http://www.sgammo.com/product/surplus/30-round-ak-47-mag-new-bulgarian-made-polymer-762x39-caliber-magazine

Was thinking about picking up a few.  Anyone have experience with them?

While they do not have any metal reinforcement, they are still excellent mags. The ones I have have been flawless functioning and are at least as tough as Tapco mags so at that price I say go for it. The only thing that you can't do with them is directly drop your AK on them from shoulder height. Hell, in Poland, they say the non-metal reinforced mags are good enough for their military. Interestingly, you CAN do AK pushups with these and Tapcos.

I've had a chance to look at the "newer"? slab side (no bullet design on the side) Bulgarian ak magazines. Using a magnet it seems the feed lips are metal reinforced, has a metal floor plate and the back spine seems to be slightly metal reinforced. I say slightly as the magnet does not stick to that area of the magazine as well as it does to the feed lips. The front spine does not seem to be metal reinforced at all when it was given the magnet test.

If I use that part of the magazine, the back spine, to pick up a magnet, it does so, but not nearly as strongly as the feed lips.  The magnet is not picked up by the front spine at all.


I understand the circle 10 mags maybe considered the gold standard as far as polymer ak mags. Metal reinforced feed lips, both locking lugs,front spine and metal floor plate.

I have one (came with one of my rifles) but I've never used it.  As stated above, the feed lips are metal-reinforced but not the locking lugs.  Mine doesn't feels as sturdy as the Tapcos, but since I've never used it I can't say how well it'll hold up to regular use/abuse.

I have 2 of them.  They came with my AK.  Never gave me any type of problem. I have shot 1000s of all kinds of ammo thru them.

They are certainly not these magazines. The waffles were built for the military, while the slabside, or bullet mags were built for retail sales to Americans, with people thinking that since they are both plastic, & Bulgarian, that they will be of the same quality. GARY
https://www.k-var.com/shop/M-47W_AK-47-Magazine-7.62x39mm-Waffle-Pattern_30-CAPACITY_Original-Bulgarian_CIRCLE-10.html

I bought 1 of the bulgarian No metal lining 30rd mags at the same time I bought a Tapco 30 AK mag.
The rear lug broke off the bulgarian about a year or 2 ago, the Tapco is still going strong and has a lifetime replacement warranty.
I also have 1 Polish polymer mag that the floorplate lugs broke off.
I Won't buy either the Bulgy plastic non lined or the Polish poly mags again.

How much use did they get before failing?

I used all 3 of the above for a couple years among 3 AK's, they were in a range bag that I kept loaded and used every time I went with an AK.
Round count was probably 2K among 4-5 mags for 2 years.

I have some slab sided Bulgy mags that came into KVAR a couple years ago that have metal reinforced feed lips as well as locking lugs. I've only seen them come in the one time and I bought four, haven't seen any like them since. They are really awesome, wish I could score some more. They actually have the arsenal logo on the side of them.