just moved frm a ban state to SC, the freedom is amazing ( lol)
where can I find good surplus ak74 mags?

Check out the EE's on various sites

Plenty of Tula/Izzy/Bulgy mags are posted for sale, going rate anywhere from $30-50 per mag depending on make/condition/etc

For shooters, PMAG AK74 mags have worked well for me.

Don't get fooled by the Bulgarian mags sold by mag warehouse on others. The new production ones are plastic trash. I picked one up to test and didn't survive simple drills. Magpul are OK for practice. For hard use find the surplus variety of Bulgarian which as stated above should be around $35-50ish.

thanks, I almost fo'd on them

Pm you

I am using AC Unity now. Work fine. Saves wear and tear on my more expensive one.

Do they have some for 74's?  I wasn't paying attention when I ordered 4 of the 47 models....

I don't have a 74 yet. Yet...

Their 5.45 mags are the shit. Best I’ve seen apart from surplus.

there is a seller on the akfiles EE with a ton of izzy mags at the moment.

Plum, black, bakelite.

Just snagged some myself.

My apologies for double posting these photos, but I thought this would be a good place to ask (probably should have posted them in this thread to begin with). I know almost nothing about AK-74s, but I thought I would start picking up a few magazines while they're available in the hopes of getting a rifle to go with them eventually. I bought this black Izhmash from a dealer at a show yesterday that had a box of about twenty of them for $35 each. Not being familiar with these magazines, I'm not sure how to judge their condition, having never seen a brand new one. I picked out what looked like one of the best ones in the box. The overall magazine seems to be in good shape with no residue inside. The follower just had some grease on it and no apparent marks from feeding rounds, but the top of the mag looks a little chewed up. There is also shiny metal on the front and rear locking lugs. I've gotten the impression that the process of forming the plastic around the steel feed lip reinforcements isn't that clean on Russian magazines. Does the top of the magazine look about average, or is this indicative of wear from a lot of use? Thanks!

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look heavily used to me. top of the feedlips is well worn

I noticed in online photos of these mags that the divot or "slice" out of the top of the left feedlip seems to be common. Not sure if that's a mold feature or the bolt is shaving off that part of the feedlip.

Thanks for the feedback. That dealer’s prices were all on the high side, which is why I bought only one mag to start familiarizing myself with the platform.

Not a thing wrong with that mag.

If you are speaking of what I think you are, it is a clearance cut for the safety sear.

Thanks, I guess not being familiar with how an AK74 differs from a 47 internally, I was curious about that feature on AK74 magazines, which isn't present on 47 mags.

I was at another local show today and stopped by the same dealer where I got the black Izhmash magazine in January that I posted photos of above. At the previous show, the black mags were $35 each, and he was selling Tula plum mags for $65. At this show, the same black mags were priced at $65, and he was selling Tula plums for $40 each. I asked him about the price "swap," which I thought was really strange, and he said he just came by a batch of 200 plum mags for a good price and was passing the savings on to his customers. He and his wife are really nice people, from the couple of conversations I've had with them, so I don't doubt him, but I was still surprised to see him lower the price on the plum mags. While they weren't quite as cheap the plum mags from AIM Surplus that Finslayer83 posted photos of here, I'd say they are in similarly good condition.

It certainly seems like some Russian mags have been turning up in batches lately, including these black and plum 74 mags and the 47 Bakelites. I believe someone mentioned previously that import restrictions don't apply to items like these that sat in a non-embargoed country for a certain number of years, so maybe these are coming in from another former Eastern Bloc country. It's good to see the prices come down a little, even if they're still pretty pricey compared to a decade ago. I'm just glad to still see some of them available.