Best AK Mags?

[Britton]

1) Arsenal Bulgaria ((10)) "waffle" pattern polymer
2) Any ComBloc steel mag in decent shape
3) Everything else (TAPCO, Thermold, ISD Bulgaria slab-side or "bullet" style, etc)

This is gospel. The only mag I use.

 

[RichardR]

IMHO the best AK magazines are the Chinese "ribless" ones, very high quality magazines, unfortunately thanks to the import ban they are fairly rare these days & are usually expensive when you do come across them.

The ones that I like next best are the polymer Bulgarian ones, circle 10, waffled, slab-sided, etc, IMHO it really doesn't matter what the outside of a Bulgarian magazine looks like or from what Bulgarian factory it was made in, internally they are all the same design.

Third up is Yugoslavian magazines, they are fairly typical Eastern European quality but they have a raised portion that holds the AK's bolt open when the magazine is empty, which is nice.

As far as all of the other European, Russian, East German, Polish, Romanian, etc I've found little to no differences between them, they all seem to work just fine but condition can be "hit or miss" if your ordering them online, especially if you're ordering bulk amounts of them.

I've gotten some that were new in cosmoline & wrapper and I've gotten some that were heavily used, badly rusted &/or hastily spray painted in a lame attempt to cover up that fact.

Thankfully AK magazines are easily/cheaply repaired so long as the main body isn't badly dented &/or the feed lips aren't starting to crack, so don't toss the bad ones out.

 

[shooter521]

it really doesn't matter what the outside of a Bulgarian magazine looks like or from what Bulgarian factory it was made in, internally they are all the same design.

Not so; the Arsenal ((10)) "waffle pattern" magazines have metal-reinforced feed lips and locking lugs, while the ISD "slab-side" and "bullet" magazines do not.

http://www.theakforum.net/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=100521&hilit=Bulgarian+slabside

 

[RichardR]

Not so; the Arsenal ((10)) "waffle pattern" magazines have metal-reinforced feed lips and locking lugs, while the ISD "slab-side" and "bullet" magazines do not.

That's odd, all of my poly slab-side Bulgarians are metal-reinforced.

They are all identical to the circle 10 waffled magazines minus the waffling, I think I bought them from Copes but I am not sure, it's been awhile.

 

[RichardR]

After checking around on the net it appears that "not all Bulgarian polymer magazines are created equal" after-all, so I guess I am going to have to retract that part of my previous post.

Thanks for the heads up there Shooter!

 

[vitamink]

There was a guy on the saiga 12 forum that did a comparo between the uspalm and the ((10)) along with others. He did all sorts of stuff like soaking in salt water, drop tests, and so forth. The ((10)) and uspalm were on par with each other as far as durability. The price point was significantly different, with the palm costing a bunch more, and the us parts count was 0 vs 3 so that was another swing factor. The Palm mags have come down in price.

Botach has them for 26.95$ and free shipping. BHI is having a clearance for 25.00$ don't know about shipping.

((10)) mags are available from sks man for 25$ in 3 colors ($33 at kvar).

 

[MattCFII]

Not much to say really. **** happens. I bought them in a package deal and really liked them until they broke. No idea how old, what generation or prior use really. I used them as training mags and both broke within a month, 4 or 5 range trips of each other. I also used them to do reload drills so who knows. The bottoms broke off of both of them.
I am relatively new to the AK but I have had Pmags for my AR go through much more abuse and not fail. I kind of expected the same with the US Palm.

I did not say they were junk just that I believe my money is better spent on the heavier, surplus steel magazines. I have yet to break one of them or had one fail. I may try some again some day who knows. I definitely want one of the US Palm Grips.

You should have sent them back to US Palm. That was definitely a manufacturing defect. I have only read of that happening to one other person and he got them replaced by US Palm. Remember, just as a comparison, Magpul had a whole batch of bad mags too and they are still the current standard AR mag for most guys.

The US Palm grip rocks

There was a guy on the saiga 12 forum that did a comparo between the uspalm and the ((10)) along with others. He did all sorts of stuff like soaking in salt water, drop tests, and so forth. The ((10)) and uspalm were on par with each other as far as durability. The price point was significantly different, with the palm costing a bunch more, and the us parts count was 0 vs 3 so that was another swing factor. The Palm mags have come down in price.

Botach has them for 26.95$ and free shipping. BHI is having a clearance for 25.00$ don't know about shipping.

((10)) mags are available from sks man for 25$ in 3 colors ($33 at kvar).

Yeah, the prices have came down on US Palms, I've seen package deals at One Source Tactical around $22-25 each IIRC. As always K-Var's prices suck, search around for ((10))s.

K-Var does make a US floorplate and follower with a circle ten body for 2 US parts for a couple bucks more per mag.

 

[indyk]

my choice in AK mags

I recently posted a link to the recent Shotgun News article about the most durable ak magazine. After numerous test and inspection the top 2 were narrowed down to the AG4 Bakelite and the Bulgarian Waffle circle (10).

I myself have had 2 Bulgarian Circle 10 Plum waffle's in X39 and I had a problem with the top round sliding out of 1 of the mags not to mention a drop on the ground meant rounds spitting all over the place, perhaps they had weak springs but they were unused. I think the ones I had were perhaps reissued by Arsenal/K VAR. Are they the same production as the original black Bulgy c-10's?

I really like the Bakelite AG4 mags also rated in the top 2 as best Ak mag "Shotgun news" They are a sweet contrast to any ak platform not to mention strong as a Russian Ox I just wish I could afford more, They also come in German Flavors, steel reinforced lips and strong springs.

My second favorite Ak mag are the Hungarian 30rd "moon face" stamped mags or any Eastern European steel mags. These mags seem as thick as the rifles receiver itself, strong springs, 110% reliable, and durable.

I had a bad batch of Chinese, ribbed, flat spine mags with sharp edged seams that would occasionally slice my thumb not to mention dropping the mag would sent rounds all over the ground, weak springs, and the occasional 1/16 gaps between the welds
I Got rid of a few but kept one for collections sake.




INDY K

 

[AzNooB]

You can't go wrong with original combloc mags.