It’s way too tight.  If I pound the magazine in, it’ll finally kinda-sorta lock in place.  Take an equal amount of pulling to release it.  Most of the time I think its locked, after 3 rounds the magazine falls out.  Derp.

I need to take some material off the very edge, just a smidge.

I think I need to drill out the pin, file down the magazine release and replace.

How do I re-secure the magazine release once I destroy the rivet (is that what its called)?   I do not have an AK-47 building anything.  I have tools, but nothing specific for the AK (like I have for the AR).

There is an aftermarket one (extended) that comes with all you need and is quite nice unless you are shooting for all factory. Worse case you can use a screw and nut with loctite.

No need to drill anything, get a small file and take a little off.

What’s your recommendation?

File it while it’s still attached?

File it while it’s still attached

THIS!

Dumb question but have you tried other magazines from other manufacturers?

Yeah, you're going about it ass-backwards. First, you want to meddle with cheap things before expensive things, so don't screw with the rifle when you can easily modify magazines. Second, as stated above, magazines vary, especially the non-metal ones. It is common to have to fit various magazines to your AK. You might want to take a couple of file swipes on the ramp of the rear lug of the mag and see how much you have to take off to make it work. Mags also sometimes need to be relieved on the upper rear corners if they are jamming on the mag guide pin just inside the rear of the mag well. Don't mess with the pin, work on the mag which is easy to replace if you screw it up. About the only other thing that happens is sometimes the sides of the polymer mags will scrape. If you get gouges on the sides, look inside to see if the mag guide rails need to be filed flat.
I had to fix a steel mag at the range today because it didn't want to lock. I saw that it was jamming on the guide pin so I took the mag and drew it along the side of the concrete shooting bench on the upper rear corners a couple of times and it was enough to make all the difference. I did finish the job with a file when I got home but that trick saved me a lot of aggravation at the range.
Anytime you're doing something like this always do things in small steps - you just want to get it working, and too much will make it sloppy. You can always do a little more if it still doesn't work.

The WASR I picked up Black Friday worked fine with the included Pmag, but was brutal when it came to releasing any of my surplus AK mags.  The magazines fit just fine in all my other AKs, so clearly it was a problem with the WASR.  It took a fair bit of work with a jeweler's file, lots of file a bit, test a mag, file a bit more, test a mag, file a bit more, before it'd let me release surplus mags like my other AKs.

I’m not an AK guy, this is my second AK.

I only have Magpul and Circle 10 magazines.  Anything can happen, but I don’t foresee getting any other varieties of magazines.

The magazines I tested work perfect in my other AK, And that one is an SBR.  I really didn’t want to affect any functionality on that rifle.   Speaking logistically in regards to the tax stamp.

I took it slow with hand filing and the magazines are much better.  I don’t think a fast mag change is possible at present but at least they lock in and unlock.   Small steps.

Once I get it where it needs to be, I’ll hit it with some polishing and some black paint on a Q-Tip (or not).

Thanks for the advice.

I bought some Croatian AK magazines and none fit my WASR-10 that I bought in June. I took my Dremel tool sanding disc and made them fit. Was not that difficult and put some Krylon spray paint to over the bare metal. Surplus Romanian and new Bulgarian fit fine. I bought a few Magpul magazines and I had to insert and release the new magazines a few times to loosen them up.

I purchased a good number of Korean 20 round magazines and they wouldn't fit in my WASR 63/10. Rather than return them I ordered another magazine latch and modified it so they just fit. Solid lock up, easy removal. The 20 rounders are now dedicated to that rifle and I didn't have to modify 20+ magazines in the process. The original magazine latch can be reinstalled should I ever want to make that rifle work with other mags.

In my case the new modified magazine catch was the cheapest part and required the least amount of labor.