Anyone ever seen a bolt action rifle with AR-15 magazine?
Caleb got thinking about bolt action rifles and noted that no bolt guns exist to his knowledge that can feed from STANAG (AR-15 / M16) magazines.
everyone seems to be talking about how the world/economy/social order is going to collapse soon (it’s not) I figured the best rifle for that collapse would be a bolt action .223 with an 18 inch barrel, forward mounted optic, back up iron sights, and the ability to feed from standard AR15 magazines.
This got me thinking and I could not come up with one that did.
My artist impression of what such a Remington 700 would look like.
The Australian AIA M-10 “5th Generation” Lee-Enfield rifle comes in 7.62×39mm and feeds from a AK-47 magazine. The one pictured below is being sold on gun broker. Not many are available in the USA because after it was found out that some parts of the rifle (maybe the whole) was manufactured in Vietnam, they were banned.
While 30 round magazines are not as practical on a bolt action as they are on a semi-automatic, magazine parity with the AR-15 would be a big bonus. Remington and Ruger are you listening?
Remington already makes a pump action 223 that takes AR15 mags.
http://www.remingtonle.com/rifles/7615.htm
That’s a good idea. Though mag fed rifles diminish a long range rifles ability to lay flat with ones surrounding. I’m sure a five shot mag would mitigate that though.
For me, I decided not to go for a bolt action due to the fact that my AR will do anything a bolt can do. But I’m a sucker for interchangeability and firearms that compliment each other.
I just don’t see the need. If an AR style rifle can be made to shoot competitively at 1,000 meters at Camp Perry it can shoot well enough for any of us. At ranges beyond that the .223 cartridge is not useful in any case. Give me a good ‘varmit’ style flat top AR over a .223 bolt gun any day. All the accuracy 99% of shooters will ever need (in the right configuration) can be achieved in the AR platform with semi automatic capability.
The British firm Armalon was doing such conversions to Remington Model 700. But it looks like they had to modify the magazine, since it didn’t use the standard magazine catch.
http://www.armalon.com/public/products/item/1
Then there was another bolt action design from the UK that utilized certain AR-15/M16 parts, which if I remember correctly, included the barrel, bolt, and magazine. The variants were called the Milcam, Comcan, and Snicam.
One of those with a 20-round mag… that’d be a nice combination.
Kel-Tec makes the SU-16, which uses AR mags but is not bolt (semi). I too will stick with my AR-15. Would be more interested in a 7.62 mm NATO caliber bolt action that accepted standard FAL type magazines.
This is a subject near and dear to my heart for many years now, and I have wondered why this isn’t done more often. These type of conversions were very popular in Australia when they lost their Liberty and weren’t allowed to own semi-autos anymore, but still had magazines in calibers they could shoot. The AIA was made at the now privately owned Lithgow arsenal in Australia, I believe.
There’s one from JAG that converts Remington 700 Short Actions to accept Mini-14 Magazines (STANAG 4179 mags are apparently too big). Link to discussion here:
http://www.snipershide.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Main=14037&Number=398266
Then there’s this company, Special Interest Arms, who does WASR mag conversions for Lee Enfields:
http://www.specialinterestarms.com/index.php
I always found this idea intriguing, and I have often wondered why it wasn’t more commonly available, even with proprietary magazines. The Remington 7615 is too damned expensive for what it is, and it has lousy sights, no picatinny rail, no muzzle accessories or threads, a non-chrome lined barrel, and a bead blasted blued, not parkerized, finish. For the price of a Remington 7615, you could get an okay AR-15 which had all of these features. I like the concept, but not the execution.
From the Enfield side of things, check out Special Interest Arms. http://www.specialinterestarms.com/index.php
They have kits to convert Enfiendls to 7.62×39 and .45 ACP. Niffty stuff.
The London based company Armalon Limited can modify a Remington 700 in 5.56 to accept AR-15 mags, although the magazines require some minor modifications. (They do the same for 7.62 with modified M14 mags).
Pic: http://www.securityarms.com/20010315/galleryfiles/2300/2354.htm
Site: http://www.armalon.com/public/products/item/1
I’d be thrilled with a retrofit kit for Mauser bolt actions that will allow for detachable magazines. What you’re asking for is essentially a modern military sniper system like the FR-F1/F2 or Accuracy International Super Magnum.
If I could fit a 10 or 15 round detachable box magazine to my 6.5×55mm Mauser or my 8mm M48 in place of the existing floorplate, that would be a welcome update. .223 would be nice for light game but so would a lot of the old guns suitably updated. One of the reasons why I like my Enfield.
If I only had the skills to bend metal.
Seems to me I saw something in SWAT magazine awhile back; Remington 700 in .308, with a conversion to use M14 mags and a folding full-length stock. Might have been done by McBros., but I don’t recall offhand. Might have been Leroy Thompson’s rifle.
Very well-done. I’d sure consider doing one like that, myself.
Regards,
Rabbit.
The first rifles to come to my mind were the ones from Australian International Arms and that Remington pump action.
I myself own a No4Mk4, which takes slightly modified M14 mags (file off a bit of the block on the rear). I have no problem going prone with the 20rd mags, so I think a 20rd mag in a Rem 7615 should be ok, too.
Here in the UK, we have a fine custom gunsmith called Pete Sarony that makes just such a rifle – a Remington 700 converted to take AR15 magazines. See: http://www.armalon.com/index
Here?: http://www.davidtubb.com/t2k.html
They also do it for some of their Remington 700’s (but not in .223).
Daniel, you are the man! I will update the blog post.
Matt, that mini 14 one looks brilliant! Thanks for the links.
I have also liked the idea of the Remington 7615, but also for the me price has just been more than it would be worth to me. Also, I hear accuracy is not all that great. They are popular in Australia, but a commenter here a while ago said they were going to be banned.
Shuggy, brilliant, thanks for the link.
Mad, that sure is! Thanks for the link.
EGMH, thanks very much for the links!
There was a company that years ago advertised just what you’re looking for. I think it was Leitner-Wise. Turned out to be vaporware as far as I know.
Edit: here we go … no pictures in the Archive.org version, though.
http://web.archive.org/web/20021215095929/www.leitner-wise.com/pages/LWS1.htm
I’d be a lot more interested in mini-14s if they took STANAGs.
Pretty cool looking, but man, wouldn’t your arm be numb after working that bolt thirty times? Time to swap mags for another 30! Think it just does not go hand in hand with the usual mission for this type of rifle. 10 round mag, sure. Interesting idea though and everything from 10 to 30 and up is available in M16 compatible mags. Why not a Beta mag?
Bolter
There was one, the BMS Milcam, (also Snicam, ComCam).
It was a bolt action rifle, that used an AR-15 magazine, and bolt.
A very nice, modern military bolt action, but unfortunately it didnt seem to take off. It was a british rifle, which was popular in practical rifle shooting.
Its hard to even find pictures of them.
The other problem, is in Australia, we are generally limited to a 10rnd capacity. Especially if the magazine can fit a semi- or automatic rifle.
I have a remington model 700 30-06 that I converted to a magazine feed. using a “kwik klip” conversion from cabela’s. you can look them up on line. absolutly awesome!