A&S Conversions
UZI Talk Life Member
Sadly, Windham Weaponry has not followed up with the nonstandard magwells. Basically they do the standard AR-15/M16, the 9mm Colt style, and AK in 7.62x39. I would think that they would do better if they offered more. The ones listed plus Scorpion, HK pistol caliber, or other cheap reliable magazines that come down the pike.
As I recall, MGI would do a run of each of the oddball magwells listed and that would be it. Also MGI would change like $300 each for the oddball magwells. At the time a Bazooka Brothers completed Grease Gun magwell could be bought for much less. Like the original Auto Ordinance company, they charged too much for their product and the market wouldn't maintain their price structure. Windham Weaponry got involved late. The only products really moving was the standards listed. Why they have not done Grease Gun and Glock large and small frame, I don't know.
The patents are gone now. There is not a huge market, but I believe there is a market. That market would tend to be for the registered conversion device crowd. Could magwells be printed? Sure they could, but to me the downside would be the front pin. The front pin hole in the upper gets to 260 degrees after the second Beta C or 200 round belt of 5.5.56X45. A lot of the printed plastic has a melting point of around 350 degrees. I don't know how soft the area around the front pin in the magwell would become. If you changed the upper after every Beta-C I would think it would be fine. But this would be a weakness that an aluminum version would not have. Of course this is just my opinion. If you owned your own printer and could design the magwells yourself, I would think it would be a fun project. But to me, to be a viable product, I would think that it would be tough to use a printed plastic for the magwell because of the heat generated by a machinegun application. YMMV.
Scott
As I recall, MGI would do a run of each of the oddball magwells listed and that would be it. Also MGI would change like $300 each for the oddball magwells. At the time a Bazooka Brothers completed Grease Gun magwell could be bought for much less. Like the original Auto Ordinance company, they charged too much for their product and the market wouldn't maintain their price structure. Windham Weaponry got involved late. The only products really moving was the standards listed. Why they have not done Grease Gun and Glock large and small frame, I don't know.
The patents are gone now. There is not a huge market, but I believe there is a market. That market would tend to be for the registered conversion device crowd. Could magwells be printed? Sure they could, but to me the downside would be the front pin. The front pin hole in the upper gets to 260 degrees after the second Beta C or 200 round belt of 5.5.56X45. A lot of the printed plastic has a melting point of around 350 degrees. I don't know how soft the area around the front pin in the magwell would become. If you changed the upper after every Beta-C I would think it would be fine. But this would be a weakness that an aluminum version would not have. Of course this is just my opinion. If you owned your own printer and could design the magwells yourself, I would think it would be a fun project. But to me, to be a viable product, I would think that it would be tough to use a printed plastic for the magwell because of the heat generated by a machinegun application. YMMV.
Scott