savage axis/ar-15 mag conversion

JUSTIficatioN · Nov 28, 2012

I stumbled across a video of a guy who had converted an ar-15 mag to fit into his savage axis .223. Since there is virtually no aftermarket mags ( or anything else for that matter) for the axis I was thinking this could be a cool little project to undertake. Has anybody done this or heard of this being done before? I'd rather get a few tips before tearing through a bunch of mags before I figure it out. Thanks for any help!

Heres the video, the guy doesn't provide that much info as to how its done. I'd probably stick with a 15 or 20 rnd mag instead of the 30 so I can keep a bi-pod on the rifle.
Savage Axis .223 with 30 round mag! - YouTube

PBinWA · Nov 28, 2012

I almost did this but then I splurged on the CDI Bottom Metal. You can fit an AR Mag inside the Savage 4 round mag. You then have to just work on adjusting the position of the round so the bolt will pick it up.

The nice thing about using AICS Mags is that you can feed longer rounds like the 75 Amax.

You may want to see some of the other options in this thread:

<broken link removed>

iamme · Nov 28, 2012

It's asking for trouble imho. I've looked at ways for this and most of them are doable but not pretty. I'd go AICS. IF it ran with plain jane AR mags then you'd have parts interchangeability, as is you don't.

JUSTIficatioN · Nov 28, 2012

unfortunately it doesnt look like CDI makes a compatible version for the axis stock and it doesn't sound like AICS mags are compatible with the axis either.

Mark W. · Nov 28, 2012

OR you could just buy a Mossberg MVP and have a really nice bolt action that uses AR mags. Anywhere from a scout rifle to a long range varmit model.

Page.k · Nov 28, 2012

Do you have any other information on the conversion?

JUSTIficatioN · Nov 28, 2012

nothing besides that the mag needs to changed to center feed. the link that PBinWA provided gave me an idea on where to start. I ordered a couple 20rnd mags so I'm just going to do a little experimenting and see what I can come up with.

JUSTIficatioN · Nov 28, 2012

at the very least I'll be able to tell you how not to do it.

Page.k · Nov 30, 2012

I think we'll all like to see some good photos and steps on what you did to get it working.

iamme · Dec 1, 2012

Page.k said:
I think we'll all like to see some good photos and steps on what you did to get it working.

Did you read the posts? OP found a video of this and no one here has done it. Who are you asking for photos/info the internet fairy?

JUSTIficatioN · Dec 1, 2012

iamme said:
Did you read the posts? OP found a video of this and no one here has done it. Who are you asking for photos/info the internet fairy?

I believe he's asking for photos of the steps I took to make it work after I'm finished. I havn't started anything yet, Page, still waiting on the mags I have on order. What I did realize though is the guy in the video gives a bit more information in the description section of the video. I Just never bothered to look. When I do start on it I'll be sure to document it for you guys in case you want to give it a shot.

JUSTIficatioN · Dec 1, 2012

<broken link removed>
here's a link to a picture of the way I'm going to go about doing it. This guy on snipershide is also making high capacity mags for a few other calibers for the axis as well. No .223 yet, but I beleive he does have .308, .243, and 270 that you can have him make up.

raynerhenrik · Jul 14, 2013

Hey everyone, I own a savage axis, and I bought it at Wal-Mart for 277 dollars for the sole purpose of customizing it. I successfully designed a magazine-well that uses ar-15 mags, I did it with hand tools and a dremmel. I would love to post some picks of it to show you all, maybe tomorrow i'll take some to show it off. It takes time and some patience to make it, but it's not hard at all. Just so you know, the bolt is a large round surface, and it does not work 100% all the time with polymer magazines, however it does work great with USGI style magazines, like the Lancer L5 or other metal lip "wide-opening" magazines. It cost me maybe about 10 dollars in materials and a lot of time measuring, drilling, cutting, ect. But now that I've done it I can probably do it in 2 or 3 hours.

The only thing I have to design is the magazine catch, I've drilled a hole in the side and put a machine screw in it to hold the magazine in place and by god it does hold it the way it is!

Doing it is pretty straight forward though, Step 1, Design a magazine-well, Step 2, affix magazine well to stock, Now step 3 you have to use the dremmel to remove a marginal amount of material from the lower portion of the receiver to allow the magazine to run up to the bolt, meanwhile you're installing and removing the magazine well to check to see where you are with removing the material, be patient and go slow. Also understanding how the bolt stripes a round will help with determining fore and aft magazine placement.

So far I've made the magazine conversion, shortened the barrel to 18", reduced the trigger pull down to 3.8lbs. I still have to mount a pistol grip for better ergonomics (that's just my personal opinion) and install a M16A2 butt stock trap door, and reduce the LOP by about 2"

Yes, it is friggen sweet. And I will post pictures soon.

Mark W. · Jul 14, 2013

Or you could just buy a Mossberg MVP and have a factory built bolt action rifle in .223/5.56mm that will use anything from 5rd to 40rd AR-15 mags They come in styles from a 18" barrel Scout style rifle to a full tilt 24" barrel Varmit/Sniper style.

My son has the 24" barrel model shown here:

Its a slick working machine. And a real tack driver.

raynerhenrik · Jul 14, 2013

I could just buy a Mossberg MVP, but I don't get the do-it-myself satisfaction. The only time I seen one in the stores was back in December before the gun scare happened, it was like 450 bucks, I wish I had the money for it though, it was beautiful. I personally like the Predator model, that one is slick looking!

Do-It-Yourself or not, one thing is for sure, they are accurate, hold a lot of rounds, and are just plain fun.

I like buying cheap rifles and working on them, it gives me experience and more understanding of rifle mechanics. I took a Hi-Point 9mm rifle and got it to work with a 34 round springfield xd9 magaxine from Pro-Mag. That was one of my first projects and I wasn't as experienced with working on it so I scrapped it because I couldn't finish it. It was 165 dollars so I didn't loose sleep at night.