At Big 3 East we met the people of Stern Defense. There they unveiled their AR-15 mag adapters to turn your AR lower into a pistol caliber carbine. They have adapters for Glock and M&P 9mm/.40. They also have adapters for M&P45 and Beretta 92. I was impressed with the adapters but found one minor issue. The lack of a flared magwell. I told them that most people who use pistol caliber carbines are competitive shooters and a flared magwell is a must for faster reloads. They took my advice and in just a month they have come out with their MAG-AD FLARE.
Flare All The Things
Flared magwells have been used on handguns in open division of USPSA. When PCC division started and the rule book was pretty much open to any modifications you can use, people started making flared magwells for PCC ARs. Having a flared magwell almost seems mandatory for pistol caliber carbines. Who doesn’t want to reload faster? A lot of industry standards have come from the world of competition. Red dots and compensators on pistols were something you only saw in the world of competition. And yet they have really taken off on the defensive pistol market. Look at Magpul, they came out with their own flared magwell for CCW Glocks.
The Stern Defense MAG-AD FLARE is a simple bolt on accessory to augment your MAG-AD9. It appears the FLARE slips on like a slipper and there is a cross bolt that tightens and squeezes it onto the mag adapter.
FLARE Compatibiity
Looking at the photo above, the flare seems wide enough and generous enough for mag reloads. According to Kristin Tuttle, the MAG-AD FLARE works on both their Glock and M&P mag adapters. It will even work with their new M&P45 mag adapter. It will not work with the Beretta mag adapter but they are working on a different flare for those. It has to do with the geometry of the Beretta magazine that is incompatible with the Mod1 flared magwell.
The Flare is available now on their website for $73. Click here to check it out.
