Patrick Floyd said:
Thanks for the reply. I saw at a gun show, someone made a Thopson mag, work with a M50. I don't know how he convertrd it. They look about the same to me. I need to get some Christie mags. I just have so many Thompson and, Grease gun mags laying around.
Ken Christie recently said he has stopped making his Reising mags and is moving on to making 10/22 accesssories instead, so you might want to pick some up while you can.
The problem with using mags other than the factory design in a Reising is that they must fit in the center slot in the action bar that runs from front to rear under the barrel/action. Grease Gun and unmodified Thompson mags are too wide -- they will jam the action bar, and you'll have a single-shot bolt action.
In theory, I guess you could widen the action bar's opening by thinning down the arms, but that will have two effects: It will weaken a crucial part of the SMG, and it will also increase the rate of fire significantly by lightening a key moving component.
Thompson mags can be modified by cutting the front and rear between the feed lips, squeezing them toward the center for the top inch-and-a-half or so, and then rewelding them in the new position. You also need to reform the mag follower to work in the now-narrower mag, and cut a new mag-catch hole. The resulting mag will hold 27-28 instead of the host Thompson mag's 30 rounds. It is a
lot of work, and will require a fair amount of tuning when you're done before it feeds reliably.
Unless you have many hours of time on your hands, it's more effective to buy Christie mags or the aftermarket 20's that are out there for $50-$60. They sometimes require a bit of tuning, but it's nothing compared to what Thompsons require.
