Bakelite 5.56 mag question

[A3379 2]

I was out looking for a few 5.45x39 mags and i saw a bakelite 5.56 mag with the arsenal code 11 on the side of it. Anyone knows the origine and value of this mag?

 

Thanks

[pyzik 597]

I don't think there is such a thing. Century stamped/wrote .223 on some 5.45 bakelite mags for their WASR-3 & SAR-3 builds.

There were .223 followers out there at one time that you could install into a 5.45 mag but even these did not function 100%.

 

I would stay away from them.

[NickWhite 7]

I've got the 5.45 to a 223 mag and the only work the first 15 or so rounds. After that it's garbage. Made a nice 30 to 10 rounder for CA compliance (I just blocked it, no damage to mag)

[mikebaker1129 19]

All of mine German bakelite with the Robinson Arms follower work great. The Century made mags did not have the R/A follower installed in them and this is the reason so many people talk about how the .223 mags do not work when they do.

There is a guy on another forum that talks alot about geometry and the .223 cases in a 5.45 and so on ,but mine work just fine.

ow the conversion is hardly worth while these days with the price of 5.45 mags and the RA followers are hard to locate and are no longer made.

If anyone has any of those junk bakelite .223 mags to sell let me know.

[vulcan16 971]

I use my 223 stamped Bakerlite in my 5.45. Works great.

[Jaba1017 71]

I came across some bakelite mags in the discount bin at a pawn shop. Not knowing anything about them, and the price being cheap I bought them. After some research I determined that they were Century SAR-3 mags converted from 5.45 mags. The only conversion I really noticed was that the interior of the magazine was opened up to accommodate the longer shoulder of the .223 round. The followers look stock 5.45. Notwithstanding, after a little modification they snapped right into the Saiga .223.

 

Performance wise these mags suck. The curvature of the magazine is wrong for .223. That causes the rear of the casings to be too low to be caught by the bolt when the mag is loaded beyond 10 to 15 rounds. The fewer the bullets in the mag, the less pronounced the effect of the extra curvature in the magazine. The last round is also too low because the follower does not rise sufficiently to trap the round against the top of the mag. The result is the last shot always jams because the bolt strikes it to high to chamber it. So basically these mags are good for 10 rounds with the last round jamming the action open. Maybe that Century's intent for a bolt hold open mechanism.

[Matthew Hopkins 1,065]

if you're looking for a 5.56 AK mag to work in a SAR-3 or a WASR-3, the TAPCO GOLANI/GAILIL works great, I just returned from the range to check it out and it functioned without a hiccup. inserting in the mag well will be TIGHT!!! I mean really, really tight. had to really push it in there, but after 2 or 3 insertions it wasn't so bad . there is a bit of movement front to back, but that won't affect feeding at all.

 

I picked up the mag for 15 bucks which beats paying the crazy kind of money WEIGER mags are going for now.