Ruger American AICS Conversion

[billoo349]

Hey guys, I have a left hand Ruger American predator in 6.5cm that showed feeding issues with the factory flush rotary magazine with the cold third season rifle we just had in Colorado. It was clear the magazine was the problem. Same issue after putting the mag in the freezer at home.

I called Ruger to order the AICS magazine conversion and was told that since it was a left hand the receiver was different and would not work. I have my doubts since I've found some posts on Ruger forum saying the conversion works with a left hand action.

Anyone converted a left hand Ruger American to AICS? I wanted some reassurance before ordering the kit anyways. The gun is new this year. Was a major disappointment for my 13 year old nephews first big game hunt.

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[NateTP38]

Following...i emailed Ruger about my LH .308 Predator and received a similar response.

 

[AZ_Hunter_2000]

Since some anonymous folks posted that it works, and you trust them while not trusting the manufacturer, buy it.

If it works, write up a full-on installation and review and post it so that others can benefit from it. If it does not, still write that up so others can know so they do not waste their time and/or money.

But blindly trusting something online reminds me of this:

State Farm TV Spot, 'The Internet and French Model'

A man reports an accident through his State Farm mobile app. His neighbor thought those didn't exist. She says everything on the Internet is true. The commercial ends with her going on a date with a "French model" she met on the Internet. In a state of disbelief, State Farm is there.

www.ispot.tv

 

[BLJ]

@billoo349. Completely up to you but I would go ahead and buy it. If it works, good for you. If it doesn’t, put it in the classifieds. I’d say it would move pretty quick. IMO.

 

[Loper]

I have a LH 6.5 predator as well, and while I’m not an expert on the AICS conversion and if it will work or not, I’m pretty confident you can purchase a 450 single stack magazine in place of the existing mag. It only holds three rounds and won’t sit flush, but I’m pretty sure you don’t care that about that as the AICS isn’t flush either.

 

[robtattoo]

It'll work.
Ruger told me the same for my Youth .223 conversion that didn't actually come with the removable magwell. I installed it into a Predator stock & ordered the replacement part, even though i was told that in no way, absolutely 100%, it'd never work.

Damn thing runs flawlessly with an MDT mag.

I'd have zero qualms about running it in a LH gun, since the magwell itself is left/right symmetrical & AICS pattern mags are center fed. It literally couldn't make a difference which side the cases eject.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

FWIW, I know that Boyd's custom gun stocks sells the AICS conversion kit for either hand action for Ruger American.

 

[Steve300xcw]

It'll work.
Ruger told me the same for my Youth .223 conversion that didn't actually come with the removable magwell. I installed it into a Predator stock & ordered the replacement part, even though i was told that in no way, absolutely 100%, it'd never work.

Did you have to do anything to the bolt? Seems I remember reading something about needing to put a slight bevel on the older models.

 

[robtattoo]

Did you have to do anything to the bolt? Seems I remember reading something about needing to put a slight bevel on the older models.

Yes, i did break the bottom corner of the bolt with my belt sander (literally took 2 minutes)
I just sanded a 45° bevel on the bottom 1/4 of the leading edge, behind the locking lugs. Before i did that, it still worked fine, but would occasionally snag the last 2 rounds in the mag, at the same time.

 

[robtattoo]

 

[billoo349]

I have a LH 6.5 predator as well, and while I’m not an expert on the AICS conversion and if it will work or not, I’m pretty confident you can purchase a 450 single stack magazine in place of the existing mag. It only holds three rounds and won’t sit flush, but I’m pretty sure you don’t care that about that as the AICS isn’t flush either.

Aha, thank you! Just picked up a 450 magazine and it works perfect with the 6.5cm. this is a much better magazine it seems so far. Easy, quick fix for hunts coming up in December. Still may try the conversion eventually but this works great.

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[billoo349]

It'll work.
Ruger told me the same for my Youth .223 conversion that didn't actually come with the removable magwell. I installed it into a Predator stock & ordered the replacement part, even though i was told that in no way, absolutely 100%, it'd never work.

Damn thing runs flawlessly with an MDT mag.

I'd have zero qualms about running it in a LH gun, since the magwell itself is left/right symmetrical & AICS pattern mags are center fed. It literally couldn't make a difference which side the cases eject.

View attachment 477564

Thank you for replying I was hoping you would. I think I have seen you do some modifications to the Ruger to make it more reliable. I'm happy with the 450 mag now but will probably tinker with it after season to get the AICS mag to work since I have little faith in Ruger magazines and would like five rounds to practice the shooting drill. Do you ever run into dropping the AICS mag on accident? Something about the release below the trigger guard makes me imagine my nephew leaving a mag in the field.

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[robtattoo]

Thank you for replying I was hoping you would. I think I have seen you do some modifications to the Ruger to make it more reliable. I'm happy with the 450 mag now but will probably tinker with it after season to get the AICS mag to work since I have little faith in Ruger magazines and would like five rounds to practice the shooting drill. Do you ever run into dropping the AICS mag on accident? Something about the release below the trigger guard makes me imagine my nephew leaving a mag in the field.

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I've never personally had it happen & it would be pretty tough to drop it by accident i think.
Not saying it couldn't happen, since most kids could break a freaking anvil 'by accident', but they're not drop free mags like an AR.

 

[Loper]

Aha, thank you! Just picked up a 450 magazine and it works perfect with the 6.5cm. this is a much better magazine it seems so far. Easy, quick fix for hunts coming up in December. Still may try the conversion eventually but this works great.

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Glad it worked out for you

 

[BLJ]

I've never personally had it happen & it would be pretty tough to drop it by accident i think.
Not saying it couldn't happen, since most kids could break a freaking anvil 'by accident', but they're not drop free mags like an AR.

Same here. I’ve never had an issue with either.

I’ll also say that I’ve not had any issues with the 5/10 round Magpul mags as well as the factory Ruger 3 and 5’s. Speaking of the AICS style mags.

 

[BrentH]

Thank you for replying I was hoping you would. I think I have seen you do some modifications to the Ruger to make it more reliable. I'm happy with the 450 mag now but will probably tinker with it after season to get the AICS mag to work since I have little faith in Ruger magazines and would like five rounds to practice the shooting drill. Do you ever run into dropping the AICS mag on accident? Something about the release below the trigger guard makes me imagine my nephew leaving a mag in the field.

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How is that 450 mag working for you? Getting tired of having Ruger send me replacement 6.5/308 mags for my son’s rifle because they stop feeding. Is the 450 actually a better mag, or still prone to the same failures?

Ruger also told me I couldn’t do the AICS conversion because my bolt doesn’t have a notch in it. However, seeing what @robtattoo did to his bolt above, maybe I can make it work.

 

[billoo349]

How is that 450 mag working for you? Getting tired of having Ruger send me replacement 6.5/308 mags for my son’s rifle because they stop feeding. Is the 450 actually a better mag, or still prone to the same failures?

Ruger also told me I couldn’t do the AICS conversion because my bolt doesn’t have a notch in it. However, seeing what @robtattoo did to his bolt above, maybe I can make it work.

It's worked fine with about 60 rounds. It also works if I leave it in the freezer overnight, which the 308 mag doesn't. I haven't tested it with the gun and mag both frozen though.

The 450 mag isnt prone to the same failures that I can tell, it's a single stack instead of a rotary like the 308. It only holds three rounds and is not flush with the stock but seems to feed more positively.

For the $38 they cost I chose to do that before a conversion to aics and I'm happy so far.

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[BrentH]

It's worked fine with about 60 rounds. It also works if I leave it in the freezer overnight, which the 308 mag doesn't. I haven't tested it with the gun and mag both frozen though.

The 450 mag isnt prone to the same failures that I can tell, it's a single stack instead of a rotary like the 308. It only holds three rounds and is not flush with the stock but seems to feed more positively.

For the $38 they cost I chose to do that before a conversion to aics and I'm happy so far.

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Awesome, thanks. I’ll have to order one and give it a shot.

 

[Downrange16]

I have a Ruger American in .308, hated the rotary mags so ordered a bottom metal and milled out the stock to inlet it. This accepts Ruger precision/Ruger scout 10 round AICS mags now. I didn't have to do anything with the bolt but I had to grind a chamfer to the outside of the magazine lips to allow them to sit into the receiver. Only critical dimension was how far to seat the bottom metal into the stock to allow proper feeding.