Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Latest on Ruger American 223 mag mod

Willycc, sounds like you have a defective magazine somehow. The part I make only works on .223 magazines.

I have found a pretty consistent way of taking them apart, but it is not foolproof. Depending on how careful and patient you are directly determines your success. The temperature of the plastic also makes a difference. Colder makes it more brittle and prone to breakage. Warm the mag using a hair dryer or hot water before disassembly.

There are three tabs holding the two portions together (the tabs lock into the holes on the sides of the mag). There is one tab on the left and two on the right. DO NOT MESS WITH THE TABS ON THE RIGHT! pretty much guaranteed to break at least one of them if you do. I push in the tab on the left with a small screwdriver while pulling on the rear of the mag. Don't push in on tab too hard as you will stress and break it. You are going for the absolute minimum force required to release it from the locking hole. You are trying to release just the left side by pulling back on the rear portion of the mag (basically twisting it slightly counter-clockwise when looking at the mag from the top, front of mag at 12 o'clock).

Once the left tab is free continued rotation counter-clockwise will allow the right tabs to unlock from their holes and release the rear portion. Reassembly is easier, just get the follower point in the hole on the rear portion and snap the rear directly forward onto the front.

It helps to have three hands for this procedure so I usually secure the mag in a vice with just enough tension to hold it securely. I also use a fired shell casing to hold the mag follower down so it doesn't unwind and pop out when you separate the mag. The pictures below show all of this.

Mag in vice with shell casing holding follower down:


Pressing in left tab:


Rotating rear portion off: