Stubbing an ar-15 mag

[LoonWulf]

Not my finest work, But at least in my dad's new frontier polymer lower the magazine will insert lock and feed when the actions run manually.
I don't have a bolt gun to try it in but I can't imagine it wouldn't work in that as well.

Trying to bend the tabs over to make mechanical locks ended up just breaking them off, so I ended up tacking the floor plate onto the magazine body.... Number one I'm not a very good welder, number two I didn't notice that the welder was set for maximum (And it's a very dumb welder It's Men Max nothing else) And this is also a stainless steel magazine.

Honestly after I broke the tabs off I got frustrated with the project.
If Im doing this again....ok when I do this again, I'll maintain the taper at the back of the magazine that the 10 rounder had and I'll shorten the follower by about half as well as shorten the magspring.
As it sits there the magazine only holds three rounds but it should have space for something like five or six except. All the internal parts are still full-length.
I'll also heat the tabs before bending them over and probably shorten the overall height of the magazine another half inch.

 

[troy fairweather]

How many rounds does it hold now.

 

[Pat Riot]

Is the goal to make a 5 round hunting magazine?

 

[danez71]

@LoonWulf, Thank you.

Is the goal to make a 5 round hunting magazine?

It's a follow up to @Spats McGee thread inquiring about a bolt rifle that preferably takes AR mags and me wondering if an AR mag could be shortened to be lower profile rather than a 5 round mag the same length as a 10 rounder.... like LoonWulf had done with (an)other mag(s) for a lower profile result.

 

[LoonWulf]

How many rounds does it hold now.

3 comfortably you can cram a fourth one in there.

Is the goal to make a 5 round hunting magazine?

@LoonWulf, Thank you.




It's a follow up to @Spats McGee thread inquiring about a bolt rifle that preferably takes AR mags and me wondering if an AR mag could be shortened to be lower profile rather than a 5 round mag the same length as a 10 rounder.... like LoonWulf had done with (an)other mag(s) for a lower profile result.

Exactly.

I was also curious as I'm in the market for a bolt action 350 legend, And I'd like to get a Ruger American except for the fact that they take AR magazines. I cannot stand sticky out magazines on hunting guns, much less bolt action hunting guns.

I guess the results of the experiment are that it actually is not particularly difficult to shorten and AR magazine. A little more patience, and a bit more tinkering and these should be 100% functional in bolt guns and far less gnarly looking.

Getting them (Edit: to also) work in an AR pattern rifle might be touchy and if you do get it stuck in there getting it out again will require you to break the uppers apart.

 

[danez71]

I was also curious as I'm in the market for a bolt action 350 legend, And I'd like to get a Ruger American except for the fact that they take AR magazines. I cannot stand sticky out magazines on hunting guns, much less bolt action hunting guns.

Yessssss. I was tempted to get the Ruger American in .350L too. Im intrigued by the ballistics and straight wall aspects.

I decided on the .223/5.56 with AR mags mainly because of all of the pros.... and I already have a few hundred rounds with nothing to shoot them out of.

 

[LoonWulf]

Yessssss. I was tempted to get the Ruger American in .350L too. Im intrigued by the ballistics and straight wall aspects.

I decided on the .223/5.56 with AR mags mainly because of all of the pros.... and I already have a few hundred rounds with nothing to shoot them out of.

My 16" AR in .350 Legend was a punchy little thing, and If I liked ARs better id have kept it as it actually did what i wanted for about 90% of the hunting I do in a relatively pleasant package to shoot.

 

[Skeptic13]

That seems like a lot of work when you can buy 5 rounders or limiters from Magpul. But that kind of project would take me a lot longer than it probably took you.

 

[LoonWulf]

That seems like a lot of work when you can buy 5 rounders or limiters from Magpul. But that kind of project would take me a lot longer than it probably took you.

your correct, the 10s with limiters make the most sense for an AR platform.
Its only when they get used in stumpy mag wells like the bolt actions have that I find any advantage at all.

 

[Pat Riot]

3 comfortably you can cram a fourth one in there.



Exactly.

I was also curious as I'm in the market for a bolt action 350 legend, And I'd like to get a Ruger American except for the fact that they take AR magazines. I cannot stand sticky out magazines on hunting guns, much less bolt action hunting guns.

I guess the results of the experiment are that it actually is not particularly difficult to shorten and AR magazine. A little more patience, and a bit more tinkering and these should be 100% functional in bolt guns and far less gnarly looking.

Getting them work in an AR pattern rifle might be touchy and if you do get it stuck in there getting it out again will require you to break the uppers apart.

Ah…I see. I was going to recommend a Magpul 10 round mag with a 5 round block inserted in it, but it definitely would not fit flush.

That was the route I took after destroying a couple of mil-spec mags like the ones you’re working with. I wish I had a couple photos. Mine did not look very sexy. Haha

 

[792mauser]

Neat.

 

[adcoch1]

I would LOVE a 5 round stubby mag for my ruger american rifles (just found one in 300 blk), just haven't gotten around to trying yet. Thanks for the idea and the pics!

 

[Skylerbone]

Not sure if you remember the thread from awhile back but the RAR 350 Legend is the one I had feed issues with. Picked it up too close to youth season to really wring it out and was something of a headache.

With the factory magazine (Duramag), rounds did not want to release from the magazine. Running the bolt faster would sometimes result in the round nosing up into the top of the receiver, damaging the bullet.

I wound up lowering the front lip of the magazines where the case mouth was impacting and finally got things squared away. As I had accidentally ordered a 9mm linear comp with 1/2 28 threads we added it for a bit of noise reduction.

Apart from the usual need to clean the trigger up a bit and shim, the rifle is a solid shooter if you’re in need of a straight-wall.


Kaw Valley Precision linear comp


That sticky outie magazine.


Left is a corrected mag, right is an original. A little filing and Dremel work.

 

[Alaskan Ironworker]

Welding in flip flops is always fun.

 

[troy fairweather]

Welding in flip flops is always fun.

Vaseline helps, makes the beads roll off better.

 

[Englishmn]

Vaseline helps, makes the beads roll off better.

Try synthetic boots.

 

[LoonWulf]

Not sure if you remember the thread from awhile back but the RAR 350 Legend is the one I had feed issues with. Picked it up too close to youth season to really wring it out and was something of a headache.

With the factory magazine (Duramag), rounds did not want to release from the magazine. Running the bolt faster would sometimes result in the round nosing up into the top of the receiver, damaging the bullet.

I wound up lowering the front lip of the magazines where the case mouth was impacting and finally got things squared away. As I had accidentally ordered a 9mm linear comp with 1/2 28 threads we added it for a bit of noise reduction.

Apart from the usual need to clean the trigger up a bit and shim, the rifle is a solid shooter if you’re in need of a straight-wall.


Kaw Valley Precision linear comp
View attachment 1012076

That sticky outie magazine.
View attachment 1012074

Left is a corrected mag, right is an original. A little filing and Dremel work.
View attachment 1012073

Yeah, I do remember you fighthing with that thing for a while. Im really hoping I can convert it back to the originally style rotary and have it work...but failing that Ill be using shortened mags.

Welding in flip flops is always fun.

Vaseline helps, makes the beads roll off better.

Try synthetic boots.

I never weld unless im out of other easier options (like bullying/paying someone else to do it), as you can see I suck pretty bad LOL.....so as often as not its slippers and no protective gear besides a helmet when I do have to weld......

 

[troy fairweather]

Need to get you a cheap tig welder, you can use it for a bunch of projects. I know I need to, a cheap plasma cutters on my list to.

 

[Englishmn]

These are the shortest mags I have.
You might see if you can order one be easier than cutting one. The plastic is a thermold metal one is a asc.

 

[doubleh]

Having made my living as a certified welder for many years I will keep my thoughts about LoonWolf's welding to myself. I will say that welding thin stuff isn't as easy as you would think and his project should function just fine. I have shortened a few magazines over the years but everyone of them was able to be done by cutting and bending with a little filing thrown in.

 

[jmorris]

I have welded on a few magazines over the years. Sometimes when the spot welds break that we’re holding them together.



Sometimes like the above, when something I want doesn’t exist. Like this Suomi 71 round drum converted with a section of a Colt 9mm Mag.



As above TIG welders will allow you to weld pretty thin stuff with a little practice and you can even do it in flip flops as it’s not throwing around bits of molten metal.

 

[LoonWulf]

Iteration 2.......cut everything to fit, and bent tabs on the front and rear. Now holds 5-6rnds and fits in my Aero lower just fine....I can almost shake it out even lol. It still seems to load fine when running the action manually.
To get the floor plate off you need to bend the rear tabs up a bit and it will let the floor plate come off the side.




If anyone with a bolt gun 223 wants to try it shoot me a pm and ill send it over.

 

[danez71]

PM sent. I'll take pics in a Ruger American Ranch.

 

[LoonWulf]

PM sent. I'll take pics in a Ruger American Ranch.

Sounds good, pm me your mailing address and ill send it over.

 

[danez71]

Thank you! Really... thank you.

PM sent.