I am looking at doing another magazine buy for my PSA GF3 AK-47 and I was wondering how various polymer mags compare. I have some right now and I really like the PSA mags. Those mags are built like a tank and just feel great in the hand. So, with that being said, I am buying more of those, but I wanted to see if I should try others as well.

I had MagPul Gen 2's and they were really nice mags. They fit great but I just didn't trust the locking lugs for hard use. How are the Gen 3's?

Tell me more about the Xtech mags. Should I skip everything else and buy them?

US Palm is a name that I knew years ago. I know they are now owned by Century Arms. So, how are their mags? Do they make two different versions of the mags? I think one of them is the R model for range use only.

I have some AC Unity mags that I am going to be hand fitting to my AK. I know they are not the greatest but I put them on par with the MagPul Gen 2's. I have tried to break these by hand and I can't. With that being said these are my training mags and range mags. I will put them to hard use and see if I can trust them further.

How are the Bulgarian polymer mags? I will be picking up some Bulgarian metal mags and when I do I might add a few of their polymer mags too.

Surplus mags are also something I am slowly buying and adding into my gear. I just want some polymer mags too. If you have suggestions on polymer mags please add them in the comments. I'm hoping to catch some deals this month and with Christmas coming, hopefully they will be there.

The Bulgarian Circle 10 mags are the best, hands down, and they have a price tag to match. The Bulgarian steel mags are very good too. US Palm magazines have two styles; all plastic and metal reinforced ones which are really good. The nice thing is right now is a great time to start collecting magazines as they're plentiful and reasonably priced (unlike practically everything else). I'm going to have to get some of those PSA ones.

The PSA mags are awesome. They are built like a tank. The front lip does stick a little in my GF3 when doing mag changes but that will break in over time. I wouldn't hesitate to run those mags.

For composites, agreed that Circle 10s are top.  They take a beating and keep going.

I have had good luck with Magpul 3rd gen too.  I have not shot these enough to have a long term opinion, but so fart so good.  

Russian Bakes are cool but spendy.  They can take wear and keep going in most guns.  I have bring backs I got in the 90s which were worn to shit when I got them (obviously a ton of F/A firing wore out the feed lips and the rear of the mag where the bolt comes in etc.) and still work find in most of my AKs (they do have some trouble holding rounds because of the rear and feed lip wear but still work for range mags).

Best bang for your buck is always going to be real comm block milsurplus steel mags though.

Ended up getting a PSA OD waffle pattern magazine and it wouldn’t fit into four Arsenal milled receivers. The top of the magazine would contact the side rails and wouldn’t lock in place. Oh well, no big deal. I’m gonna try a Kalashnikov USA one if they’re ever in stock when I log in.

I have seen several places (including the lsa forum here) that generally mags don't work in the gf3/4 guns.  PSA confirmed it but I don't remember why.

Oof. I should have read your post before I ordered a few PSA mags from their sale today. So far, my SA M-7 has never had an issue with any brand or model of magazine, so this will be a good test.

The PSA brand mags fit tight in my GF3. I think over time they will wear in at the points of contact that are tight. They are built like a tank and are great mags. I want to pick up a few more at some point. I have six right now.

Mine arrived, and they all lock into my SA M-7. It’s a tight fit and requires a hard jerk to get them to lock in place, but I’m sure they’ll loosen up over time. I’ve never filed a mag locking lug - never needed to - but might consider it with these.

I went ahead and ordered two more while they were $11 with free shipping. Maybe the one magazine I got was defective. It's kinda a bummer because I wanted green ones to match the furniture of an SLR101SG, and they're good magazines. I'll post again when I get them.

Magpul Gen 3s have been very reliable for me as far range use and very reasonably priced.  The lock in tight with a variety of AKs.  The steel reinforced lugs appear to be durable although I wish they would come out with a 20rd mag version.

So I figured out why the PSA magazines wouldn't lock in place. The left lip was contacting the ejector preventing them from going in.


On the right side there is plenty of clearance.


Here you can see the indentation from where it hits.


I removed some material from there and it seemed to alleviate the problem somewhat. It fits good in one of four milled receivers, but in the others it's still very tight. These magazines are just thick everywhere. I don't have any confidence with these magazines in my rifles so won't be using them. It's too bad because these magazines are very well built.

I have 1 Xtech mag that I got a while ago.  It feels built well and works great for me.  What I have seen online is that they are very durable.  Xtech has been out of stock for a while so if you can get them they are great mags.  Having said that, they are some of the more expensive options out there depending on which of their mags you get.  In some cases up to 3x more.  That's one of the reasons I only bought the 1 so far.