No CUTTING INVOLVED! THE PROBLEM WITH USING THE FACTORY MAG SURROND AS YOU RETENTION ,IS ONCE YOU LOAD THE MAG WITH 10 -20 ROUNDS OF AMMO ,YOU ARE STRESSING THE PLASTIC CLIP HOLDING THE WHOLE MAG IN THE RIFLE. NO MINI 14 ,ITS A SMALL PRICE TO PAY FOR A QUALITY 20 round mag.ITS ALWAYS BETTER TO MODIFY THE GUN TO TAKE AVAILABLE MAGS THEN TO MODIFY EACH MAG TO FIT THE GUN.