Project Appleseed

I guess i am running out of guns to work with.. I have never wanted an AK, but it seems like I am fixing to get a custom made one from a friend.  It will have a machined receiver, and a Match grade barrel.  My question is this.......Magazines.. are they all created equal, or are some countries better than others?  What country do you think makes the best?  Thanks, D-451

As far as steel mags, Bulgarian 30 rounders have a good rep. I use the Hungarian 20 rounders the most in my converted Saiga. Zero issues to date and short enough I can get my elbow under the rifle for offhand.

I have one polymer mag that came with the rifle when I bought it, but honestly I've never used it. I went straight to the EasternBloc steel have had good luck there, so that's where I remain..

Good Question.

There is not a universal favorite like the Magpul Pmag for AR-15 owners.

The good news you don't have to be fancy. Keep it simple.

It's Combloc rifle, so it's not surprising that they work great with Metal Military Surplus Combloc Mags. The standard 30 round metal mag is the best place to start.

Romanians are the cheapest and most plentiful. They are also made with thinner metal.
Hungarians and Bulgarians are worth looking for. Good solid mag.
Yugoslavian mags generally have a last shot hold open feature which is cool.
Russian and Chinese are good if you can find them.

Here is a link that will teach more than you might want to know about AK magazines.
http://www.ar15.com/forums/forum.html?b=4&f=55

Since you got me thinking I did a quick check.

Here is a good magazine at a good price
https://www.apexgunparts.com/product_info.php/cPath/50/products_id/994

Here is a good Hungarian 20 rounder which will help you in prone position.
http://www.aimsurplus.com/product.aspx?item=MAK47H20&groupid=15

There really are a lot of options. Try some different Combloc Steel Magazines and see which ones you like best.

Good luck enjoy your AK.

Aimsurplus.com has Bulgarian 30 rounders on sale right now for $8.95.

I have some Romanian 30 rounders, a Tapco (plastic) 30 rounder, a Tapco (plastic) 20 rounder, and some Hungarian 20 rounders, all from AIM.

I like the Hungarian 20 rounders the best, b/c they don't stick out as far beneath the rifle.  All the ones I've got cost me more than $8.95 each though.

If I had extra money, I'd jump on Aim's Bulgarian/Hungarian ones if I needed mags.

The weaknesses with most of the polymer mags is the locking lugs can break off if the rifle is dropped.  That's probably why most people stick with the combloc steel ones.

I'll give another +1 on the Hungarian.  I've got a couple 30rds....  They're nicely built.
Carefull if ordering Hungarian 20rds, from Sportsmans Guide.  I had 6 on BO; till they finally came in.
They subbed them for some aftermarkets that were garbage; without even telling me.
Although the complaint department was good about it.  Got my money back.
I've never seen a functional problem with any Mil issued AK mags....  Some are just prettier than others.

Good shootin'


Aftermath

Steel - make sure the feed lips are steel, metal locking lugs, (or steel reinforced if it's a polymer mag), and preferably a metal body.  I don't like most Euopean mags, they have  a spine running down the back of the mag that tears my hands up after a long day of drills.  The Chinese mags lack this spine, as do the black Bulgarian waffle (circle 10) mags.  They're my preferred mags for the platform.



That gets really old, really fast when you're trying to run the rifle as fast as you can.

I've got a big bagful of AK mags, and the Hungarian 20-rounders are the only ones that have given me any problems. I have at least one and possibly two out of the 6 I own, that will double-feed occasionally. I haven't gauged the feedlips to see if there's any obvious problem there tho.

The genius of the AK design is that the allowable manufacturing tolerances are huge. Most any mag will work, even if it looks like it was made with a hacksaw & hammer.

I actually DO have one (1) AK mag that won't work - it was a surplus European mag that I got from Aim Surplus, and it was well-used. (re: the body was dented).  The follower won't clear the dent.  Somehow I got the follower and spring out of the mag body, but can't get it back in.  I can't figure out a good way to push the dent back out, so I guess the mag body is trash, but the follower and spring should be good. 

Anybody know a good cheap place to get an extra steel mag body (cheap)?

You just need to keep an eye open for them. But I've never seen them where I considered them "Cheap"  It's a supply and demand thing. Because prices have been so high every magazine part that could, has been made into a high priced AK magazine. The cheap parts  are gobbled up before they hit the retail market.

Now that prices are dropping. Some parts will start showing up.

Drop in on http://www.ar15.com/forums/forum.html?b=4&f=55&page=1 from time to time to find the deals.

With the price of new Metal Bulgarians, at $8.95. http://www.aimsurplus.com/product.aspx?item=MAK47Bulg&groupid=15 There is not much savings to be had, it's debatable that you might just better off just scavenging the usable parts and buying a new mag. YMMV.

For example, the only AK 47 mag body that Googled up was a dollar more than the Mag listed above.

I have had a few friends swear by this mag, pricey but hey what do you expect from made in the USA.
http://www.uspalm.com/index.php?option=com_products&view=section&Itemid=2