.45 ACP magazines and the AR

[MMcfpd]

OK, I'm just thinkin' here. Stand back; it could get messy.

A problem, well, the problem with .45 ACP conversions for the AR platform has been magazines. Olympic sells their K45 with a modified Uzi 10 round that uses a magazine block. Preferred magazines seem to be M3/M3A1 grease gun magazines. These present a problem in that they're double column and are too wide for the standard AR lower mag well. Cavalry Arms sells a polymer lower that will accomodate grease gun magazines, with a magazine block. That solution has its drawbacks. CNC Gunsmithing has been working on an aluminum AR lower with a mag well specifically designed to accept grease gun magazines, but when that will ever actually come to market is anybody's guess.

Today at a gun shop I was shown a 9 mm AR that used a semi-permanently affixed mag well adapter that allowed use of Uzi or Colt 9 mm magazines with ease. It was not the RRA adapter, but it apparently works much the same.

So, couldn't such an adapter be made to take a skinnier (at the top) .45 ACP magazine? I've seen plenty of 20 round 1911 style magazines at the gun shows. Are there any other widely used .45 magazines that might be useful in this context?

What am I missing?

 

[ZeroCool]

I think the problem is...

that you arent missing anything. From what I understand (and it has been a while since I did my research), you have pretty much summed up the situation perfectly. Double stack SMG mags wont fit without modification and there are no other widely available large capacity .45 mags that would be an adequate substitute.

While there are the large capacity 1911 mags, I dont think that setup would be too popular for a few reasons. One is that no one wants to load load 20-30 rounds in a pistol magazine... that gets old quick. At least with an smg mag you can just click them in through the top like a rifle mag.

Another reason is that personally, much like the 9mm and .40 setups that use pistol mags, I dont think that the setup would be very attractive. I know thats superficial of me, but I like the 9mm Colt SMG because it is an attractive looking firearm.

Right now it just looks like a .45acp AR15 is going to be a very cost prohibitive firearm to own... if a model ever even comes out.

 

[Cortland]

I know a fellow who just got an Olympic .45 AR. Olympic didn't want to sell it to him because they don't have any mags to ship with the guns, but he has a local gunsmith making .45 magazines out of Sten mags. The modified Sten mags hold something like 20 rounds and work perfectly.

 

[MMcfpd]

Does he use a mag block or some other adapter to use the Sten mags with the AR lower?

 

[Cortland]

He welds a mag block on to the back fo the Sten mag and mills a mag catch slot in the block. He also has to adjust the lips inward slightly. I think he may also be squeezing and grooving the mag. From what I understand it is pretty involved -- he's charging $60/mag. If you shop around you can get a Sten mag for $2.50, so that $60 is all labor. But it's still cheaper (and more capacity) than a modified 16 rnd. Uzi mag.

 

[GunnySkox]

If you poke around in the rimfire and pistol caliber section of the AR forum over at ARFCOM (www.ar15.com), TANGOCHASER has been doing a bunch of stuff with .45 ARs. He mentioned that grease gun and reising SMG mags could be squished just a bit in a vice to fit into a normal AR-15 magwell, and thus be used with appropriate modifications and magazine blocks.

~GnSx

 

[Dave Markowitz]

The mag well in the Cavalry Arms MK.II AR15 receiver is wide enough to take Grease Gun or Thompson mags. These receivers are molded from glass-filled Nylon 6 with an integral A1-length buttstock.

 

[GreenFurniture]

A standard AR15 will take grease gun mags.

And the Cav Arms stuff is total crap.

 

[MMcfpd]

Thanks for the input, that was a particularly good reference there, GunnySkox, especially so in the .45 Conversion Guide thread. Elsewhere over there I learned of the Bazooka Brothers lower.

A standard AR15 will take grease gun mags.

Well, I just tried an unmodified M3A1 mag against my 6520, and I say "against" because it's not even close to "in." Have you used a grease gun mag in a standard AR-15 lower?

 

[GreenFurniture]

That's what mags Dalphon converted (put a little box on the back) for my Oly .45 upper.

 

[MMcfpd]

Just to be clear here, when I referred to grease gun magazines, I meant M3/M3A1 .45 ACP double stack magazines. Is that what you're saying Dalphon modified for you (with what I guess was an attached mag block)?

If it was something else, I'd love to know what that might be. What's the capacity of your Dalphon-modified mags?

 

[Mtdew]

A standard AR15 will take grease gun mags.

no it won't

a gg mag is 1.070-1.080 wide
a AR magwell is .920 wide

the outside of a ar magwell is only 1.115" wide so even if you milled the ar to accept the mag say 1.085" that only leaves a .015" wall and there is no way that it will work that thin



i'd bet you have converted uzi mags