AK Sponsor
Posted: 12/1/2009 1:36:19 PM EDT
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I'm a soon to be AK owner (10 magazines on the way already and the gun in 2-3 weeks) and was looking at the 75 round drum magazines. Is there any practical use for them aside from bump firing at the range? Are they more for magazine collectors or investments? Would the be superior to 2 coupled 30 round magazines in fighting off waves of zombies? I want one, but am not sure if I would be better off getting 10 more 30 rounders instead.
If anyone recalls them, what were the prices of various AK magazines during the first AWB? (Sadly I say first because its bound to come back sooner or later  )
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There is one advantage that I can think of. Chinese designed drums are extremely quick and easy to load and they can be loaded and stored with no tension on the spring. Right now you could get a Romanian 75rd drum for about $90 or you could get 10 Chinese 30rd magazines from AIM for $90. I think I have twelve right now. I think I would rather have spent my money on 30rd or 40rd magazines. Anyone want a Bulgarian 75rd drum or a Russian Molot 75rd drum? 
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| If you are just getting into AKs, you need to build up your mag collection first. I would order like 20 steel mags from AIM for $9 each and pass on the drum for now. Id pick up some bulgy waffle mags, too. IMO, the drum is for coolness factor and not much more.....it can wait. |
| The price of a drum $99 compared to say 11 mags for that price how can you not go with the mags? I sold the couple Chinese drums I had early this year at the right time. I am hoping that the current drums we are seeing for around $99 go down even more and I may consider buying some again but they are just not worth it compared to a stack of mags. |
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They are more novel than they are practical.
If you don't have many standard mags I would spend the money on them. I didn't buy my first drum until after I had already accumelated over 100 mags. Drums are cool for a range toy but they are no good to hump in a SHTF situation as they are noisey and very heavy. As mentioned above they were intended for a squad gunner to lay down high volume suppresive fire, kinda pointless on a rifle. I have mine for shits and giggles and who knows when the ATF might stop them from coming in country. |
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I don't need to remind you things are looking dark- not bright on the horizon. True. Perhaps after my ammo and 30 round magazine stores are to a good enough level, I will look at some drums. Right now, I only have the 10 mags I ordered... No AK yet  The gunshow is in a week and I'm hoping to find one there so I can inspect it before I buy it (WASR) and pick up or order at least 1k rounds to start.
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I picked up MOST of my drums when they were alot cheaper. But I was not lucky or smart enough to get on the wagon when some of you did at the $29 price. I have 4 drums now and have one on order from AIM now. I don't think they will ever be lower in price then they are now.....
I use mine with my RPK. They are not something you want to travel on foot with. The thing I like about AK drums is that they work and they are pretty tough. Friend has a Beta and I just can't push myself into paying $200+ for an AR drum that is made of plastic even though I would like to have one. Also he is constantly cleaning it and lubing with graphite just to keep it working. I have never had to do any of that with my AK drums. I will keep buying all the stick mags I can afford and sprinkle a few AK drums in there for good measure. Everyone needs at least one to post a pic with their new AK.  Right??????
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Ya gotta have at least one. Most likely will increase in value.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y131/gunpapa/PICT0010-1.jpg?t=1263796653 |
| Personally, I hate the way drums look on an AK, no offense guys. If I had to choose, my Russian wins for looks (I prefer the slant) but I'd go with the Bulgy for practicality. I do agree with everyone on bulking up on box mags. For a shtf scenerio I'd use two 40rders with couplers or taped together. That's 5 more rounds for 50 bucks less. |
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If anyone recalls them, what were the prices of various AK magazines during the first AWB? (Sadly I say first because its bound to come back sooner or later )Personally, mags are more effecient with your money than drums. That said, around 2000, you could find 30 rnd mags for $5 (Forrest), 75 drums for $35, and 100 drums for $50 (classic arms) |
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everyone has to drum at least once. I have had a couple over the years, but I no longer have them. They are heavy and make shooting a regular AK a little bit harder, but they are cool for sure! I say that if you already have 10 mags, why not? Then get more mags! |
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I got 3 Chinese 75rd drums when I got this Norinco back in 1993. Got one with the gun and two more for $22.95 each when a bunch of us ordered 10 of them from some place in Atlanta.
They are the only AK drums I kept, reliable, easy as heck to load, noisy, heavy when loaded, but not bad for SHTF or bump firing at the range. 
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Drums were not made/intended for AKs, they were made for RPKs. Practical use of a drum would be ambush or static positions. Exactly.....drums (just like 40-rounders) are for RPK's RPK owners should own a 2-3 drums to go along with their 40-rounders, but non RPK owners should not buy more than maybe 1 drum. As stated, money is better invested into 30-rounders for a standard AK. |
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Thanks for all the info. I was thinking about getting a drum for my pistol. I think I'll just get stick mags. But the drum does look cool. I might get a few shorter mags, so I can conceal carry I remember seeing a RPK with a drum, some where south of Hue in 1968. And it was from the wrong end. We used a LAW to disassemble it.....Bill in MI
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I only have 26 mags right now (mix of Bulgy circle 10s and Euro steels) but I picked up a Romy 75 drum on Sunday. Looks and loads just like the Chicom ones and was brand new in the box for $90. I had drums before and sold them for big $$ during the ban. I kicked myself for getting rid of them but I'm happy to have one again. I would say to any one, get at least one drum.
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I forgot I had this photo sitting around. 
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f276/va-gunnut/Gunsnstuff/akmags.jpg Nice!
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They are more novel than they are practical. If you don't have many standard mags I would spend the money on them. I didn't buy my first drum until after I had already accumelated over 100 mags. Drums are cool for a range toy but they are no good to hump in a SHTF situation as they are noisey and very heavy. As mentioned above they were intended for a squad gunner to lay down high volume suppresive fire, kinda pointless on a rifle. I have mine for shits and giggles and who knows when the ATF might stop them from coming in country. You said 100 mags?  Must of just hit the 0 buttin a second time on accident.
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| Unless your rifle has a happy switch, they are pretty much outclassed by having a number of readily accessible 30rd magazines. Having been able to play with a NFA AK47, I can say that if you have one of those babies, you need about ten drums, as they last a lot longer on dumps than the mags, lol. After doing that a few times... drums seem pretty pointless on a semiauto. |
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I am thinking about picking up a drum. How is the quality of the Romanian (Chinese type) drum mags? The pic above is a Rommy. I also bought one of the South Korean drums. While I have not had any problems with it, the Rommy is definately a better built drum mag. I would and probably will buy another. |
| My opinion is this, I can take 2 drums or 150 rounds and change mags 1 time. I would have to take 5 30 round mags and change them 4 times. They may not be the best for the range but for storing loaded and for SHTF zombie crap then there is nothing better. You can send me all your piece of junk, good for nothing, too heavy piles of tin anytime. |
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