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It is far from uncommon these days to see some wildly varied AR-15 builds. From your standard “M4-gery” clone, to an MP5-ish pistol caliber carbine, all the way to a belt-fed IAR-type rifle like the Lima Six.
The modern aftermarket for the AR platform is light-years ahead of what Eugene Stoner would have imagined, I’d wager. We’re now to the point where even the magazine wells of the lower receiver are interchangeable, thanks to Hydra Weaponry and their Hydra-15.
T&E unit sent by Hydra Weaponry for use in this, and upcoming articles.
Hydra-15 Tech Specs:
- Mil-spec hard-coat black anodizing
- 7075-T6 aluminum forged
- Included B5 six-position adjustable stock, buffer, and spring
Available Magazine Wells
- AR-15 milspec
- M249/Lima Six/MCR nutsacks/drums
- AK47
- 9mm/.40 S&W Glock mags
- .45/10mm Glock mags
- .45 Grease Gun mags
- Mp5 mags
- Colt 9mm SMG mags
Hydra Weaponry was kind enough to send this unit out both to be reviewed individually, and as the first available aftermarket option for the Lima Six belt fed upper receiver. Included initially was only the standard AR-15 magazine well, with the Lima Six adapter showing up a little later.
The Hydra-15 is a brilliantly simple design. Once you release the spring-loaded catch holding the front of the trigger guard in, the magwell slides upwards on some milled-in rails and pops free. You install your new magazine well of choice by sliding it downwards on the rails. Pop the trigger guard spring loaded pin back into place, and you’re in business.
There is a little play between the front and back halves of the lower receiver. I thought this might lead to an issue, or at least some annoyance, but after I affixed the lower to the upper, all the play was tensioned out.
Hydra-15 Range Time:
I’ve had the Hydra-15 lower for ~3 months now. I started off using the AR-15 magwell, but on the Lima Six belt-fed upper, it was really just structural cosmetics. I didn’t have an AR-15-to-M249-drum adapter, so I was just hanging 20-round belts from the upper for a while. The lower functioned just fine during this time.
After a couple of weeks, I got the M249 nutsack front half for the Hydra-15 and spent the 30 seconds necessary to swap that in. I’m close to 2,000 rounds through the Lima Six and Hydra-15 pairing right now, and the lower is doing everything you’d expect it to.
For the foreseeable future, the Hydra-15 is staying on the Lima Six. Just for this article, I went and again spent the whole 30 seconds needed to swap the AR-15 magwell back on, and swapped into a more traditional magazine-fed upper.
A quick range day means ~7 mags passed through the Hydra-15 magazine well, still no issues. The only little hiccup I had was that I still have the truncated bolt catch/release that the Lima Six demands, making “slingshotting” the bolt carrier necessary to release it.
In fact there’s only two real possible downsides to the Hydra-15, color and cost. Let’s break those down.
Color:
In some images, you might notice a slight difference between the magazine well and the rear portion of the receiver. Even if the same coating process is used, coating the parts at different times can lead to some variations. Add to that the fact that people will be ordering magazine wells months or years down the road, and some of the more aesthetically picky shooters might find fault. As a rattlecan enthusiast, I do not.
Cost:
The Hydra-15 stripped lower (no magwell) is currently on sale for $49.95, which isn’t bad at all. Add on any 1 magazine well, and you’re at $215–$288 for the still stripped lower, with the Lima Six being the cheapest option. A complete lower runs $425-$455, the Lima Six being the most expensive option. Individual additional magazine wells run $149.99-$247.50.
So if you’re just looking for a cheap or middle-of-the-pack lower receiver, you’re pretty well priced out here. So what value does this have? Well, for someone doing R&D, or designing new products and accessories made to fit a variety of styles of AR-15’s, quite a bit. For example, if someone wanted to send me their MP5 magazine-compatible AR-15 PCC upper receiver, a quick order could have the appropriate magazine well in the mail to my house stat, instead of waiting for a lower to ship to my semi-near FFL, where I can go down and pay the transfer fee.
The price on the Hydra-15 doesn’t seem intended to win over everyone in the market, but for the niche it is intended for, this is a very versatile option. The Hydra-15 is also fairly future-proofed, as shown by the recent Lima Six, which was released well after the Hydra-15. Who knows what’s going to be released next that needs a novel magazine well option?
Bottom Line:
The Hydra-15 interchangeable magazine well lower receiver is an interesting piece. Truly, the jack-of-all-trades lower receiver for the AR-15 platform. The prices may not be aimed for market dominance, but Hydra Weaponry is delivering something nobody else is. For that alone, they’re worth a look.
–Jens “Rex Nanorum” Hammer
@Rexnanorum
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