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best surplus mags for my ak?


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im looking for some cheap, yet quality 30 round mags for my 74.

 

first off, what is better, a polymer or steal mag?

 

i see on centerfire website they're selling milsurp mags at 13$ each.

 

http://www.centerfiresystems.com/magaka74-p.aspx

 

would this be a good choice? probably cant beat the price, but are milsurp mags good? are they steel or polymer? also it says no handpicking so im assuming the quality might be bad on some?

 

i also did some searching and found these as well

 

http://www.copesdistributing.net/product_info.php?products_id=1964

 

http://www.copesdistributing.net/product_info.php?products_id=1975

 

thoughts on these? or should i go a different route. im planning on buying 4 mags

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Do not put a whole lot of energy into it. Purchase one of each give them a try and If you find good ones buy a shit load. I have been purchasing mags for 15+ years and you will never regret owning too many.

 

Good luck to you,

Happy shooting!

Yakdung

:)

Edited by yakdung
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Surplus mags in general are good to go, but I've always heard bakelite is the strongest and most indestructible of them all. For $15 bucks you can't go wrong with the black Bulgy's or the Izzy plums.

 

The Izzy plums are by far my favorite followed by bakelite, thats just personal preference though, they all will work great.

 

 

 

 

 

Z

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Surplus mags in general are good to go, but I've always heard bakelite is the strongest and most indestructible of them all. For $15 bucks you can't go wrong with the black Bulgy's or the Izzy plums.

 

The Izzy plums are by far my favorite followed by bakelite, thats just personal preference though, they all will work great.

 

 

 

 

 

Z

 

 

^^Agreed. The ones at centerfire have been sanitized and painted black by Arsenal Bulgaria (Not the guys in Vegas). They are plum magazines that the Russians sold/gave to the Bulgarians at one time or another. At $12 and change they are the best deal in the market right now. I have 4 of them (although I bought them a while ago from another vendor and used paint thinner and elbow grease to remove the black finish).

 

Anyway yakdung has no idea what hes talking about, just buy surplus when they are available cheap (no need to test one out like he says, thats just silly and a waste of double shipping).

Edited by bigsal
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Surplus mags in general are good to go, but I've always heard bakelite is the strongest and most indestructible of them all. For $15 bucks you can't go wrong with the black Bulgy's or the Izzy plums.

 

The Izzy plums are by far my favorite followed by bakelite, thats just personal preference though, they all will work great.

 

 

 

 

 

Z

 

 

^^Agreed. The ones at centerfire have been sanitized and painted black by Arsenal Bulgaria (Not the guys in Vegas). They are plum magazines that the Russians sold/gave to the Bulgarians at one time or another. At $12 and change they are the best deal in the market right now. I have 4 of them (although I bought them a while ago from another vendor and used paint thinner and elbow grease to remove the black finish).

 

Anyway yakdung has no idea what hes talking about, just buy surplus when they are available cheap (no need to test one out like he says, thats just silly and a waste of double shipping).

i was plannin on buying 4 from centerfire, so you think thats a good plan?

 

do polymers have any advantages over steel? or are steel mags better to have

Edited by smloob
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Surplus mags in general are good to go, but I've always heard bakelite is the strongest and most indestructible of them all. For $15 bucks you can't go wrong with the black Bulgy's or the Izzy plums.

 

The Izzy plums are by far my favorite followed by bakelite, thats just personal preference though, they all will work great.

 

 

 

 

 

Z

 

 

^^Agreed. The ones at centerfire have been sanitized and painted black by Arsenal Bulgaria (Not the guys in Vegas). They are plum magazines that the Russians sold/gave to the Bulgarians at one time or another. At $12 and change they are the best deal in the market right now. I have 4 of them (although I bought them a while ago from another vendor and used paint thinner and elbow grease to remove the black finish).

 

Anyway yakdung has no idea what hes talking about, just buy surplus when they are available cheap (no need to test one out like he says, thats just silly and a waste of double shipping).

i was plannin on buying 4 from centerfire, so you think thats a good plan?

 

do polymers have any advantages over steel? or are steel mags better to have

 

 

Yeah I think you have a good plan.

Polys do not freeze and are lighter. Just make sure you buy surplus com block or new K-Var poly mags as they have steel reinforcement where it counts. ALSO DO NOT BUY TAPCO OR PROMAG, only chumps who can't use the fucking search feature in this forum end up with those. You don't want your mags to break.

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Stay away from US Made magazines. Period.

The best prices are buying 4+ at a time deals.

Bakelite is a 1920's era plastic. If you want to collect them or need them for an AK-74 fine. For a 47 I'd go with steel.

Get some Hungarian 20 rounders and a couple of ten round Chinese mags for bench and prone shooting as you cannot shoot an AK prone with a 30 rounder.

Get a Chinese style 75round drum. They're available again and not too expensive.

All other Chinese 30rounders are rare and expensive. If you see one for cheap get it. These mags have no rear 'rib'.

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I prefer the bakelite the most for durability, heat resistance and corosion resisance, also color as they go good with bakelite furniture. The 762 bakelites are pretty expensive, but the East German bakelites are still cheap. The Izzy Plums next, and finally the Bulgarian Polys, although the Polish steel tantals are very good as well if not a little pricier.

Edited by jeepranch
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Surplus mags in general are good to go, but I've always heard bakelite is the strongest and most indestructible of them all. For $15 bucks you can't go wrong with the black Bulgy's or the Izzy plums.

 

The Izzy plums are by far my favorite followed by bakelite, thats just personal preference though, they all will work great.

 

 

 

 

 

Z

 

 

^^Agreed. The ones at centerfire have been sanitized and painted black by Arsenal Bulgaria (Not the guys in Vegas). They are plum magazines that the Russians sold/gave to the Bulgarians at one time or another. At $12 and change they are the best deal in the market right now. I have 4 of them (although I bought them a while ago from another vendor and used paint thinner and elbow grease to remove the black finish).

 

Anyway yakdung has no idea what hes talking about, just buy surplus when they are available cheap (no need to test one out like he says, thats just silly and a waste of double shipping).

i was plannin on buying 4 from centerfire, so you think thats a good plan?

 

do polymers have any advantages over steel? or are steel mags better to have

 

 

Yeah I think you have a good plan.

Polys do not freeze and are lighter. Just make sure you buy surplus com block or new K-Var poly mags as they have steel reinforcement where it counts. ALSO DO NOT BUY TAPCO OR PROMAG, only chumps who can't use the fucking search feature in this forum end up with those. You don't want your mags to break.

do the milsurp from centerfire have 'steel reinforcement where it counts' ?

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do the milsurp from centerfire have 'steel reinforcement where it counts' ?

 

Yes. They are just painted Izzy Plums.

 

As for the poster who says no US mags at all, I would agreee save for the units made in las vegas and marketed by K-Var. Several of the vendors that support these forums sell them as "arsenal" or "Circle-10" magazines and are really the only US mags worth a damn (Actually they only have a US floor Plate, Spring and Follower, so you can call them US/Bulgy Hybrids).

 

 

Anyway don't put to much thought into it. Buy surplus Comm-Block goods and they will do the job.

:smoke:

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I prefer the bakelite the most for durability, heat resistance and corosion resisance, also color as they go good with bakelite furniture. The 762 bakelites are pretty expensive, but the East German bakelites are still cheap. The Izzy Plums next, and finally the Bulgarian Polys, although the Polish steel tantals are very good as well if not a little pricier.

 

 

Im not a fan of bakelite. They are durable, but They cost about 6 or 7 times as much as other acceptable alternatives.

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I prefer the bakelite the most for durability, heat resistance and corosion resisance, also color as they go good with bakelite furniture. The 762 bakelites are pretty expensive, but the East German bakelites are still cheap. The Izzy Plums next, and finally the Bulgarian Polys, although the Polish steel tantals are very good as well if not a little pricier.

 

 

Im not a fan of bakelite. They are durable, but They cost about 6 or 7 times as much as other acceptable alternatives.

not sure where your buying yours, but some have them for 20 bucks, just have to remove the black paint Edited by jeepranch
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German Bakelite 5.45 mags run about $20-$40 depending on who's selling them, Izzy's and Tula's will typically be $50+ because of the rarity. Sometimes you can get a better deal on the Russian bakelite but it's not that often. German mags are usually in better condition, particularly the floorplates from what I've seen. The Izzy's and Tula's will still run like champs, they just look older.

 

 

Also when you're talking about the Arsenal US mags, you're not really talking US made mags. They are still Bulgarian and aren't true US made mags even though some have US floorplates and followers. The body is still combloc, just with a couple US parts :smoke:

You can do that with any surplus combloc mag if you need a couple extra compliance parts, I've done it to all my plum and bakelite mags.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Z

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Interesting.

 

Not a single mention of the available steel surplus magazines (e.g., the Tantal surplus mags? If one doesn't mind the additional weight, for overall durability and reliabilty, steel mags are better than any polymer or bakelite or any synthetic mag. I mean really? Where have you blokes been?

 

post-4853-1254672559732_thumb.jpg

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Interesting.

 

Not a single mention of the available steel surplus magazines (e.g., the Tantal surplus mags? If one doesn't mind the additional weight, for overall durability and reliabilty, steel mags are better than any polymer or bakelite or any synthetic mag. I mean really? Where have you blokes been?

 

post-4853-1254672559732_thumb.jpg

read post number 9 above
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Interesting.

 

Not a single mention of the available steel surplus magazines (e.g., the Tantal surplus mags? If one doesn't mind the additional weight, for overall durability and reliabilty, steel mags are better than any polymer or bakelite or any synthetic mag. I mean really? Where have you blokes been?

 

post-4853-1254672559732_thumb.jpg

read post number 9 above

 

I have never owned a polish plastic 5.45 mag, but the steel 5.45 mags are generally great.

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I prefer the bakelite the most for durability, heat resistance and corosion resisance, also color as they go good with bakelite furniture. The 762 bakelites are pretty expensive, but the East German bakelites are still cheap. The Izzy Plums next, and finally the Bulgarian Polys, although the Polish steel tantals are very good as well if not a little pricier.

Oh gee.... amazing how I missed the mention of the steel surplus mags....

 

:lolol:

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  • 3 weeks later...

Check out APEX gun parts. I've bought the black painted East German bakelites from them for $20 a piece. The Poles sanitized them with crappy black paint when they bought em in bulk. A little paint stripper and polishing and they look as good as they did when they were made.

 

Also picked up some steel Tantal mags from there too, $23 each. Very sturdy, but also noticeably heavier when loaded. The Bulgarian mags from AIM are excellent mags too....

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Check out Southern Ohio Gun. They are selling basically new Polish Steel Tantal magazines for just under $15.00. Just picked up ten from them and they all looked new.

 

 

SOG sells the plastic Polish mags:

AK-TSPMAG.jpg

 

I do not see the steel ones. But if anyone can find steel 5.45 mags for less than $14ea please PM me, Ill give you a prize.

Edited by bigsal
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