branching out into the AK world after being an AR owner forever. the more i learn about this platform, the more excited i am. bought an entry level AK - Zastava M70 - that should be arriving any day. comes w one mag. ive been trying to research and find some dependable and affordable AK mags for this rifle. im so used to AR mags being pretty standard. everyone and their brother gets 20-30rd Pmags. theyre dependable and cheap. when it comes to AK mags im lost. there seems to be SO Many choices and prices can go from reasonable to astronomical at the blink of an eye. can someone point me in the direction of dependable/affordable 30rd AK mags for my new rifle? thanks in advance!

These work great in my M70AB2 > PSA AK Mags

Croatian mags Bulgarian circle 10 ,for range use find pmags or Bulgarian plastic commercial mags.

Bulgarian black Circle 10 mags will be one of the best but pricey ($50). I would look for Croatian, Serbian or whatever E. European surplus mags you can find. Look on the EE. I'd also look at the AC Unity plastic mags.

Typically 7.62 AK mags are pretty universal.

There are a number of good threads in the Magazines subforum. Check out these two recent ones for good recommendations:

Which magazine?

Best 7.62x39 mags going at the moment?

I think the Bulgarian commercial steel mags and the steel-reinforced polymer mags are pretty good options right now for price ($15-$18) vs. reliability and durability, when it comes to range and training use. I'd recommend checking out XTech's MAG47 MIL or MAG47 as examples of quality U.S.-made magazines as well. As mentioned above, get a couple Circle 10s and European or Chinese military surplus steel mags for defensive use. Maybe a Hungarian 20-round tanker mag for zeroing / bench resting at the range.

Imo the Croatian BHO mags are the best deal right now and they are basically Yugo mags for your Yugo rifle

Lot's of good options out there and differing opinions.

Personally, my favorite mags are Circle 10. Top tier durability with the added benefit of being relatively low weight, but they are pricey. The Xtech Tactical magazines fit this criteria pretty good as well and are cheaper than the Circle 10s.
Steel milsurp mags are always a solid choice as well, very durable, but they do add some weight. Keep in mind, not all steel mags are created equal, there are commercial variants out there that are not built as well as the milsurp stuff.
If you want to load up on some cheaper mags for general range use then I would recommend taking a look at AC Unity. They are polymer with steel reinforced lugs front and back and can be had for very good prices.
Magpul isn't king of mags in the AK world like they are in the AR world. They aren't bad mags, but they are generally overpriced and/or not as robust compared to comparable offerings from other companies.

I had some mags in clear packs and finally opened one up to check it out. I was surprised that it had the BHO feature. I guess these are Croation. I can;t remember when or where I bought them but they look and feel nice.

Get surplus steel magazines, they are virtually indestructible.

Get the Zastava version, not the Croatian.  The Zastava are made on the Yugo machinery, IIRC.  





Unless the Croats fixed the issues with their mags.

They fixed those fitment issues long ago. I have a bunch of the Croatian mags and some Yugos as well,.the Croatians are nicer. Better machining and spot welds

This.  If you dont care about weight, status or looks, steel mil surplus mags will never let you down.

This is not to say there are not other / better options, but the steel stuff is the way to got if you want to keep it simple and affordable.

Just like at the end of the day, a mil spec surplus AR mag with a decent upgraded follower will do the same in an AR.

Any commbloc milsurp steel should be GTG, with Bulgarian Circle 10 and Russian polymer/bakelite mags as well.