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AK .223 Receiver with Built-In AR Magwell

3K views 30 replies 12 participants last post by  Mr_Posthumous 
#1 ·
Anyone know if this concept has been tried? I have a Saiga .223 with AR mag well adapter, which I like. Just curious if there were "purpose built" AK receivers with AR mag wells running about.
 
#3 ·
Thanks for the input. Do you bolt on the magwell or weld/braze it?

Even though I like my adapter, I would like a permanently attached magwell for a .223 build. Same for a .308 build, not necessarily a magwell, but a way to use CETME, M14, or other surplus mags.
 
#4 ·
dont know if they still make them or not.... they were making .223 AK mags.

or do you just want the AR mag look on the AK?
 
#5 ·
Yes you can make other .308 mags work in your .308 Saiga. Folks have done it before, but I'm not sure of anything comercially available. Csspec makes a 25 round steel mag for the Saiga .308 if I'm not mistaken though, so it kinda takes some of the need out of this platform, other than mag availability.

As far as the .223 adaptor, you could always permanently weld it in, so it runs AR mags exclusively.

Personally my problem with my Galil mag adaptor is the fact that muscle memory on the AK platform has me dropping the mag AND adaptor out as a unit by mistake. Having a hard time training my brain to hit the button to drop the mag.
 
#6 ·
As for the availability of .223 mags, yes they are available. I have some Galil IMI steel mags and some Tapco Galil/Golani mags, and there are some EG Weiger and WASR .223 mags out there. You typically have to tweek them to make them work properly in the .223 Saiga, not sure about the WASR .223 and others. The Galil rifles out there sometimes run into problems using their own milspec Galil mags, as they have a fair amount of variability.

The reason using AR mags is attractive to me, and the reason I got a magwell adapter for my Saiga, is their universal availability and low cost (particularly in a SHTF scenario). When you get the magwell properly installed, the AR mags feed flawlessly, no tweeks necessary to the mags. You don't even need a bullet guide, although those are easy to install.

The only issue is that the magwell adapter, which it fits into the existing mag area and locks in like an AK mag, does not appear to be as durable for extreme use as I would like. This is why a permanently attached/built in magwell, with standard AR mag release or something more durable, is attractive to me.
 
#7 ·
wtpflgun, the ar mag looks like the way to go. I have a bastard .223 ak that I use some rommy and promag .223 mags on. Im plaged with boldt head to mag feed lip problem. I do not have an ar mag to work with yet. if you take a look in the saiga block here there is sombody who makes an adapter, parts for or turn key. that might be what you need to play with. keep us posted muttman
 
#11 ·
I have the Renegadeguck AR magwell adapter and it works really well. I like it and recommend it, just got to thinking about a permanent magwell, for increased durability. Since there are not a lot of AK mags for .223 out there (I know there are Weigers and others), I wanted to be able to use AR mags since they are everywhere, and used by nearly all LEOs and our military.

I do have some AK mags that work pretty well, as I figured out with help from this and other forums how to make them work. I have steel Galil's, Tapco Galil/Golani's, a WASR Pro-Mag, and a converted AK-74 that I tweeked to work reasonably well.

So the issue is not that I can't get AK mags to work, or that I like the looks of the AR mags. It just makes sense to me to use the AR mags for the .223, and the do work exceptionally well with my adapter.

You may want to get a couple of Tapco Galil's to try. I can show you the easy tweeks that make them feed reliably in my Saiga with bullet guide.
 
#19 ·
Anyone know if this concept has been tried? I have a Saiga .223 with AR mag well adapter, which I like. Just curious if there were "purpose built" AK receivers with AR mag wells running about.
MSA said they are making a receiver like your talking about. It's called the BASTARD.
 
#24 ·
#25 ·
I was going to put in the link to MSA, but gwailo did it for me :D

Thanks for the link to the S12 forum thread, it sounds like a good idea but it doesn't seem like it's come to be yet.
 
#30 ·
Using either of the removable adapters require grinding or milling the underside of the front trunnion to allow the AR mag to seat high enough. I wonder if, by removing the AK mag catch/release, you coud sit the adapter back far enough to avoid monkeying with the trunnion, and still get it to feed properly?
 
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