AR build questions... 45acp and .22lr

[azredhawk44]

I have a really beat up marlin .22 that I'd like to replace with something nicer with aperture style sights.

I want a .45acp carbine, also.

I've been looking at Ruger 10/22's and used Marlin Camp 45's, and then I realized that uppers exist for these calibers on the AR platform.

Questions:

1) Does anyone know of an AR upper in 45acp that takes 1911 magazines?
2) What options are out there for dedicated .22LR uppers?
3) Looking at a Cavalry Arms lower for $200. Good deal?

The way I see it, I would spend about $150 on a 10/22, $65 on Tech Sights for it, and another $50 for a longer stock to get adequate length of pull, for a total of $265 + magazines. I would then drop another $500 on a used Marlin Camp 45 and probably add optics or better sights of some sort ($50-$150), for a total of $800-$900 or so.

Can I build an AR with the two specified uppers for less than $800? The only .22LR upper I've been able to find so far is the Bushmaster Carbon15 rimfire upper, at about $380. Any cheaper ones out there? I want a dedicated barrel sized properly at 0.221, rather than a .223/5.56 barrel at .224 diameter. I also want direct blowback action.

The 1911 magazines are a big deal to me... I don't see why folks are building for grease gun mags rather than extended or standard 1911 mags.

Thanks for any pointers in this.

 

[DogBonz]

I too want a 45 upper

I am pretty sure that the Olympic 45 upper takes "grease gun" mags or something like that. They use them to jam 30ish rounds into a mag.

I don't know if that lower is a good deal or not. Is it complete?

Sorry, I know that i'm not much help on this one.

 

[Zach S]

I wouldnt bother with 1911 mags. With an AR you can have 20 or 30 rounds, why limit yourself to 7?

 

[johndoe1027]

I'm looking into building a AR45 as well. Looks like your mag options are uzi mags ($100-$150 each if you can find them) or sten 9mm mags with "flat nosed" bullets in them. I am awaiting a reply PM to see if "flat nosed" means like a 38 spl SWC or like your average cast "flat nosed" bullet. I'm looking for something that will at least eat the some ammo as my 1911. I did want something that uses 1911 mags but I'd rather have more capacity in a AR platform than a Camp I think.

1911 mags do not seem to be an option unless you know a really creative machinist to make a mag adapter for you. If you find one, PM me. You could always try to new version of the drum mags for more capacity.

Any one else know anything about this? I was told that I could take my 5.56 gun and replace the barrel and bolt assembly, drill for the extractor and hand guard, and get a mag adapter and be ready to go. This is coming form someone who owns one (AR45) BTW.

I'm about to call my smith to see if he feels up to the task. :crosses fingers:

 

[MMcfpd]

Recently I put together a .45 ACP AR with an Oly upper ($581 delivered) and a CMMG lower. I'd thought about using a 1911 mag with the Oly upper before as I've seen 15 and 20 rounders at the gun shows but I searched unsuccessfully for a magwell adapter. And I've never seen any feedback as to how well those larger 1911 mags really work.

I'm currently using an Oly modified Uzi 10 round magazine and it works just fine - seats tight, feeds without problems and drops free, but..., it's 10 rounds. I did haunt gunbroker and I came up with a few 16 round Uzi mags that I sent to Oly for their magblock modification ($35/mag). Grease gun mags will not work in a standard AR lower receiver. Bazooka Brothers is building me an AR lower that will take grease gun mags - said mags are 30 rounds and relatively abundant and reasonably priced ($25-30).

The gun is great! I really enjoy shooting it and I may well build another.

As noted above, Cavalry Arms makes a plastic lower that will take the grease gun mags with the use of a Hahn adapter. CNC Gunsmithing and Ameetec Arms are both independently working at producing the same grease gun mag accepting lower, the AR45.

 

[Zach S]

Any one else know anything about this? I was told that I could take my 5.56 gun and replace the barrel and bolt assembly, drill for the extractor and hand guard, and get a mag adapter and be ready to go. This is coming form someone who owns one (AR45) BTW.

You must have misunderstood.

The AR45 lower is dedicated for grease gun magazines. As stated in the previous post, GG mags wont work in a standard lower. The mags are as wide as the lower itself.

There's a thompson mag conversion in the works, but its a lot of work that may not be worth it for someone who doesnt have a pile tommygun mags laying around. Check out the forums at cncguns.com.

I dont like the idea of a complete plastic lower. If with was just a lower, such as the BM carbon 15, I'd probably already have one and be considering an AR45 lower. But since the CAV lower doesnt offer any options as far as grips and stocks, I didnt bother with one, and am waiting on an AR45 lower.

 

[azredhawk44]

I'm working on an adapter right now for an AR-45 to take 1911 magazines. I want what I want, dang it, and if someone else won't build it for me, then I'll build it myself.

PM me if you are interested in purchasing one, and what you would be willing to pay for one that works well. If I get enough PM's and folks are willing to pay enough for machining costs, I will get a batch of them made.

The basic premise is a mag well adapter with an independent magazine release, and a bolt hold-open feature.

I'm working on a prototype right now using high-temperature modeling wax, and I will be moving on to an aluminum machined solution pending a successful test firing out in the desert... my Oly .45acp upper should be arriving soon.

Test platform that the device will be built around is an Olympic arms .45acp upper with a Cavalry Arms CAV-15 lower, but the goal is to make this device compatible with any AR-15 lower.