Hey guys, I'm interested in getting a .45 AR upper. It seems most companies require a dedicated .45 lower to mate with the .45 upper. I was wondering if it's possible to shoot the .45 upper out of a standard 5.56 lower. I know with 9mm uppers, you can get a magwell adapter on a standard 5.56 lower and shoot 9mm. I have a full auto lower and would love to shoot .45 full auto! Thanks.

As of now, I know of no company making a .45 acp adapter... dedicated glock lowers besides from QC10 just dropped !

quote:

Originally posted by CandyMan.45:
As of now, I know of no company making a .45 acp adapter... dedicated glock lowers besides from QC10 just dropped !

New Frontier Armory also has them for about $100 less. Going with theirs for my 10mm build.

Palmetto State Armory just introduced their line of glock mag .45 AR lowers and uppers.

quote:

Originally posted by alou:
Hey guys, I'm interested in getting a .45 AR upper. It seems most companies require a dedicated .45 lower to mate with the .45 upper. I was wondering if it's possible to shoot the .45 upper out of a standard 5.56 lower. I know with 9mm uppers, you can get a magwell adapter on a standard 5.56 lower and shoot 9mm. I have a full auto lower and would love to shoot .45 full auto! Thanks.

Check out Macon Armory's .45 ACP uppers:

https://www.maconarmory.com

This outfit posts a lot on ar15.com. ( Don't know if that counts for anything or not ? )


https://www.maconarmory.com/

As mentioned above, Macon Armory offered a .45 ACP magwell adapter. It's for their proprietary .45 magazines.

Olympic Arms used to offer .45 ACP magazines that worked in a standard AR lower. They're out of business now, but you might be able to find some on the secondary market.





There are also converted Uzi .45 magazines out there that work in standard AR lowers.



You'll just need to ensure that whatever .45 upper you go with is going to work with these standard lower magazines. Not all will. Your best bet is probably to go with the Macon magwell adapter along with one of their uppers, to ensure compatibility.

Thanks for the info guys! I was specifically interested in the Palmetto State Armory uppers that are compatible with Glock mags. However, it seems I have to get one of their lowers as well, which defeats the whole purpose of me getting their upper so I can put it on my full auto lower. I looked into Macon Armory but am turned off by the pricing and mandatory use of their proprietary mags. I guess there's not enough interest in .45 Glock magwell blocks for someone to engineer one?

I say be patience, someone will soon... 45 ARs are fun !

^^^ A dedicated magwell and purpose-built greasegun mags would probably tip me over the edge into getting one. In my world, that's the affordable analogue to the Tommy gun I always thought would be fun to play with.

Can u think of any reason why my full auto lower wouldn't work with a .45 upper with the appropriate mag block?

Can't think of one... Plenty of guys doing it with 9s now .

Guess I'll just hold onto my money and wait till someone comes up with an affordable mag block and mags

quote:

Originally posted by alou:
Thanks for the info guys! I was specifically interested in the Palmetto State Armory uppers that are compatible with Glock mags. However, it seems I have to get one of their lowers as well, which defeats the whole purpose of me getting their upper so I can put it on my full auto lower. I looked into Macon Armory but am turned off by the pricing and mandatory use of their proprietary mags. I guess there's not enough interest in .45 Glock magwell blocks for someone to engineer one?

Problem is the width of the magazine well and dimensions of a Glock .45 ACP magazine... you cannot fit one in a standard AR magazine well, and get lock up and feeding to work out. If you have a Glock 21/30 magazine, compare thickness to an AR magazine. Big difference between the two.

Macon Armory used to do a H&K USC magazine adapter... which I have with my D/I .45 (when I move out of NJ, I'll get some of their 20 rounders; have the adapter). Their new magazines are pricey, but they fit a standard AR lower. This allows you to not go with a Glock lower, that can only use those magazines. If you want to use it on a full-auto lower, that or modified Grease gun (standard Grease gun magazines are too thick, as well) magazines are your option... due to lower constraints. The Macon magazines also use the standard AR magazine release, so function is identical to any other AR.

There was talk about 1911 adapters from Macon, but I think it is too costly for maybe a handful of people that would actually buy them.

What about RMW Extreme uppers?

RMW Extreme

quote:

Originally posted by alou:
What about RMW Extreme uppers?

RMW Extreme

I've heard good things... but no experience. Not going to change the Glock magazine issue, as the magazine well is the issue.

When I was looking for a D/I .45 build, I called up Rudy at Macon Armory. Very good guy, and while I had specific needs to be met due to state laws, he gave me a lot of info with my decision. Was also considering a blowback 9mm... but was building the rifle partially for an ex-girlfriend to shoot, so weight was a big thing. Said ex, but it turned into a sub-seven pound carbine.

Macon Armory tried one piece bolt rings at the time my upper was built. I picked up an extra bolt, as I like having spares. So, fired a few round the first trip to the range, and the bolt started locking up. Pulled the bolt out, swapped the other bolt... and worked fine for a little bit. Not knowing what was wrong, I emailed Rudy regarding it. Received a call from him within minutes. Asked if I could send it back so he could check a few things, which I had no issue. I also had magazines he gave me when I ordered (Promag USC magazines... 15 and 10 rounders), so I wanted to return them since I had H&K magazines.

He gave me a call when he got the upper, and mentioned what he found. Said he has had trouble with them before, and will be tossing them and going back to standard rings. Sent the magazines back, but due to the issues, he included one of the new magazine adapters for his new magazines for free. When I move out of NJ, first order will be a few of his 20 rounders.

But the one thing that talking to Rudy really stood out to me. He called these D/I uppers "his children." He knows there aren't as many uppers out there as other production firearms, but he wants things coming out of his shop to run 100%. If I'm buying an upper, I want the owner of the company to feel that way... as I feel you are getting a good product, which they will stand behind.

Hmmm...good to know so many positive things are being said about Macon. Honestly I doubt there will be many options in the future when it comes to .45 uppers so waiting will probably be futile. I may have to bite he bullet and shell out the extra cash now.

The Oly 45 mags are scarce, you don't want to go down that road.

Look into who's building grease gun lowers this week.

I regret selling mine since the money didn't go where I had planned, and weeks later the state passed the Safe Act meaning I could never replace it.

There are Oly uppers out there used... I always thought the paperclip looking ejector was a mickey mouse design, but the stupid thing never malfunctioned, it ran and ran. There are gas uppers out there now, though not cheap.

Big ol' barrel and 30 rounds of 230gr ammo, the sucker was heavy.

quote:

Originally posted by cas:
The Oly 45 mags are scarce, you don't want to go down that road.

Look into who's building grease gun lowers this week.

I regret selling mine since the money didn't go where I had planned, and weeks later the state passed the Safe Act meaning I could never replace it.

There are Oly uppers out there used... I always thought the paperclip looking ejector was a mickey mouse design, but the stupid thing never malfunctioned, it ran and ran. There are gas uppers out there now, though not cheap.

Big ol' barrel and 30 rounds of 230gr ammo, the sucker was heavy.

Very nice! I have a Rugged Obsidian 45 in NFA jail and started fantasizing about shooting a suppressed 45 full auto. Actually, I'm starting to get a little obsessed with the idea.

quote:

Originally posted by alou:
Guess I'll just hold onto my money and wait till someone comes up with an affordable mag block and mags

Palmetto has the lowers to fit the glock mags. They have the uppers.

No need to adapt to an AR15 magwell.