I think the confusion here may be that the OP is talking about 223 AICS mags...and most people use AICS in the 308 family. The 223's can be finicky...I've got a Savage 110 PCS bolt pistol in .223 that comes with the MDT chassis and I'm in the same boat as OP...wanting a shorter mag than the 10rd but reading the horror stories about 223 sized AICS makes me leery to spend that kinda money on one...also it seems that there aren't as many options for 223 as there is for the 308 family