I bought a Ruger American Ranch rifle in 5.56/.223 a few years ago; when looking for some extra mags in my parts box, I came across some Kel-Tec 10-rd mags for a firearm I no longer owned:
I knew that AR15 mags would fit the Kel-Tec, but for some reason, Kel-Tec made their 10-rd mags with a vertical ridge on each side, so they wouldn't fit an AR (or my new Ruger). Simple fix - using a Dremel tool (or other tool of your choice), remove the top half inch from the ridge on each side of the mag. The mag on the left in this photo is factory, the one on the right has had a half inch removed from the vertical ridge on each side:
Here's a close up of the modification - remove just enough so the mag will reliably lock in place:
By removing just the top half inch from the ribs, the remaining portion acts as a stop to prevent over-insertion of the mag. The modified Kel-Tec mags fit a bit more snug than any AR mag I've tried, and do not rattle/wobble in the mag well. Here's a modified KT mag in a Ruger American Ranch rifle - it doesn't stick out any more than the trigger guard:
For comparison purposes, here are a couple of photos showing a tan polymer 10-rd mag that came with my Ruger (left); a blue steel 5-rd Remington 7615 mag (center); and the modified black polymer 10-rd KT mag (right):
The Kel-Tec 10-rd mag is the same size as the Remington 5-rd mag. (Note: the KT mags come with black plastic followers - the stainless steel follower in the photos is an after-market item I modified to fit.)
I really like the way the KT mags fit and function in my Ruger bolt gun, and have modified 3 or 4 to fit; the Ruger bolt can be closed over an empty KT mag, which I actually prefer. The KT 10-rd mags are currently $16 at the Kel-Tec Weapons web site, and $14 from GunMag Warehouse, but I've also found them from time to time at local gun shops for as little as $5 each (priced low, I'm guessing, because they don't fit ARs :>).
As always, FWIW, YMMV, IMHO, etc., etc.
I knew that AR15 mags would fit the Kel-Tec, but for some reason, Kel-Tec made their 10-rd mags with a vertical ridge on each side, so they wouldn't fit an AR (or my new Ruger). Simple fix - using a Dremel tool (or other tool of your choice), remove the top half inch from the ridge on each side of the mag. The mag on the left in this photo is factory, the one on the right has had a half inch removed from the vertical ridge on each side:
Here's a close up of the modification - remove just enough so the mag will reliably lock in place:
By removing just the top half inch from the ribs, the remaining portion acts as a stop to prevent over-insertion of the mag. The modified Kel-Tec mags fit a bit more snug than any AR mag I've tried, and do not rattle/wobble in the mag well. Here's a modified KT mag in a Ruger American Ranch rifle - it doesn't stick out any more than the trigger guard:
For comparison purposes, here are a couple of photos showing a tan polymer 10-rd mag that came with my Ruger (left); a blue steel 5-rd Remington 7615 mag (center); and the modified black polymer 10-rd KT mag (right):
The Kel-Tec 10-rd mag is the same size as the Remington 5-rd mag. (Note: the KT mags come with black plastic followers - the stainless steel follower in the photos is an after-market item I modified to fit.)
I really like the way the KT mags fit and function in my Ruger bolt gun, and have modified 3 or 4 to fit; the Ruger bolt can be closed over an empty KT mag, which I actually prefer. The KT 10-rd mags are currently $16 at the Kel-Tec Weapons web site, and $14 from GunMag Warehouse, but I've also found them from time to time at local gun shops for as little as $5 each (priced low, I'm guessing, because they don't fit ARs :>).
As always, FWIW, YMMV, IMHO, etc., etc.
Last edited:
