I did some work on my AR-15s a couple days ago.

[Big Frank]

I put Magpul green followers in the 20-round Colt mags with Tubb 30-round flatwire mag springs and Brownells baseplates. The original Colt baseplates were held by flat spring catches that were riveted on, so they don't have catches stamped in to hold onto the bottom edge of the mags. They held 17 rounds apiece, but I took one round out of each mag to make it easier to feed the first round, and easy to insert them into the rifle with a closed bolt and a round in the chamber (tactical reload). So, instead of 2 20-round mags, I more or less have 2 16-round mags at this time. I thought about taking one more round out of each mag so they'd equal a 30-round mag, but 32 is better.

When I put this Samson Manufacturing Multi-Mag Holder on my 20-round aluminum mags and clipped them together side by side, they were too close together to insert the left-hand mag in my DPMS lower, because it wouldn't clear the part of the ejection port cover that houses the detent. So I had to flip one over upside down, and now I can barely fit them in a G.I. mag pouch that holds 3 30-round mags. I took the heavy steel mag clamp off that was made for 30-round mags and I previously cut the top and bottom off of when I bought this one. It had a wider space between the mags and worked right. This one would only work with the mags side by side with my Colt lower that doesn't have a fence around the mag button and pivot pin detent, because it has the oversize Colt 5/16" (.3125) 2-screw pivot pin, instead of a normal captive 1/4" (.250) pivot pin. The ejection port cover opens flat against the lower since there's no raised ridge across the top edge. But on a normal lower, the ejection port cover sticks out a lot farther and and the mag won't clear it. And the 20-round mags aren't long enough to have the right hand mag set below the ejection port cover.

BTW, I took the stock pivot pin out of my Colt and replaced it with a quick release pin as soon as I saw them for sale someplace, probably Brownells years and years ago. So I can quickly and easily take my upper and lower apart, but it's not a captive pin. When I use an adaptor to put a different upper on the Colt lower, I just stick the QR pin in the upper so I don't lose it.

https://www.samson-mfg.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=MMH&GD_Ratings:Reviewed=1

[Big Frank]

Since the Samson Manufacturing Multi-Mag Holder wasn't working the way I wanted it to, I took it off and put my modified Choate (CMT) M16/AR-15 Magazine Connector back on, after I reinstalled the Magpul Ranger Plates. Magpul also makes L-Plate rubberized bumper floorplates for USGI 5.56x45mm mags, which sounds like a good idea if you're in the habit of dropping your mags on the ground. They're $24.95 a 3-pack, just like the Ranger Plates. I can still get 17 rounds in each mag but now they just barely fit. I took one round out to see how well they seated in my ARs. They seated in my Colt easily, but took more effort to seat in my DPMS.   The Colt has a cut-away AR-15 bolt carrier and you can see the firing fin from the collar back when you look in the mag well. The DPMS has an M16 bolt carrier and is solid in that area above the bolt catch. So I took one more round out of each mag, and now I  have a total of 30 rounds instead of the 40 rounds they were meant to hold. I leveled off the bottom coil of the magazine springs where the end was angled down, and bent them just slightly inward. That's a lot easier to do on round wire than bending flatwire springs sideways! There are a lot of mags that the floorplates are much easier to seat if the last coil is just slightly inward of the rest. It keeps it from popping out in the way if its outer edge is even with the inner edge of the other coils. It seems like I went though a whole lot of crap with these 2 mags over the last year, just to end up right back where I started.   Except now I have 30-round flatwire springs in them that will outlast me by decades. At least I'm getting practice loading and unloading with the Strip-Lula I bought!

I put the 2 steel plates of the Choate mag connector over the open jaws of my vise and gave them a few love taps with my 2 pound ball peen hammer (AKA Ma Deuce Adjusting Tool) to bow them out in the middle. It was almost too far for me to get the screw in and connect the mags. I put blue Loctite on the end of the screw and torqued it down to 30 inch pounds. It's VERY close to the edge of the mags, and very close to the trigger guard too, but should stay put. If It slides toward the trigger guard and causes any trouble I'll move it down just a hair and re-tighten it. I'll probably do that anyway. The mags with ranger plates attached are halfway between the length of a 20-round mag without them and a 30-round mag. When I put them in a G.I. mag pouch, I have a foam rubber stress ball in the bottom of the pouch. The ball and ranger plates compress slightly to keep the mags firmly in place, and when I open the mag pouch they pop up like a jack-in-the-box.   Just kidding. They pop up 1/4" or something like that, and they're a lot easier to grab hold of than any of my other mags. But they only have 30 rounds total where there should be 3x30 rounds, or 3x27 minimum. I'm not worried about putting he 5-round limiters back in if I use one of my ARs for hunting again. I have 10-round Amend2 mags with 5-round limiters for that. I marked the picture of the Choate mag connector where I cut off the plastic part, and cut off the steel parts to match. It looks like half a mag connector now, if that, and is still almost too long to work. That's why I bought the Samson mag connector, but for some reason the mags were just a bit too close together. It's machined from 6061 aluminum alloy bar stock tempered to T6 and features a MIL-SPEC (MIL-A-8625) Type III Hard Coat Anodized finish in a subdued gray color. So it looks good. It just doesn't work as advertised to hold two (2) thirty-round or two (2) twenty-round 5.56 NATO magazines side-by-side, for rapid reloads. It's possible there's an angle to them I didn't notice before, and they flare outward slightly and I had them pointing toward each other instead, but I don't think so. I should try again, with the mags coming out one end, then the other, and flip one part over to see if they're parallel or not.

https://www.riflestock.com/store/product/m-16-ar-15-magazine-connector/

https://magpul.com/l-plate-usgi5-56x45-3pack.html?mp_global_color=118



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooT13puM4p0

[Big Frank]

I have all 3 of these mags loaded right now, with OTM ammo IIRC. I would have to look at the boxes that are still out and see which one only has 5 rounds left in it to be sure.

[Big Frank]

I looked to see what I had in those mags. I knew it was something you can hunt with not FMJ, but couldn't remember what it was. It turns out it was Remanufactured Freedom Munitions .223 Remington 60 grain Pointed Soft Points. They're $29.99 for a box of 50 New, and the Remanufactured 223 60 gr PSP ammo is $24.01 for a box of 50. Take your choice when they're in stock, $.60 a shot or $.48. They both have almost all 5 star reviews. A lot of people go with the 20% savings like I did. I don't reload and don't care if the brass has been already used once, as long as everything works like it's supposed to.

https://www.freedommunitions.com/223-60-gr-psp-new.html

https://www.freedommunitions.com/223-60-gr-psp-reman.html

[Big Frank]

I have a Midwest Industries Tactical Light Mount on my 12.7" barrel and bought a Picatinny Flashlight Mount, 1" from CDNN to put on it. The site says it's 1.35 inch long, but the box says it's 1.75" long. It's not the same thing it shows on the website, but it's not a bad mount for $3.99. The problem is, since it's .40" longer than it was supposed to be, it requires 4 slots worth of rail to attach it to, instead of 3. The MI mount on the barrel is just the right length, but needs one more slot, since one of the cross bolts goes across the QD sling port. So, I had to file a slot there myself. When the slot was about full depth, I took a drill bit, 7/32" I think, and used the side of the bit to mill out the slot that was too narrow. I finished it off with a half-round Swiss pattern file and covered the raw aluminum with a black Sharpie. The mount holds flashlights up to an inch in diameter, so I wrapped 2 pieces of electrical tape side by side, 3 layers thick on a free Harbor Freight flashlight, right in the middle where it was a little bit thinner. That made it the same diameter from end to end. It's not a great tactical light, or the best mount, but it's good enough for government work. I won't likely ever need to shoot this upper at night, but if I have the gun with me and see a porcupine in the woods, it might get poached. I really need to buy a round file like a chainsaw file, for when I need to make my own rail slots.

https://midwestindustriesinc.com/mi-tactical-light-mount/#product-reviews

https://www.cdnnsports.com/picatinny-flashlight-mount-1in.html

[Sponsor]

[Big Frank]

The Vortex Sport Cantilever Mount with 3-inch Offset just isn't going to work out for me. If I didn't put anything but a scope on my rifle it would be okay, but the folding rear sight, offset 45 degrees to the right is mounted so far back it's only 1/8" from the front of the charging handle, and 1/8" back from the brass deflector. It fills that space right up. And the scope is 1 1/4" forward of the charging handle. I want to mount it so it's more even with the charging handle. So I have an Anthlon Optics Armor Cantilever Scope Mount 1 Inch on the way. It has such a small offset I'll be able to mount the Vortex 3-9x scope and back up sights, with my 2 MOA red dot SIG Romeo between the mount and rear sight. Its mount from APG Defense is less than 5/8" wide and doesn't need a rail slot to mount in. I wanted to start building this rifle over the weekend but have other things I need to do first, when I feel well enough to do anything.

https://athlonoptics.com/product/armor-cantilever-rings-1inch/

https://www.apgdefense.com/product-page/ultimate-offset-sight-mount

[Rastus]

$3.99 is a good price. 

[Big Frank]

You can't beat that light mount for the price.

[Big Frank]

I got the Anthlon Armor mount today and tried mounting the scope, Romeo red dot, and flip up rear sight. The sight looked like it lined up with the rim of the red dot, but when I put it on a tall riser, it looks like I can peep through it. Barely. I don't think I'm going to put the red dot on at all. Or if I do, it will have to be attached to the scope or something different from this setup.

[Big Frank]

My Brownells XBRN177E2 upper with a 12.7" pinned and welded barrel was too long to suit me. The OAL barrel length was 16 5/8", which I thought was 1/2" too long. I never liked it and finally did something about it. I have a trusty Greystone brand hacksaw that solves many such problems. Fabulous secret powers were revealed to me the day I held aloft my magic saw and said, "By the power of Greystone, I have the power!" 

I covered the flash hider with masking tape to keep it from getting all scratched up and hacked the end off at about 16 1/4". I left room for error, because I figured I was likely to err. Being human and all, you know. I ground the end down just slightly, filed it, and sanded it. It's roughly 16 1/8" which is what I was aiming for with this barrel, no pun intended. I'll be able to measure it better once I get it back on an upper, but not the one it was on. It's going on the Colt upper. Now it has a 6-prong flash hider instead of a closed end, but the barrel isn't excessively long anymore. I'll eventually apply some cold bluing or paint to the end.

The other side isn't scratched up, but the file got away from me a bit on this side. Oh, well. I'm used to that. When you look at it with the slots pointing upward, it reminds me of a rook on a chessboard.