TGI AMD 65 MAGWELL crapshoot?
I examined an AMD at a local shop today to: 1. See if I really did like the form factor. 2. Make them an offer IF it checked out. (price is $570 - might as well go with CFS...).
Well... It just didn't feed mags worth a darn. Tried plastic, Steel ribbed, and then Hungarian 20. H 20 was the best, but it had a tendancy to either take the mag too far in and not insert, or not go in far enough and completely tie up the gun. If one wanted to do a fast mag change on this... you'd croak - and MIGHT disable the weapon temporarily. So... I didn't even make them an offer. The MD weld also looked a little smallish.
Once they were IN they were tight, but man - trying to get them in - WOW!
It doesn't seem like many thers here have had this, but then again, this IS a conversion of a 10 round system, and I've heard some have 'issues'.
When I got home, I looked at my SAR - loads like it should - then I noticed that the rivets INSIDE the trunion of the front of the mag well are FLAT. The FEG in the shop had big ROUND headed rivets inside - I guess they were OK for the 10 rounders, but were not cut down enough for the TGI build - does this sound right?
In any case, it makes me a bit wary, but I REALLY LIKE this FORM FACTOR! Shucks. What say you???
I did open my magwell a bit on the TGI AMD. It had some serious burrs from the mod that they do.
Try a Century built one, mine has not had a problem with any metal magazine. Doesn't have a chromed bore, though.
Originally Posted By mouthpiece:
I did open my magwell a bit on the TGI AMD. It had some serious burrs from the mod that they do.
Thats what i would say, check the mag well for burrs and rough machining. I have a brand new saiga 12 that the mag scraped in and out of. There were serious burrs and rough machining marks, gouges what have you, I used my dremel to clean it up and then lightly polished it and now the mags go in real slick.
+1 to the Century. Although I had to replace the bolt on mine bc whoever put it together beat the pins in place, deforming them(did bad things to feeding). Lucky a friend had a bolt to throw on and now it runs like a champ, love shooting it. Mine loads smoothly, not a slick as my VZ-58 but thats apples and oranges
Mew to the AK platform so I dont really know how play is too much, but my FEG AMD forward and back and some side to side as well. Not enough that are feed issues or the mag being able to be released buy pushing the bottom of the mag like I have read about. I used the 20 rd Tapco my rifle came with and a 75 rd drum without any problems. But did have problems with trigger reset ( trigger spring)
I have a TGI AMD65 on a FEG receiver and the mag well is pretty loose and mags wobble a bit. It functions reliably though...
I also have a CAI on a DCI receiver. It is perfect as you would expect from those receivers...
I've been reading these references to loose magwells for a while before I purchased mine and have experienced the opposite. Tight magwell.
On some AMDs you have to fit each magazine to it. Since for the most part they require either a USA magazine or a magazine with two USA parts, both of which would be polymer mags, it's possible to trim the rear of the feed lips area to make the mag lock easier. I did this on a number of mags that are dedicated to my AMD65 and SA85M. Both guns naturally take the original military steel mags with no problem. Novices to the AK will usually complain about 'loose' or 'wobbly' mags....with empty mags! Fully load the mags and lock them in against the closed bolt - this usually tightens up the mag. Who cares if an empty mag wobbles? If you were actually using the gun, you wouldn't be walking around with an empty mag locked in.
Ya, but when you buy a new, factory made gun, you'd expect it to be within spec(yes I know tgi hi-caps them). No excuses. I won't complain though considering the price.
What specs? These guns are hastily cobbled together using a half-assed USA receiver in some cases and an FEG receiver made for a single-stack mag in others. You won't find any two that will have the same dimensions. Someone above mentioned 'burrs' and such from the mag well conversion - this is very probable. Look at the mags that fit tight and see if they have scrapes/gouges on the upper sides. AKs have a set of magazine guide rails that you will see looking into the mag well from below. Sometimes on the FEG SA2000M receivers the mag guides are not completely modified and a tab of steel has to be filed away and the guides smoothed. The other thing that happens is the the mag well cut in the receiver is partially obstructed by the front mag catch, which requires trimming on polymer mags. Mag locking with 30-rd mags is also made difficult in some cases because the magazine hits the front pistol grip when tilted for engagement. This is why the Hungarians issued 20-round mags with the AMD65. On some guns, all this comes together and 30-rd mags are a problem - but it can be overcome.
30 rounders were never an issue for me. Either way, there's just too much mov't for my tastes. I've even inserted a mag (at wrong angle maybe?) and it got stuck, this happened a couple times. As one other topic went into, too much for and aft mov't, that's my issue. I've got a md65 built on a nodak which doesn't have this problem, also a couple sgl31 which also lock up tight.
Some people make it work, I'll just keep it lightly used in the safe for now.
