A word to the wise...

[motopolitico 0]

My drums arrived yesterday, and I just wanted to let my fellow MD noobs know that it is very easy to mistakenly overlook the need for an "a" fitting. I am very glad I paid close attention to MikeD's instructions and especially the diagram; the mag LOOKED flush to me, but even the tiniest sliver of the metal feedlips showing means I need to do the "A" fitting. Just wanted to put that out there. Great product and service. Going to the range today!

[jdeitch 32]

My drums arrived yesterday, and I just wanted to let my fellow MD noobs know that it is very easy to mistakenly overlook the need for an "a" fitting. I am very glad I paid close attention to MikeD's instructions and especially the diagram; the mag LOOKED flush to me, but even the tiniest sliver of the metal feedlips showing means I need to do the "A" fitting. Just wanted to put that out there. Great product and service. Going to the range today!

 

+1

 

Read and understand instructions before doing any fitting.

[Wotan1105 7]

I read and understand the instructions but My "A" fitting is way off the diagram. Comparing the drum to the AGP and factory mags that work fine, there is way too much lip for my gun. Got one made Oct last year with the slightly longer catch, smaller space in between there to grab the lip. Been inspecting the fit up close watching where it makes contact. Rounding fitting "A" had little to no effect on my fit. Helped a TINY bit but not much. Even rounded it still catches the lip in the same spot. I started removing probably more material at the rounded part of A than I probably should have, basically removing the little rounded part all together. But it fits better but not far enough, need to go further down A with the file if I was to make a straight fit. Now I'm in a spot where I'm afraid to keep taking off more to get it to snap in. Even with the amount I've removed already, the mag doesn't lock in or appear as straight inside as the AGP and factory mags do, which tells me to take more off "A". With the amount I've had to work on "A" already I wouldn't feel comfortable doing "B" as well. At first I thought I'd have to do A and B, but now it's probably just a big undertaking of "A".

 

No pics right now, kind of sucks. Will probably just keep going and either post pics or hope feed clips are easily replaced. The video on the fitting is very helpful, just feels like I need to take more off than I thought I would.

 

Got it 99% of the way there without touching "B". Nice solid snug fit but had to take off like 5 times the amount in the diagram. Had to dig out a right angle out of "A" instead of rounding it off. L shape for "A" from the side instead of the rounded off \ shape. Was getting worried there for a minute but was just sticking forward a tad too far to fit all the way up there.

Edited March 6, 2009 by Wotan1105

[Invictus 0]

I read and understand the instructions but My "A" fitting is way off the diagram. Comparing the drum to the AGP and factory mags that work fine, there is way too much lip for my gun. Got one made Oct last year with the slightly longer catch, smaller space in between there to grab the lip. Been inspecting the fit up close watching where it makes contact. Rounding fitting "A" had little to no effect on my fit. Helped a TINY bit but not much. Even rounded it still catches the lip in the same spot. I started removing probably more material at the rounded part of A than I probably should have, basically removing the little rounded part all together. But it fits better but not far enough, need to go further down A with the file if I was to make a straight fit. Now I'm in a spot where I'm afraid to keep taking off more to get it to snap in. Even with the amount I've removed already, the mag doesn't lock in or appear as straight inside as the AGP and factory mags do, which tells me to take more off "A". With the amount I've had to work on "A" already I wouldn't feel comfortable doing "B" as well. At first I thought I'd have to do A and B, but now it's probably just a big undertaking of "A".

 

No pics right now, kind of sucks. Will probably just keep going and either post pics or hope feed clips are easily replaced. The video on the fitting is very helpful, just feels like I need to take more off than I thought I would.

 

Got it 99% of the way there without touching "B". Nice solid snug fit but had to take off like 5 times the amount in the diagram. Had to dig out a right angle out of "A" instead of rounding it off. L shape for "A" from the side instead of the rounded off \ shape. Was getting worried there for a minute but was just sticking forward a tad too far to fit all the way up there.

 

I think I'm in the same boat as you Wotan. I'm trying to fit this to a Saiga 12 IZ 109. I've filed off a LOT of material in position A after checking fit about 50 times. The magazine catch still looks a mile away from snapping home in the B position.

 

I'm starting to panic a little and wondering if I'm really screwing up here. The video and instructions were super nice and very easy to understand. This just isn't working out for me for whatever reason. I've filed hundreds of AK mags to perfection, but this is a totally different animal.

 

The tower lays perfectly flat against the receiver, but the lip is hitting hard at position A and the catch is way north of position B.

 

My factory AGP mags all snap perfectly in place with a tad bit of wiggle room so as not to be excessively tight. But the MD Arms drum just isn't working out. I have no doubt in my mind that this is a top notch item and worried about utterly ruining it. Is there a refund or exchange policy for a filed drum? I think I'm going to hold off until I find out from the gurus.

 

I'm so sad. I've been waiting for this big fella for what seems like an eternity!

[Invictus 0]

I spoke at length with a fellow Saiga 12 nut over the phone. He originally turned me onto the IZ 109 and the MD Arms drums. He assured me that I was on the right track and that he had a gun that required quite a bit of work in the "A" area. Far more than he thought would have been necessary as well. He put my mind at ease a bit (I was still sweating bullets) and told me to keep going. So I did. I "A"-ed the hell out of it I think. Then a wee smidge off the "B" side and it clicked into place perfectly.

 

I thought I'd post my results and would love to hear any feedback.

 

Here are the pics:

 

Drum tower and receiver mated up perfectly:

 

The "A" material was snug inside the receiver:

 

This is the magazine catch that snapped perfectly into place:

 

As you can see, I took off A LOT more than dust:

 

Side by side comparison of the mag catch of an AGP 10rd on the right versus the MD20 on the left:

 

She's good to go! Since I'm a country boy that got relocated to the "city" I'll have to wait for some time at the range or until I can drive out to the land:

 

My installation experience is probably due to my gun build, but I wanted to share. Thoughts?

 

Bottom line, this is a SOLID product. Mike D is a hero.

[Wotan1105 7]

Sounds like I had a very similar experience with my drum, just not setup to take pics. My S12 is relatively new, and the A fitting was hitting the receiver by quite a bit. Shaving the little angle didn't help at the top so I had to file off a good part of the top. But still strong, fits nice and snug now. Was worried at first, but once I fit it to A in the instructions, and saw where it was hitting and where I had to remove material, it was a snap. Plus I had faith even if I really screwed up there is a good vendor behind the product.

[sidewinderl 43]

Same boat...had to do a lot of A fitting and took a hair off the B fitting. It seems like I took a lot off after watching the vid, but it snaps in tighter than my factory mag. Kinda glad I didn't watch the vid beforehand (forgot and the computer was in use anyway), since I would've really been worried. Just read the directions and had a Taiwanese 5 rounder that wouldn't lock, so I practiced on that one first. The only thing that worried me while filing was that it took a lot more filing to get the drum in than it did the 5 rounder.

 

Didn't feel so great after watching the vid, but I feel a lot better now lol (gun made 9-30-08).

[bigdaddyrandall 1]

I had to file more on B to make mine lock in took it out and it works fine.

[Delta 5.56 0]

Put me in the catergory of having to file A quite a bit too. My first drum took alot of filing A. Then when I had it all locked in snug and looking good, it wouldnt lock at all when I actually had shells in the drum. Had to file again. I was freaking out. All was well in the end. I just worry I took too much off somewhere and made it weak. So far so good!

 

2nd drum, I have about a 3/16" gap I need to take care of to have it sit flush w/the receiver. Here we go on A again but now I know what needs to be done better.

[vbrtrmn 167]

Got a 2001 S12, had to do a bit of "A" filing, with a small hand file, after a few minutes with many check in between, the drum snapped right in.

 

This is really the kind of product you'd expect from a company which has been around for years. The service, instructions, and product are all absolutely top-rate!