I have a SAR-2 I've had for a couple decades.  I want to pick up some more magazines like I use, which are polymer, red, E. German magazines.  I bought a black Bulgarian polymer magazine, one without the reinforced lips/locking lug, but it is so loose it shifts, as in majorly, from side to side when you use it.  It is way more than just a little loose.

    What magazines have you found that work in the SAR-2?


UPDATE: The TAPCO magazines I bought did fine on the range.

The mags I got with my gun originally in 1999 are the orange combloc kind, I think russian, - but probably a lot like your red e.german if that's what yours are. I just bought about 50 back in the day, so haven't had to go looking.

They used to come 4 in a cloth ammo pouch with a stripper spoon and 15rd stripper clips, and I bought 20 pouches, since they were under $20 ea in the day.

I think most of mine are black or reddish brown Circle 10 mags, some are 4? I think.  I've also got some of the purplish ones that were sanitized with the numbers ground off.  Haven't had to buy any in the last 10 years though.

If you want to sell some of those magazines, please email me.

East German steel mags, the ones sometimes called Weiger magazines, are the only ones that fit properly in mine and work reliably.  There are also the plastic Pro-Mags that resemble Bulgarian waffle mags, but they aren't very reliable.  Real Bulgarian waffle mags are too wide up front to fit the mag opening on mine, and I am hesitant to get out the files and start grinding on the receiver.

Are the Weiger made for .223/5.56?  The SAR 2 are 5.45.  

I'm not happy to hear your experience with Pro-Mags (I meant TAPCO).  I just bought three to try them out.

SAR-2 was my first AK back in 2003.  I will always have a soft spot for it.  <3

Anyway, about the only magazine I haven't had luck with is the Magpul AK-74 PMAG, the feed lips bump into the center support rivet and prevent it from rotating up all the way to lock.  The md. 86-derived guns built on Romanian receivers (SAR-2, WASR-2, CUR-2, ROMAK-II, etc) have a center support rivet that is "out of spec" compared to the AK-74 design.  (Note that this doesn't include kits built off AIMS-74 kits on US receivers, those use AK-74 pattern rivets.)  Russia wouldn't share the AK-74 design with Romania as punishment due to them not toeing the good little international commie line.  I surmise one could relieve the feed lips a bit where they bump but there are plenty of other options out there.

I've used:
- East German bakelites 30-rd mags
- Bulgarian Circle-10 red/brown/black 30-rd mags
- Bulgarian Circle-10 waffle RPK 45-rd mags
- Romanian md. 86 30-rd mags
- Russian bakelite RPK 45-rd mags
- Russian plum 30-rd mags
- Russian ribbed black 45-rd RPK-74M mags
- Polish WBP translucent 30-rd mags

Actually, as I'm listing everything, I'm reasonably certain the AC Unity 5.45 mags suffer the same issue as the Magpul mags.  But there are obviously tons of options out there so two commercial mags not working with one specific type of AK-74 is small potatoes.

These are supposed to be pretty decent for a commercial magazine, but I don't know if they copy the Bulgarian pattern exactly at the feed lips so they fit with the SAR-2.  I haven't tried them myself.

You're right.  I'm sorry.  I misremembered.

I do have an older 5.45 Romy AK--I think it's marked WUM-2 or something like that, and Intrac/Knoxville.  When I get it out and shoot it, I use East German bakelites and black Bulgarians in it exclusively.  I got it as a package deal with half a dozen shiny East German orange bakelite mags.  All of them fit and function flawlessly in it.

I don't shoot it as much as it deserves.  I've never had a malfunction of any kind with it, though I only have a few hundred rounds through it.