SGM Mag Review with video.

[paprotective 362]

I did this post on another forum.. but since ALOT of people are on here as well and may want to buy the SGM 7.62x54R magazine..

 

Heres a picture of a factory 5 round VEPR 7.62x54R magazine

 

Its 4 3/4" in height.

 

 

Taken apart.. notice the long anti-tilt leg and the raised notch on the follower.

 

 

They machined a 'track' into the magazine to act as a guide for the follower.. pretty slick IMHO.

 

 

The feedlips are 3.17mm in thickness.

 

The bottom of the mag has a small variance in thickness front to back..

 

3.10mm in the front and it tapers out to 3.19mm in the rear..

 

There is also a groove for the floor-plate to slide into..

 

Very robust IMHO..

 

I would advise against trying to modify for a few extra rounds.. between the follower having the raised portion (which is small) to ride in the mag.. and the base having it appears not much excess room to still fit the spring after compression..

 

The SGM 7.62x54R 10 round mag just got here from CSS..

 

Its about 8 1/8" long.

 

 

Has the same follower style.

 

Spring is SHORTER than the factory one by about 2" and 3 coils/twists missing.. Baseplate is EXTERNAL..

 

 

The width on the SGM mag (20.67mm) is not as wide as the factory mag (which is 20.89mm)

 

 

The magazine nub is more angle cut on the SGM than the factory 'squared one' (bottom)

 

Thinking for both VEPR rifle types and more ease of fitment..

 

 

The mag bottom measurements were 2.79mm toward the front and just 3.00mm near the back.. the back seam area is 2.82mm thick.

 

Noticeable issues..

 

The SGM mag when loaded has a 1/8" gap between the 1st round and the mag feedlip near the rear edge and the round tips front to back abit.

 

 

The factory VEPR magazine does NOT have any room.. its up there.. and no wiggle of the 1st round..

 

 

The mag feed angle 'at the bump' is the same.. but not the DROP in the back (SGM on left, Factory on right).

 

 

The 'grooves' for the follower track don't seem to come up as high as the factory track.. which would explain the 1/8" difference.

 

Which still seems to IMHO not be good..

 

I swapped the followers to see if that would matter on the 1st round issue.. it does not.. there is still the 1/8" wiggle.

 

The factory VEPR follower doesn't sit 100% correct in the SGM mag.. (<< side note)

 

After loading round #2 and on there is no wiggle..

 

I think the last round fired may be an issue with the SGM but I will need to get out and test that.. (see note at bottom)

 

You can get 11 rounds into the SGM magazine.. and their is a abit of space after, but you cannot get 12 rounds into it.

 

Ban states above 10 are screwed.

 

After unloading 10.. round #1 still has that wiggle..

 

For a RANGE MAG this is probably fine.. I will test with a single round a few times to check the feeding..

 

Questions on the mag and the flex/expansion issue as noted by others online.

 

The feed lips on the SGM when loaded to 10 measure 21.37mm near the front of the lips and 20.07mm near the rear of the lips..

 

Keep in mind it was 20.67mm in the middle of the 'lips' during the above review when EMPTY. so yes it expands almost 1mm..

 

The factory mag is 20.93mm and 20.89mm when loaded with the 5 rounds.

 

Short 1 minute video at the range.. (crappy digital camera)

 

http://youtu.be/TT6ZZ_rVH4Q

 

I ran 2 mags of 10 rounds with 0 issues..

 

The single round issue..

 

When firing more than 1 round (aka 2+ rounds loaded) it worked fine.. with just 1 round in the mag.. the action would NOT pull back (the single round of ammo seemed to be hitting the bolt). I loaded 2 rounds and then it would function.. ..

 

The irony is it will function normal otherwise.. maybe the force by the action is stronger coming back.. I dunno..

Edited November 17, 2012 by YWHIC

[U.S. Pratorean 1,234]

They are not exact copies of the Molot mags but I pulled the follower and spring and stretched the spring somwhat and that seemed to help with certain issues. I at first had problems with the rounds not positioning to enter the chamber at the proper angle. The "tamp the bottom" of a loaded mag manuever to seat the rounds only made it worse. I too experienced the unable to cycle the action with one round in the mag but after stretching the springs and cycling several fully loaded mags the issues seemed to resolve. In addition at first, when fully loaded the feed lips spread so as the mag could not be inserted into the gun as it was now too wide to mate to the magwell recess.

These especially for the price, need to revised and need to made of steel. As range mags they are GTG but I am rating these at 75-85% at this juncture. I have not had one fail to feed yet while live firing so that is definitely a good trend but I am not at the 100% reliability point. The mags are rated as 10 rounds, I don't try to load more than that and if it becoames a legal issue for some, SGM need to remarket these as 11 rounders. (I don't live in a commie state).