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Posted: 7/29/2010 5:39:18 AM EDT
| Couldn't find anything searching. Are there particular countries of origin or brands of AK mags to avoid? Conversely, what do you consider the best? |
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Pretty much anything that isn't milsurp.
With good, reliable, almost indestructable milsurp mags readily available and cheap as dirt, why use anything else? I see no advantage to any of the US mags like ProMag, Tapco, US Palm, etc. I have around 30+ steel milsurp mags, with most of them being Chinese or Hungarian and I've never had a mag related failure with any of my AKs. That pretty much keeps me from wanting to even try anything else since I see no reason to. If it ain't broke, I don't fuck with it. If imported mags were to suddenly become unavailable, then I might see a need to investigate alternatives, but until that happens I'll just keep stocking up on the good ones. If it ever does happen I'll have enough good ones so that I won't have to worry about it. |
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Quoted:
Pretty much anything that isn't milsurp. With good, reliable, almost indestructable milsurp mags readily available and cheap as dirt, why use anything else? I see no advantage to any of the US mags like ProMag, Tapco, US Palm, etc. I have around 30+ steel milsurp mags, with most of them being Chinese or Hungarian and I've never had a mag related failure with any of my AKs. That pretty much keeps me from wanting to even try anything else since I see no reason to. If it ain't broke, I don't fuck with it. If imported mags were to suddenly become unavailable, then I might see a need to investigate alternatives, but until that happens I'll just keep stocking up on the good ones. If it ever does happen I'll have enough good ones so that I won't have to worry about it. Cannot go wrong with this advice. |
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Chi-com steel mags and drums=awesome.
Egyptian steel mags made on Russian equipment under Russian instruction=awesome. Even though prices are much higher (relatively) for milsurp mags than they were during the Nineties, they're still an awesome deal, considering the quality of the product for the price. |
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Promag. Pure crap. I have no idea how they stay in business. Easy. They don't take any of their sh*t back. I have 2 mags I bought @ a gun show that don't work. One a pistol mag the other a AK 223 mag for my SAR3. Both DO NOT WORK. The pistol mag falls out when releasing the slide. The 223 does not feed properly. My attempts at contacting the company have been futile. They DO NOT back up their "lifetime warranty" 
I will not buy another piece of CRAP from them again! I WILL bad mouth them every chance I can. 
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| I have used Tapco 7.62 and 5.45 mags with no problems out of them at all. I bought the 7.62 mags just to try them and the 5.45 mags to shorten. Even though I have had no problems with them, I see no reason to buy them unless you need the US parts count. They are more expensive than the originals and those are almost always good to go. |
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+1 to the NO PROMAG comments. I was given two of them by a friend who sold his rifle and it took a considerable amount of grinding on the plastic just to get them to fit in the gun at all. Meanwhile my four milsurp steel mags are so much easier to lock in it's ridiculous. I have a single Tapco mag that works just fine, but the steel ones are still far better in my opinion.
Oh, forgot to mention my steel mags are Yugo ones with the bolt hold open. It's a nice touch locking open on empty, but not a necessity. |
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There needs to be a giant sticky at the top that says: NO Promag NO Thermold NO Tapco NO USA made mags at all NO polymer mags without steel feed lips and locking lugs. That's all. I don't know about the others, but I have been using Thermolds for years in my AR 15 & HK 91 rifles. They work PERFECTLY & have never had a problem. GARY N4KVE |
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List of mags what i know that they are crap:
polish polymer 7,62x39 (black and clear with 11 logo and "Radom Poland") its civilian version without steel reinforcements - easy to brake polish clear 5,56x45 - easy to brake russian 5,45x39 60rd - follower jamming very often |
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Quoted:
+1 to the NO PROMAG comments. I was given two of them by a friend who sold his rifle and it took a considerable amount of grinding on the plastic just to get them to fit in the gun at all. Meanwhile my four milsurp steel mags are so much easier to lock in it's ridiculous. I have a single Tapco mag that works just fine, but the steel ones are still far better in my opinion. Oh, forgot to mention my steel mags are Yugo ones with the bolt hold open. It's a nice touch locking open on empty, but not a necessity. Has any one mentioned stay away from ProMag yet? 
+1 on having to grind the hell out of a promag to make it fit into a WASR magazine well. (No issues at all with multiple other brand/country magazines) |
| I have had no problems with the Tapcos. They are light and now they are cheap. I think they can be purchased for 12 bucks. With that said, for every plastic mag I buy I get two steel mags. The steel mags are indestructible. However, they are heavy. Pick your poison. PROMAG sucks! I have one of those POS plastic junk crap mags. Never again! |
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I've posted it before in another but I'll repeat here. I own 7 tapcos (6-30s and 1-20) and haven't had any problems. Also own some steel. I like em both but tue steel wobbles. Now before any AK nuts start typing furious replies, I will point out this doesn't affect functionality ever, to my knowledge (unless maybe your magwell is really fubared). Me personally, I dislike the rattling. Just a prsonal preferance. I also like the weight savings.
Tapcos have held up well and performed even during a sandy day prone for an event. They fit so snug you may end up swaging some plastic off the back during that first fit. Do they have metal feed lips and lugs? No. But I'm not hashing out WWIII with it either. It's why I prefer the polymer mags in large capacity. If you crush the mag tube sufficiently to bind the follower, it breaks.. When I purchased my AK, I received a steel and tapco. The steel was squeezed imperceptibly down low, pinching the follower. It mostly certainly less likely than the aluminum AR mags, but still doable. It's a weakness of box-tube magazines. The AK is much better at minimizing this possibility. But I just prefer for the car gun to ride with poly anyway. So, I endorse steel mags... They're cheap and work well for a long time. I only recommend pushing the follower down and ensuring it doesn't bind (note: if the mag is still full of preservative grease, this test will render alot of false positives). Most will be fine; every one purchased except the one that came with the gun has worked fine. Other than that, US Palm is considered king for US poly and I have yet to encounter a user who did not believe 100% in them. If you wish to pay their price, I don't think performance will disappoint. |
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The easy answer is to buy metal European mags (any county in Europe) unless you have a very specific reason to do otherwise. Avoid any other type unless there is a specific reason you need/want one. If there is a specific reason you need something else, then you will know why you need it and can research your options. |
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Sigh...OK, here is what I meant. Some Maadis had the original Egyptian trigger group, and required mags with US floorplates and followers to make parts count. In that case you would have a special requirement to buy mags with at least 2 US parts (or get a G2 FCG like I did ). Some WASRs were dremmeled out too little/too much, and require the thinnest or thickest mag available. Then you have a special buying requirement. Some people take the historical accuracy of their firearms extremely seriously, and would only put a Norinco mag in a Norinco rifle, or can tell you why you will never see an arrow mark on a plum bakelite. They have special buying requirements. Live in a state requiring something less than 30 rounds? Want to hunt with it and have a really low required round count? Again, special buying requirements that you need to know for sure rather than just have a general "what to avoid" rule of thumb. IF you have no special requirements, or are unaware of your special buying requirements, then avoid everything but European surplus mags like the plague. Why? European surplus military steel mags are inexpensive, there is no mag more reliable, and there is no mag more durable. Other mags MAY be as reliable, or as durable, or as affordable, but you are rolling the dice on getting one or more of these three attributes as opposed to a guarantee of all three with the European surplus military steel models. no IM's, please! |
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Anybody ever used National Magazines? I'd like to get one of their 75 or 100 round mags just for the novelty of it. but if they're terrible then I'd rather keep the money and finance something else... like beer. I had 3 of those, the 30-rounders. They jammed my AK. Just think about how bad that is. A magazine so bad, it jammed what's arguably the most reliable automatic rifle ever built. |
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