5 Should-Have AK 47 Magazines Evaluations & VIDEO

AmmoLand Information Video Editor, Jim Grant, evaluations 5 of the most effective AK 47 Magazines.

U.S.A. -(AmmoLand.com)- With insane costs on ammo, sanctions towards Russian imports, and record-level inflation, 2022 isn’t precisely the most effective time to get into an AK – however issues are a lot better than they first seem.

As somebody who purchased and picked up AKs all through the 2000s, I do know we had it superb; between $750 Arsenals and 16-cent-per-round 7.62x39mm (and don’t even ask concerning the value of surplus 5.45 7N6) AK possession was extraordinarily inexpensive. However two issues we undoubtedly lacked have been high quality home AKs and equipment.

That stated, there’s nonetheless chunk of AK-specific merchandise on the market not definitely worth the supplies they’re made from, and high quality surplus elements nonetheless exist. So how can a brand new shooter separate the wheat from the chaff, and what’s the greatest AK-47 journal? Learn on to be empowered with wonderful Kalashnikov information!

Good vs Unhealthy AK Gun Magazines: It’s What’s Inside That Counts

I may have simply made a quick-and-dirty checklist article linking to my favourite AK Gun Magazines, however I’m a agency believer within the outdated adage, “Give a person a fish, and also you feed him for a day. Train a person to fish, and also you feed him for a lifetime.” So Let me train you precisely what to search for to make sure you don’t get robbed on the subsequent gun present shopping for garbage-tier magazines as a consequence of your individual ignorance.

In the beginning, AK magazines want metal reinforcements in key areas that AR-15 magazines don’t, as a consequence of their rock-and-lock nature. This methodology of locking into the AK’s journal properly signifies that your no-name plastic incredible journal can break when subjected to undue power. Particularly within the rear locking tab – that little piece of plastic or metal that protrudes from the rear of the highest of the journal. That is the portion of the journal that retains the journal within the magazine properly resting atop the journal launch paddle.

Due to this, the one magazines a shooter ought to ever think about for any critical use are these with metal locking tabs. The identical is true for the feed lips however for a unique cause.

The feed lips on AK Gun Magazines can take a hell of a beating because the bolt service group quickly drags throughout them. Whereas these gained’t put on out for a couple of hundred or thousand rounds, the distinction in value between polymer and steel-lipped magazines is a couple of {dollars}. Do you actually need to save three bucks in trade for {a magazine} that can invariably fail sooner or later vs one that can outlast your grandchildren?

So far as steel-reinforced our bodies, they’re good to stop magazines from being destroyed if run over by a automobile or stepped on, however typically not practically as crucial. However with that out of the way in which, let’s get into the go-to checklist of top-tier AK magazines obtainable in 2022.

#5 – Steel Surplus AK 47 Magazines

These must be the gold commonplace by which all different magazines are measured. Military surplus steel magazines are so overbuilt that it’s not unusual to seek out them getting used as makeshift entrenching instruments in war-torn African nations 50+ years after they have been made. (Prime that Hello-lux!)

That includes anti-tilt followers, and heavy-gauge rolled metal our bodies welded collectively, these mags are actually constructed like tanks. The one factor that appears to have the ability to take them out of operation is extreme denting alongside the journal our bodies. However even these can normally be banged out like a dent on an outdated 1970’s Crown Vic.

The draw back to those magazines is weight. A Romanian instance I weighed tipped the scales at an unimaginable 11.46 ounces empty (and 29oz loaded)! Evaluate that to a polymer steel-reinforced Bulgarian waffle-pattern journal at 8.5oz unloaded.

Nice high quality examples could be discovered from the next international locations: Bulgaria, China, East Germany, Egypt, Finland, Hungary, Poland, Russia, and Yugoslavia. Romanian, Polish, Bulgarian, Polish and Yugo mags are at present essentially the most inexpensive worthwhile metal choices

Keep away from metal magazines from South Korea, Croatia, and Pakistan.

#4 – Circle 10 Waffle AK 47 Magazines

These are arguably the most effective polymer-bodied magazines in the marketplace at this time, but in addition essentially the most genuinely costly. I say genuinely as a result of the Circle 10 Waffle Mag worth isn’t artificially inflated by collectability (but). These so-called waffle-pattern magazines are polymer-bodied Bulgarian military-issue 30 and 40-round mags. They’re simply as sturdy as their metal counterparts, however at an almost 30% financial savings in weight. They function steel-reinforced feed lips, locking tab, and our bodies. Giving them the entire benefits of metal surplus mags, with none of the inherent downsides.

Additionally, in contrast to steel-bodied magazines, these polymer waffles are subsequent to unattainable to crush to the purpose of failure. To not say you can construct a bridge with them, however until a shooter is working them over with a tractor-trailer, they’ll maintain working for the foreseeable future.

One draw back that they do have, is value. Bulgarian circle 10 mags are by no means present in a retailer for lower than $45 apiece and usually run between $50 and $60. Fortunately, shooters who put money into them won’t ever have to interchange them, as I’ve a couple of which have seen properly over 2,000-rounds fired by them they usually nonetheless look comparatively new.

#3 – US Palm AK30 Rifle Magazines

Twelve years in the past, the one overbuilt steel-reinforced polymer AK 47 Mags obtainable have been these from Arsenal. And identical to now, they have been considerably costlier than army surplus choices. So in response, a small firm out of Arizona started constructing a greater mousetrap – the US Palm AK30. These mags featured extraordinarily overbuilt our bodies and metal reinforcements that gave the already tank-like mags elevated longevity. Many shooters actually liked these mags, however a nasty monetary scenario in 2017 triggered the enterprise to go stomach up.

Fortunately a couple of years in the past the oldsters at Century Arms purchased the outdated firm and its equipment and began churning out these inexpensive sturdy magazines as rapidly as they may. The one downsides to the magazines are their unconventional look, (subjective) and their incompatibility with firearms that make the most of enlarged journal wells just like the Galil Ace sequence of pistols and carbines.  Fortunately, these mags are nonetheless inexpensive and well-made. Simply be sure to purchase ones marked steel-reinforced.

#2 – Surplus Bakelite AK 47 Magazines

What are bakelite mags made from?

These so-called bakelite Ak magazines are literally constructed from AG-S4 polymer which itself is actually a glass-reinforced phenol-formaldehyde composite. However let’s be sincere, bakelite rolls of the tongue so much simpler. No matter you need to name these magazines, they’re superior.

Primarily, these are the Lancer magazines of the Sixties. Constructed from a sturdy AG-S4 polymer and that includes full metal reinforcements, bakelite magazines strike the proper steadiness between sturdiness and weight. Higher but, they’re diehard dependable and enhance in worth yearly.

The draw back? That very same ever-increasing worth makes these magazines costlier than any new-production AK magazines in the marketplace at this time. Plus, their restricted availability (Particularly now with Russian forces inside Ukraine and all of the sanctions that come from that.) signifies that they’ll solely get costlier and harder to seek out sooner or later. So far as why nobody makes these magazines anymore, I’d hazard a guess that the usage of formaldehyde is usually frowned upon in trendy polymers. On the brilliant aspect, since they aren’t truly bakelite if you happen to break one or resolve to sand it, the mud can’t offer you mesothelioma – so there’s that.

#1 – Magpul AK PMAG Gen 3

Magpul. I may in all probability cease there, and be okay, however there’s truly one specific model of the Magpul AK PMAG Gen 3 that I like to recommend over all others. The orange-follower-equipped steel-reinforced gen 3 fashions. These have the identical nice reliability as different PMAGs however with strategically positioned reinforcements to stop undue stress or harm to {a magazine} in battlefield circumstances. Don’t get me unsuitable, common AK PMAGs are fantastic for competitors or vary use, but when you’ll be knee-deep in unfriendlies, you need that further insurance coverage.

OK, these sound nice, so what’s the draw back? A really subjective one – aesthetics. These AK PMAGs look precisely like what they’re, Magpul magazines. If that’s your factor, rejoice! If not, properly, at the very least you’ve very well-made AK gun magazines that run like a scolded canine.

And in order for you a defacto reply to the age-old query, “What nation makes the most effective AK mags?” The reply is a detailed tie between Bulgaria and Russia.

About Jim Grant

Jim is likely one of the elite editors for AmmoLand.com, who along with his mastery of prose, can wield a digicam with knowledgeable finesse. He loves something and all the things weapons however holds firearms from the Chilly Struggle in a particular place in his coronary heart.

When he’s not reviewing weapons or taking pictures for enjoyable and competitors, Jim could be discovered mountain climbing and looking along with his spouse Kimberly, and their canine Peanut within the South Carolina low nation.

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