OK... this came to me while deer hunting this afternoon. It's half-baked, but I figured I'd just toss it out there.
Everyone seems to like the "Modularity" of the AR platform. Right?
And it is common knowledge that caliber conversions for the standard (Not AR-10) receiver is limited by the AR magazine well dimensions. Right?
I seem to remember seeing a .50 BMG bolt action upper conversion in Shotgun News a while back that had a welded-on side magazine well that allowed for a 5 or 10 round detachable magazine to be used in their .50 BMG upper conversion.
This got me to thinking...
What would be the feasabilty of doing something like this for other calibers-- and perhaps in semi-automatic form? We've seen side mounted magazines in rifles such as the FG-42. In addition, we have seen LMG belt-feed uppers that have side feed.
I would anticipate (obviously) needing a specialized bolt assembly along with the highly modified upper receiver. Since this would be most likely attractive for having a larger caliber conversion, I'd anticipate that the recoil spring would have to be swapped out for putting on a full-power or magnum upper.
And of course, it would look pretty screwy.
And yet, I don't see why it wouldn't work. It would add a whole new dimension to those that like to have "Multi-caliber" platforms.
What do you guys think?
-- John
Everyone seems to like the "Modularity" of the AR platform. Right?
And it is common knowledge that caliber conversions for the standard (Not AR-10) receiver is limited by the AR magazine well dimensions. Right?
I seem to remember seeing a .50 BMG bolt action upper conversion in Shotgun News a while back that had a welded-on side magazine well that allowed for a 5 or 10 round detachable magazine to be used in their .50 BMG upper conversion.
This got me to thinking...
What would be the feasabilty of doing something like this for other calibers-- and perhaps in semi-automatic form? We've seen side mounted magazines in rifles such as the FG-42. In addition, we have seen LMG belt-feed uppers that have side feed.
I would anticipate (obviously) needing a specialized bolt assembly along with the highly modified upper receiver. Since this would be most likely attractive for having a larger caliber conversion, I'd anticipate that the recoil spring would have to be swapped out for putting on a full-power or magnum upper.
And of course, it would look pretty screwy.
And yet, I don't see why it wouldn't work. It would add a whole new dimension to those that like to have "Multi-caliber" platforms.
What do you guys think?
-- John
