how I made my Lancer lower(with flare) accept pmag m3's

[threeheadeddog]

I just figured I would put this out there for anyone who may of had the same I issue I did.

What I did was insert a m3 mag in to the flared magwell and then scribed the outline of the tab at the rear of the magazine. This is where I had a shelf milled into the magwell. After doing some measurements on my other lowers I concluded that if you flipped the magwell upside down and set it on a block with the parrallel male ends of the magwell down, I needed to mill the shelf at .905ish from the block. I told my machineist to go .900-.905 and mill out at minimum the scribed line and he put the shelf exactly in the middle at .903 for me. It allows the mag to seat with about the same amount of gap between the tab and shelf as between the tab and magwell on a standard lower. I would be comfortable with anything between .895 and .905 maby even a little less. One thing to note though is that you want a little extra room in the rear of the tab so as not to put the tab in a bind.

I dont have pictures or anything( I am computer illiterate) but I figured that anyone else who might want to do this could use the numbers.

[ColtSeavers]

I'm curious as to why you did this. Did no other magazines seat/fit properly either or just your PMag m3s? I was under the impression that the different sized/flared interchangeable magwells already solved any/all magazine seating/fitting issues. I have not read of anyone else having a problem with magazines not seating/fitting properly (I've actually seen pictures with a PMag inserted here on m4) so, again, I only ask out of curiousity

[VIP3R 237]

I'm curious as to why you did this. Did no other magazines seat/fit properly either or just your PMag m3s? I was under the impression that the different sized/flared interchangeable magwells already solved any/all magazine seating/fitting issues. I have not read of anyone else having a problem with magazines not seating/fitting properly (I've actually seen pictures with a PMag inserted here on m4) so, again, I only ask out of curiousity

My L15 lower with the Tactical Magwell has issues fully seating M3's as well. You can see in this picture where the over insertion tab hits before the magazine is fully seated.

http://i1067.photobucket.com/albums/u440/Jason_Prisbrey/a65dca0d-140e-4771-9407-e3cd33abd468_zps4a8f7ef1.jpg

[ColtSeavers]

My L15 lower with the Tactical Magwell has issues fully seating M3's as well. You can see in this picture where the over insertion tab hits before the magazine is fully seated.


I apologize if I came across as trying to cast doubt upon whether the OP actually has/had problems seating PMag gen3s. That was not my intent. I am just curious as to whether this is a PMag gen3 only issue, PMags of all generations, or other magazines as well (troy battlemag for example). Does this problem persist no matter which size magwell is used? I am also curious as to why the OP did not/was not able to modify the ~$12 magazines (or even just not use them and instead use ones that did/do seat fully) as opposed to modifying the lower/magwell itself.

As to having seen pics of PMag inserted without report of issues here, it was in this thread not too long ago that I remember it (in which th OP has even posted).

https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?65346-new-Lancer-Systems-lower-receiver

Again, I am not trying to imply that anyone has done anything wrong, I am merely curious as to how this all came about.

[threeheadeddog]

Pmag m3's were designed after the lancer lower and have an anti-overinsertion tab on the back. The pics in the post above are all of pre m3 pmags. The comon(as far as I know) fix is to sand off the tab. Since this lower is on a defensive gun and not just a game gun I wanted to make it fit the mags. The shelf i had milled in is exactly where viper circled and .903 from the top of the side male ends of the magwell flare. It was a tactical flare though I dont believe that makes any difference.

[ColtSeavers]

Thank you for the explanation, much appreciated.

[threeheadeddog]

Also, I have pmag m2/moe, troy mags, lancer mags, surefire 60's, and usgi's, and e-mags. All these mags fit without issue as none of these mags have an flare/flange/tab designed to hit a standard lower to prevent over-insertion. Also, my regestered SBR lower is an axts lower with a slightly tight lower that wont drop free m2/moe pmags, so I have decided to stick with m3 to accomodate all my lowers.

Sanding a 12 dollar mag is fine for a game gun, but I personally wanted my rifle to be able to use other peoples mags if the need arose. For much the same reason I got away from 1911 that required fitted spare parts, I desire firearms thad can use off the shelf parts(mags).

[threeheadeddog]

Thank you for the explanation, much appreciated.

No problem, I can appreciate the question.