Making your own automag.

[Sub Zero90]

What would i need to make my own auto-mag and how much am i looking to spend?

[Ando]

Start here...

http://www.automags.org/forums/showthread.php?t=5895

Go from the last page forward and post pics of stuff you want. Someone here will let you know how much it'll come out.

[xero28]

I agree with Ando. Peruse the photos of what other people have done and see what you like. Post links to the photos, or the photos themselves and we can help you with price and where to find the parts.

But basically you will need:

Valve/Bolt
Body
Rail
Sear
Trigger Frame
Barrel
ASA

You can find a complete, basic Mag for around $100-$150. This will be a pretty much stock, Classic Mag. A great starting point and a good way to get to know the guns. But, if you're looking for something different and higher end, you'll be looking at anywhere from $300-$1000+, depending on the Valve (X-Valve, RT, etc), body (ULE, powerfeed, Chord, Tac-One, etc), rail (classic, RT, E-Mag, Dalarra, etc), trigger frame (Stock CF, Intelli, Y-Frame, Z-Grip, Triton, etc). That's what I love about Mags. There are still so many options for them and you can customize them to your playing style and budget.

Good luck.

[Sub Zero90]

I was thinking maybe a macro-mag or mini.

[xero28]

I was thinking maybe a macro-mag or mini.

Well, Micro Mags are essentially the same thing. A couple of differences are that the body and rail are all one piece, they use a proprietary vertical ASAs and they are cocker threaded. Some people have had issues with some of the older models in that they had some tolerance issues. You could probably find one complete for around $200. Size wise, Micro Mags are roughly the same size as a regular mag. They were called Micro because the first ones had a fixed 6 or 8 inch barrel, making them seem like a really tiny gun. But there isn't much difference in my opinion.

The MiniMag is essentially the exact same as a standard AutoMag just with a slightly longer body with some vents milled out of it in the front. It was called the MiniMag because it was originally sold with only a vertical ASA, so the CO2 tank would be in the vertical position in the front and the gun would be more compact without the tank coming off of the back. Though most people simply put on a bottom line ASA anyway, so it was not much more "mini" than a regular Mag.

AutoMag


MiniMag


MicroMag with a fixed barrel. Notice there is no vert ASA. This was one of the earlier models and no vert asa mad it more "micro". Later they added the vert ASA which added some length to the body, essentially making it as long as a standard Mag.


Newer version Micro

[Ando]

Mini-mags will run you about $150+ stock depending on the condition. A PTP-Micro Mag will run a little more $300+ stock depending on condition. If you have the funds PTP is making the new body as we speak and there's a few already wanting to sell their spots.

[Aslan]

My Mags

What would i need to make my own auto-mag and how much am i looking to spend?

I built 2 mags, an automag and a Minimag.

I put about $390 into the Automag:


I put about $400 into the Minimag:


But keep in mind that the $$$ total includes an air tank, 12V Revy, and intellifeed for each. The Minimag also had to be drilled to accept the ULT trigger. So my estimates are probably on the "high" end of what it would cost to put a Mag together from scratch.

[Konigballer]

I think it would be easier to just nail down basically what you want (automag, Minimag, Micromag, etc) then what layout or specific parts you want it to have, and then just keep browsing the forums until you find one for sale that is either exactly what you want, or pretty close. It gets kinda pricey buying individual parts, and there are crazy deals on all mags here at AO, on MCB, PBnation, Craigslist, and E-bay. You just have to be dilligent in doing the intel work.

Also, don't forget about the Classic RT, it offers a level of performance on-par with pretty much any mech mag and are going for cheap nowadays. $200-$275 for a gun that cost around $800 brand new back in the 90's. The only bad thing is they are not parts compatable with other mags, 'cept with barrels. Just a thought.

[chafnerjr]

I've got to agree with the first post (real pic's start around page 60 of that thread). Figure out what you want and go from there... here's some basicd figures to start with..

Standard Automag with classic valve =~$100

upgrades (or parts to buy instead of a classic automag)
XValve (~$150-$200 used)... will have lvl10 bolt.
Body = $30-$150 for AGD... $300-$500 for non AGD bodies like the Karta/Phoenix/Dallara etc...
Foregrip = $5-$50
ASA = $5-$60
Trigger Frame = $30-$200+
Trigger = $15-$60
Barrel = $5-100+
Feedneck = $5-$50
Hopper = $5-$160

you'll still need things like detents, thumbscrew, frame screw, sear, and maybe one or two other things if you build up from scratch. See how this is going? You can get basic cheap functional parts for next to nothing. Sometimes people here give this sort of low end crap away.... however, the high end can start to add up over time pretty quickly as you'll begin to see. The sky is the limit... You can use just about any foregrip and ASA. There are trigger frames galore. Barrels are cheap unless you want some nice ones like the DW fibur or anything using a freak system. There are a lot of J&J ceramic barrels for cheap that are great... the rest is up to you... I tend to find that MOST people playing mags now a days are in them for $300-$400... a lot of the RT's and Tac-Ones live in that price range. On the other hand some of us are into our markers well over 1k.... some of us have several Mag's over $1k.

I haven't even talked about the elctros, but well leave that to you to see... stick with a mech or pneu in my opinion. In any event this is the beginning of the end for you. In 10 years you should think back on this moment and remember asking this question while looking over a pile of $k worth of markers that your wife just left you over.