Regarding the 223 conversions, a few months back Greg at bugholes said once the last couple 223 bolts he had on the shelf were gone he was likely done with them, they required too much fiddling to make and get to run well. He only had a couple left at that point when he posted the info.
Short magnum conversions are still good to go as they run well and it's far less work on his end. Black Canyon customs does those too.
I had a 223 conversion for about a year and while I liked it, it didn't run nearly as smoothly as an R700 clone (especially in 223AI) so I sold it. Sometimes I regret it, sometimes I don't. At this point I doubt AI will ever come out with an "official" 223 kit, between the long breech ring because of the 2 rows of bolt lugs and the reduced diameter of the bolt head/face compared to the bolt body leads to some challenges getting a 223 diameter case to feed 100% reliably in the AI action, not to mention getting the AI bolt to strip a 223 round from a single stack 223 AICS magazine pretty much requires the feed lips to rub the bolt body. Did the conversion work? Absolutely. Was it as reliable or as smooth as a R700 clone? Not in my experience, but part of that is because I had mine chambered in 223AI and that 40 degree shoulder wasn't as forgiving with the somewhat unfavorable feeding angle, regular 223 probably would have ran much better (Enrique suggested I stick with regular 223 because he said it feeds much more smoothly in the conversion, but I didn't listen because 223AI looks cooler, lol.)
The other thing that looked dicey in the long run is the sako style extractor that was modified to fit the 223 conversion bolt had very minimal engagement of the exactor pivot pin into the bolt head because any longer and it would rub the firing pin because of the design of the stock AI firing pin. If you ever had a stuck case I doubt the extractor would survive the beating. The fix would require modifying the firing pin and bolt head to allow for a longer pivot pin on the extractor, but then you'd need a modified firing pin and separate bolt shroud assembly dedicated to only the 223 bolt.
Still a neat conversion though.
