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Gunsmithing Looking for a better 223 magazine option

YukonRob

Sergeant of the Hide
Full Member
Minuteman
Feb 24, 2013
113
30
Longview, Washington
I recently looked into building a 223 trainer for the first time, and I'm a bit dismayed at the dismal magazine options that seem to be available.
I'll probably end up using several of the MDT polymer 223 mags, but I'm quite surprised that no one has came up with a more efficient magazine option.
I get the excessive dimension front to back, as the mag has to fit in a standard short action mag well. That extra length is part of the reason I'm building a 223 on a 308 length action.
The (mostly) single stack nature, and the height/width of the mags seem ludicrously large for the meager 10 round capacity. It sure seems that there should exist some AW type mag for a 223 bolt gun, or at least a version like ARC's double stack/single feed 308 mags.

Am I overlooking some workaround to obtain a ~20 round capacity 223 mag in the form factor somewhere in-between a 10 round AI and a 10 round AW mag?

I own a dremel, a file, a feed lip bending tool, various epoxies, welder, etc. and I'm not shy about using them in the slightest. I'm not scared to experiment, but if someone has pursued this project before it would be nice to get a head start or a point in the right direction.
 
There is bottom metal that will except std AR/M16 mags, I went a different route. The Legacy system is light, cheap an works just fine for me. Been in the gun for over a year now an has never been an issue to-date.
 
This link is for the S/A 700 but they make them for other guns as well. I have these in one 223 an two 308s they all work perfect. you can get 5 or 10 rd mags an some places you can get the trigger guard assy w/ one mag of your choice. Make sure if you get them to follow the instructions about action screw torque;
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/6...-trigger-guard-for-remington-700-short-action

This one takes AR/16 mags but I've never used or tinkered with one
http://pacifictoolandgauge.com/batt...-battle-worn-for-ar15-223556-mag-stealth.html
 
Does anyone have any firsthand experience on how the above AR style bottom metal works with a 2 lug push or controlled round feed action?
 
Yukon Rob,
I feel you on the 223 mag issue. I haven't found one that I thought was very good regardless of the price. It's so bad that it's actually held up rifle introductions because the manufacturers don't want to have to deal with the issues caused by the magazines. I have had some luck with the MDT, and the ones that wouldn't work MDT took back and/or sent new ones. I have two of the accurate 10 rounders and they work about as well as the MDT but cost almost twice as much. I never have gotten to try the AI mags because they got tired of dealing with them as well and took them out of production. They were supposedly going to re-introduce some metal ones, but I guess this is a bigger engineering problem than one would think, because they never released them.

I have talked to guys that made their own from AI or accurate mags and were able to get 16 rounds into a 10 round mag. Supposedly it worked pretty good, and just required spacers to be made and tinkering with until it works. They said that the things worked better than the bought specific 223 mags. I looked for some posts with someone doing it and couldn't find anything using my google foo. I would say, give it a go and let us know how it comes out.
 
I recently installed bottom metal and mags from hs precision on my 700. The mags are well made and feed perfectly. I haven’t been able to find any 10 round mags for sale anywhere though.