ready to share in the risk by taking a chance on me as a supplier. I understand the hesitation of all as I have not yet built a reputation. I had hoped (and still do) that the 591 mags would pave the way with that. Varminter.com's review of the 591 mags came out last week! :)

As a very small start up looking to eventually make a living producing products for the community I share a passion with, I can tell you that I am not trying to make a killing on a single product. What I am trying to accomplish is selling enough products that people need to allow me to reinvest the profit in development of the next product(s). Whether or not these magazines are available for long term depends on the demand and sale of them. My goal is to sell them for as long as people are asking for them.

The discounted rate for me buying 100 at a time still leaves the manufacturing cost at about 60% of the sale price. There is also packaging, credit card fees, merchant account fees, CAD licensing fees, miscellaneous business overhead and finally...my engineering time, assembly time and quality control time.

I hope that these will be long term products and am planning to support them as such. As they start to sell, part of my reinvestment into products/development will be to make replacement parts available. Again, these have to be manufactured in quantity in order to have reasonable pricing for you all as users.

My warranty states 30 days for a refund or replacement magazine for manufacturing defects. My #1 priority is to make my customers happy. If you aren't happy, I won't be selling magazines or anything else for very long. I ask anyone who buys from me to contact me immediately with any questions/concerns so that I can do everything in my power to resolve them for you. Also, I rely on my customer base to provide honest feedback to me so that I can continue to refine the products to be the best options on the market.

They are 3D printed, and color options would be cool! A buddy asked me about colored followers. :) I can certainly ask about coloring options from the vendor, but the pricing system would be the same format. i.e. they would only be affordable if I bought in large quantities. One offs get pretty expensive. I'm happy to offer whatever color the vendor is willing to provide if you're willing to pay for it. :)

I would love to run a batch and offer them to a few "early adopter" RFC members at a discounted rate, but I'll have to think about how/when to do that. Thanks for the idea!

Jim
 
#40 ·
I think you should consider 5 & 10 round versions.

The Remington factory 10's are worthless.

I took my new one out of the box and the very first 10 rounds.....got to round #9 and it Jack-in-box'd me and shot them out everywhere including the follower.

Guys who shoot gophers, pdogs, etc. would get use out of 10 round'ers.
 
#43 ·
Hi Dale,
Thanks for chiming in! I too would love a 10 rounder if I had one of these rifles! I have designed a 10 round version for the 591's as that is one of my go-to sage rat guns. :)

I will design a 10 round for sure, but whether or not it is made available will depend on the number of requests I get. There are two cost contributors that come into play as driving determinations...
1) 3D printed part costs
2) Spring costs
If I only get 10 requests for 10 rounders, they would be quite expensive.

Jim
 
#41 ·
I would be willing to give one a try at $60...2 for $100 I might swing.

I've got about 4 original 5 rounders, one still in the box/card. They are not cheap. I did luck out and find them from people who didn't really know that they are hard to find and no longer made anymore. Usually in the bottom of some gunshop bin...but you can't count on that supply.

I was getting ready to put my slightly custom 581 up for sale again, mostly because of the mag issue. This new development has me re-thinking that.

And since we are floating requests/ideas..

I think an orange follower would be GTG and flush fit 3 or 4 rounder would be nice also...understand the issue with volume though. I'd be happy with 5 rounders
 
#44 ·
Hi RM,
Thanks for the note and the understanding of my limitations on being able to accommodate individual requests. I wish I could provide a solution for every single variation, but it just isn't possible. :(

Nice score on the mags! Congrats!

I am REALLY happy to hear that my project has you thinking about hanging on to your gun! That is EXACTLY my primary goal! Keep shooters taking their favorite guns into the field, doing what they love! :)

I will talk to my vendor about the option of dying in different colors and will post an update when I hear some news.

Thanks!

Jim
 
#46 ·
Jim, I don't have total production figures to compare side by side, but I'm guessing the 581 (and other compatible models) demand will be much higher than the 591. The 591 is a fairly rare piece, at least in my neck of the woods; maybe due to ammo availability, they stay in the safe. If you can get the word out, and have a good product, I think you're going to sell a bunch of the 581.
 
#47 ·
Thanks MMP! I hope so! :)

The numbers I've seen for rifle production of the 591 are 27,000. Ballpark estimates of the combined 541/581 are 150,000+.

I have no doubt they'll sell, but I'm trying to avoid having too long of an ROI on this one. I'm working on getting the word out through online magazines, social media, etc. and am working with my wife (a PR professional) to learn about other methods of getting the word out quickly.

If Aguila follows through on producing the three 5mm rounds this year that they're talking about, it should help sales of the magazines (fingers crossed).

All this work and discussion of the 541/581's will probably result in me buying one! (like I need another 22) :D
 
#48 ·
Jim, if you're going to make the 581 mag, you simply have to buy one; then you'll want it's brother, the 582 tube fed version. For a relatively affordable rifle, mine have offered excellent accuracy. My latest acquisition in this rifle was a 582. It shot 9 shots into 1/2" at 50 yds the first time I ever shot it. Yea, it's not a 5mm, but makes a great, quiet squirrel rifle. Best of luck with your mag projects.
Steve
 
#50 ·
I don't shoot my 5mm all that often, due to the fact of the fricken ammo situation, but I love the thing and when ammo comes back around, I will buy a new improved mag for it.

I would love to see Remington build a rimfire off from the 700 (not 40-X) and make it the 5mm Super Mag... a WSM case with maybe a .204 Vmax bullet.
 
#51 ·
Ya, the ammo issue is a serious one. I was hoping that Aguila and myself would launch our new 5mm products around the same time and help each other out. When they do release it, I plan on buying a **** ton of it! :) :Blasting_

I'll let you know if our 5mm conversion rifle pans out! I have high hopes!
 
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