Magazine problems, Saiga & Pro Mag.

[Mike38 26]

[bigstang 9]

i kinda had the same problem. i finished the complete conversion,g2 tg,piston,pistol grig, wood,and wold extra power spring. i fired it a few times before i installed the new piston and shot fine( i use wolf) then i tried after i installed and it fired the first rd fine just every round after would jam 1/2 wasy up the case again i used wold. I played with it for a few days and finally brought it to my LGS and she put some Brass case ammom and went down stairs and it fired fine????? then i bot a box of pmc and it fired fine as soon as i use steel case stuff it james the case like u said, 1/2 way up. but i found a sight i can get steel tip brass pmc for 5.99 a box so i dont mind.

 

So its gonna be brass all the way the rest of the way for me

 

and yeah the promags always break so u are better getting a sure fire mag or keep the promags and get a bullet guide so u can use any mill surplus mags or your broken promags lol

Edited December 5, 2010 by bigstang

[jimdigriz 580]

[jimdigriz 580]

i kinda had the same problem. i finished the complete conversion,g2 tg,piston,pistol grig, wood,and wold extra power spring. i fired it a few times before i installed the new piston and shot fine( i use wolf) then i tried after i installed and it fired the first rd fine just every round after would jam 1/2 wasy up the case again i used wold. I played with it for a few days and finally brought it to my LGS and she put some Brass case ammom and went down stairs and it fired fine????? then i bot a box of pmc and it fired fine as soon as i use steel case stuff it james the case like u said, 1/2 way up. but i found a sight i can get steel tip brass pmc for 5.99 a box so i dont mind.

 

So its gonna be brass all the way the rest of the way for me

 

Something is wrong if it won't feed steel-cased ammo, and should be addressed.

[marsofold 6]

Buy a surefire magazine just to diagnose whether it is a magazine problem or a rifle problem. Surefires are the best magazines out there for a non-modified Saiga rifle.

[Mike38 26]

[Paulry 50]

Less than 5 minutes with a small rat tail file and all my .223 Promags work great! I do not need a Bullet guide in all my .223 Saiga's due to my use of a large number of Surefire and Promags. If you file the tab at an angle so the bullet nose and case neck don't just slam into the too high and wrongly shaped stock guide tab, then they work just fine. Only other issue might be spring tension. I sensed one of my Promags might be a little spring soft but have yet to have one be a problem, yet. I also smooth out the inside so the follower moves without hangups. I use the Promags for practice and would rely on my 5.45x39 mil spec rifles for protection (damn, if you saw how that bullet reacts to target media, you would too).

 

[Paulry 50]

are big). The biggest problem out of the bag is the poorly designed bullet guide. This problem is well documented. I like the posts showing the epoxy added to shore up the plastic tab they use for a bullet guide, but I know epoxy does not hold well with the mag material. So, without wasting any more time, let me say the one and only one reason to even type this:

 

IT ADDS THREE 922R COMPLIANCE PARTS

 

I guarantee in many of the photos of Saiga's with foreign mags, by using those mags, the rifles are out of compliance! This is a big problem but not discussed. The Surefires (which I have many) and the ProMags are all 3 parts 922r compliant. Unless you have a US follower or base plate in that Bulgy mag, you better have more 922r items in your rifle (with stock forearm, pistol grip and muzzle device).

 

I have time to waste with swine flu and was going to do the epoxy move on a ProMag with a steel backup when I noticed the "Wall of Polymer" they used for a piss poor bullet guide, I noticed it was way too high and had no taper feeds for the bullet. I got out the small rattail file and went to work. I've documented what I found. It's no secret why everyone has the plastic tab break off, the damn bullet and case mouth slam right into it. That's when the feed angle is perfect, set lower and pow off it goes. The following photos document my findings and what I did to fix it. I'll shoot the modded mag and follow up a report.

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[jimdigriz 580]

Hi Frosty,

Good to see you posting again.

 

IT ADDS THREE 922R COMPLIANCE PARTS

 

I guarantee in many of the photos of Saiga's with foreign mags, by using those mags, the rifles are out of compliance! This is a big problem but not discussed. The Surefires (which I have many) and the ProMags are all 3 parts 922r compliant. Unless you have a US follower or base plate in that Bulgy mag, you better have more 922r items in your rifle (with stock forearm, pistol grip and muzzle device).

 

It would be a shame if 922r compliance issues lead one to choose sub-standard mags. The reason I bought a Kalashnikov originally was for the legendary toughness and reliability; I don't want to undermine that by using crappy mags.

 

I think foreign wood is the main thing that leads to compliance issues. By going with U.S. polymer furniture (at least in the stock and pistol grip) and a U.S. FCG, people should be OK to use the foreign mags.

 

Jim

[vintagedude88 16]

The Pro-mags work great with the tab cut off if you use a Dinzag bullet guide. If you want your factory mags to work just cut off the tab on that as well and use it with the Dinzag bullet guide.

 

I would rather mod all the mags the same way knowing that it will always work because of the trunnion mounted bullet guide than guess whether which mag's body bullet guide will work or fail.

[Mike38 26]

[Paulry 50]

Mike and JD,

Ya, I hear you. I bought into a few .223 Saiga Pro Mags in the panic before the election. Just decided to make them work and so far they have. I have a large number of Sure Fire in .223 and they work great. I just decided to use only these two mag brands in my .223 Saiga's due to the "no bullet guide" issue. I have many factory 10 rounds, 15, 20 and 30 round Sure Fire that work fine. I always seem to use the Modded Pro Mags (see above) at the range and they work like greased lighting! A few minutes with a small rat tail file (for chain saws I think) and they are fine. I would not stake my life on them. I leave that to the AK74's and Saiga 7.62x39 with bullet guide. Not to knock the Sure Fire Mags as they are fine by me.

 

I've just not been able to get to the range this fall. Weather SUCKS in MInn these days. We have 0 degree's and 18" of snow AGAIN!

 

 

I was just too busy and we had a lot of rain before the cold. This was the quickest summer of my life. I'm really having a tough time with my eye sight and need a scope to use on the Saiga 5.45x39.

 

 

Frosty

 

[Paulry 50]

Oh, the post above with all the photos is from one over a year ago, I just copied and pasted it in and it lost the discriptive titles on all the photos!!!!!!!

 

 

Sorry.

 

The cartridge feed photos don't make sence with out them.

 

 

 

 

[Mike38 26]

[bohound 281]

Further proof that ProMag is a pack of adolescents with the collective cognitive abilities of a retarded spaniel:

 

The feed lips in one of my .223 30 rounders broke, so I thought "What the heck, there's a lifetime guarantee". I called in, got the return number, and sent the mag back for replacement. About a month later, I got a new in box mag from them. (I'm thinking to myself at this point: Wow, a brand new mag!) Too bad it is for 7.62 X 39. I gave it to my brother that has a 7.62. It's his problem now.

 

ProMag products are shit, their attention to detail is non-existent, and they are generally an all around Charlie Foxtrot. I'm done doing business with them, and I do and will continue to tell all who will listen, here, at gun shows, on the range, and anywhere I see anyone about to make a mistake by purchasing a ProMag product.

 

Don't buy ProMag!!!

[Mike38 26]

[bohound 281]

...Or in my case, they send a replacement, equally inferior product in the wrong caliber!

 

The more I read this and think about it, the more I think I may start a rant on ProMag in the wall of shame. They really got my goat.

[Woods 501st 1]

I recently took my Saiga 223 out for its first shoot and fired off 20 or so rounds out of the factory mag with no problem. After, I loaded 6 rounds into a 30 round Promag. First round chambered and fired with no problem. Second round chambered but when I pulled the trigger by buddy sitting next to me said he saw sparks and flash out of the action and the round was not ejected. After clearing the jam we noticed that the second round had never actually "fired" the bullet as it fragmented inside the casing and a fair amount of gunpowder poured out. Having never seen this before we cleared the action, checked for debris/obstructions and tried again and ran into a mis-feed...sigh. Long story short I noticed that the round were sitting oddly in the promag; where the bullets seemed to be slightly scraping the inner wall of the mag--similar to the third picture shown above by Fluid.

 

Whether or not this caused the malfunction, I have no idea and would love to find out. Has anyone experienced this type of malfunction before? I really hope this is just the magazine and not the a problem with the rifle itself.

 

**On a side note, unfortunately the range officer took the round so I was unable to really take a picture of the problem child bullet**

Edited September 7, 2011 by Woods 501st

[vulcan16 971]

ProMags suck,