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Posted: 1/28/2009 9:57:21 AM EDT
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I have a new 74 built off a original parts kit from Bulgaria, and it works great with my 1 east German mag.
But will not function well with my one circle 10 mag. What it does is the bolt rides over the top round, or hit’s the round in the side wall and dents it. I have striped the rifle down and inserted both mag and they look like the both ride up just as high. Now my question is, should I avoid the Bulgarian mags? Or do yall think this is just a bad mag and that I should be fine? |
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Normally bulgarian mags are good to go...
However, you may somehow have a "bad" bulgarian mag... (I've never experienced one but then again, it could happen). I've always had good luck with the E.G. Bakelights. Those Germans (even the Eastern ones) always seem to do it better!!! BIGGER_HAMMER 
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CHURCH,
Your IM box is FULL and You are NOT accepting site E-Mail, so I can't get back with you. Trying to Reply to you on the mags. Please clear some old IM out of your box so I can reply on your magazines. Thanks!! BIGGER_HAMMER
CHURCH - I'm about to run out of internet access time (I'm in middle of a move and I'm connecting at a library which is fixing to close so excuse this not coming back to you via IM but again, you box is full and I can not e-mail you to ask you to clear space for an IM reply The mags are straight from surplus E.German storage without modification so they should be good to go as they are. Again, they still have the importers stickers on them, so they don't get much fresher than that. couple of points for clarification to try and help you. (A) "you say they will not seat in my rifle", and then (B) "and then that they wobble up and down quite a bit.". That confuses me because it would mean two completely different things. (A) means they will not insert into your rifle (that the mags are somehow too large in width, depth or other dimension) (B) would imply the opposite, that the mags are somehow too small in dimensions, so please don't be offended that I'm trying to clarify so I can understand EXACTLY what is the problem. Please clarify for me -so I can better understand your problem - either (A) E. German Mags will not fit into my receiver and lock into place or (B) E. German mags do lock into my receiver but don't fit tightly Also I need to know is this just one mag or all nine of the new E. Germans magazines? Thanks for your clarity so I can better understand the problem and help you. BIGGER_HAMMER
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Here are the Pics of the Mags
Disclaimer: By NO means am I saying I was shipped bad mags intentionally (or that I know for sure that its the mags with the problem), I just want to figure out what I need to do to make theses 9 mags (or my rifle) usable. This is one of the new mags (they are all this way), also just noticed with the pic, but the "rib" at the top of the mag isn't there. 
My E.G. that works 100% It may not look it in the pic, but the rear lug is allot thicker. 
Gap between the mag lever, and mag with old mag 
Gap with new mags 
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| Well after some tinkering, I think I found a way to fix these mags. After seeing that a portion of the back above the mag catch had been filled down flat. I think I can use some epoxy to build it back up. I tied some elastic string about 1/2 as thick a 550 cord around the mag just above the catch, and it put the tension needed in the mag well to make the mags fit nice and tight, and provide 100% feeding. so I am going to test it on one of the mags latter this week, and will report back as soon as i see how it works. If any one else has any other ideas or suggestions let me know! |
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Church,
I'm not sure how or why the problem is there, since AK stuff is supposed to be interchangeable and easy, but let's look at a couple of things. (A) you said your rifle wouldn't work with the bulgarian polymer AK-74 mag you have. (B) said you have one E-german mag that fits and that the other 9 mags are not fitting right. just based on that, I'd be inclined to think that the issue may more likely be with your rifle rather than the other 10 mags. I'd start with this (I) Do you know who it was who built your 74 and (II) do you know how to contact that person? If they are local, you might ask them to look at your magazine catch and the relation to the triggerguard / mag catch to the receiver. If only one magazine is "good" and the other 10 are not, then again, I think the issue is more likely to be the gun than the mags.... I always want people to feel that they have been treated right. I'm a "golden rule" kind of person in all things in life. I just grabbed the top row mags at the top of the box, kept the nine nicest for you then, dropped the other mag back into my Tantals carry case as a spare. Those mags are all still marked with their "gemany" importer stickers, so they don't get much newer or nicer. If you feel the mags you received are somehow not right, I'll replace them with same number of mags hand picked for "thick lugs" if you think that will make a difference. Let me know if you want me to pull and ship replacements hand picked for being "thick lugged" ones for you. I still don't think that lug thickness is the real problem, because if the magazine lugs were "thinned" the mag would still fit and lock in place the gun, but you would just have a slightly looser fitting magazine. The fact that you say the mags need to be built up on the lug a significant amount to make it work really worries me, because the amount of difference in lug thickness between the "thick" and what you think is a "thin" lug is VERY small, so if your AK won't feed over that small a difference, I'd be very worried that the real issue is the mag catch or something else from the rifle. B.T.W. - it is VERY Normal for AKs to have some Mag Wobble. Most AKs just don't lock up hard and tight like some other rifle systems - that is just the way the AK system is. Let me know if you want me to hand select a new batch for you. Always glad to do right by a fellow shooter and AK owner if that will help You! Best Regards,! BIGGER_HAMMER
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| Don't worry bout swapping out mags, I don't think I have the time before I ship out the 22nd. I do believe I can make them work. Also my buddy's new 74 will be here in the week and we will check them on his rifle. But it looks like the back above the mags is were I am having problems, not the "lug" (what are those really called?) as I had originally believed. I am also going to contact the guy I got the rifle from and see if he has a spare mag catch that I could try out (the more likely cause). I do However appreciate you being willing to go the extra mile to help me out! And would tell anyone reading this that you were good to go, and I will most likely be trading with you again in the future. |
| Hey, update on the mag problem I was having. Turned out to be my mag catch. Replaced it, and all my mags now work with out a hitch. My apologies to to Bigger Hammer, if any one thought he had sold me bad mags. And to say thank you to yall for helping me out with the problem (especially Bigger Hammer)! |
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