GuitarmanNick
Ultimate Member
I recently put together an AR pistol in 9mm and decided to try the Mean Arms Endomag adaptors. I was hoping to keep the feel and function of this the same as any other AR15 so, I purchased a 3-pack and installed them into PMags as instructed.
Before going to the range, I cycled some snap caps. I found that the last round hold open feature was working with one round still in the mag on each adaptor.
The fix for this was relatively simple and required disassembling the adaptor and trimming some material from the piece that makes contact with the bolt catch. A few minutes on each adaptor and the last round hold open worked after the last round was ejected.
Now, they have a video posted about "break-in" on the Mean Arms site so I viewed it and followed their directions.
With snap caps, everything functioned smoothly so the range was next.
I experienced no failures to feed, but did occasionally get a round that did not fully go into battery. When this happened, the trigger would release, but there was no bang.
Several times, I checked for light strikes on the primer and found nothing. This is a good thing and indicates the chances of an out of battery detonation are minimal.
When this would happen, I found that simply pulling the charging handle back enough to reset the trigger and releasing it, resulted in the bolt going into battery and the round could be fired normally.
As I understand it, these things get smoother with use and should improve.
Since I was breaking in the barrel and adjusting the sights for zero, I loaded no more than 10 rounds into any of the Endomags at a time. They have a 30 round capacity and on the next trip, I will load them fully. I did check and they will hold 30 rounds with no problems. I did see some reviews complaining that they only hold 29, but that is not the case in my experience.
I like the fact that the magazines can be changed back to 5.56 in seconds and nothing on the gun requires any modification. This design allows you to easily change calibers simply by changing the upper assembly using any standard AR15 lower.
The extractor and last round hold open feature are built into the magazine adaptor so no special upper is required to get these functions.
Since this build was put together simply to be fun, inexpensive to shoot, and have the same feel on the controls as any other AR, I am very pleased with the Endomags and recommend them. The three pack gives you 90 rounds of fun between reloads.
If you are building for more serious use, I would say a Glock style lower or magwell adaptor would be more practical.
Before going to the range, I cycled some snap caps. I found that the last round hold open feature was working with one round still in the mag on each adaptor.
The fix for this was relatively simple and required disassembling the adaptor and trimming some material from the piece that makes contact with the bolt catch. A few minutes on each adaptor and the last round hold open worked after the last round was ejected.
Now, they have a video posted about "break-in" on the Mean Arms site so I viewed it and followed their directions.
With snap caps, everything functioned smoothly so the range was next.
I experienced no failures to feed, but did occasionally get a round that did not fully go into battery. When this happened, the trigger would release, but there was no bang.
Several times, I checked for light strikes on the primer and found nothing. This is a good thing and indicates the chances of an out of battery detonation are minimal.
When this would happen, I found that simply pulling the charging handle back enough to reset the trigger and releasing it, resulted in the bolt going into battery and the round could be fired normally.
As I understand it, these things get smoother with use and should improve.
Since I was breaking in the barrel and adjusting the sights for zero, I loaded no more than 10 rounds into any of the Endomags at a time. They have a 30 round capacity and on the next trip, I will load them fully. I did check and they will hold 30 rounds with no problems. I did see some reviews complaining that they only hold 29, but that is not the case in my experience.
I like the fact that the magazines can be changed back to 5.56 in seconds and nothing on the gun requires any modification. This design allows you to easily change calibers simply by changing the upper assembly using any standard AR15 lower.
The extractor and last round hold open feature are built into the magazine adaptor so no special upper is required to get these functions.
Since this build was put together simply to be fun, inexpensive to shoot, and have the same feel on the controls as any other AR, I am very pleased with the Endomags and recommend them. The three pack gives you 90 rounds of fun between reloads.
If you are building for more serious use, I would say a Glock style lower or magwell adaptor would be more practical.
