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Attention S12 Owners, Steel Mags Review


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Knowing full well I'd be preaching to the choir here, this review is intended for other forums that I frequent.

Feel free to offer any constructive criticism.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Attention Saiga12 owners!
High quality & reliable steel mags, that are 'Made In The USA' for the S-12 are a reality.

Manufactured by CSSPECS, Csspecs Magazines
Saiga 12g, 8rd, steel magazine, Saiga 12 gauge - Csspecs Magazines


S12csspecs8rd1_zps93fdc040.jpg

I've waited a long time to see reliable steel mags... Heck, any steel mags, for the S12 to become a reality. Well, here is my reality slap!
I now have six of these mags and let me sing their praises to you.
They are fantastic, from the fit, finish & function, to the aesthetics.

Lets unwrap one.
They are well packaged, paper wrapper around a plastic bag, the mag within wrapped in a anti-corrosion paper and lightly oiled.
mag1_zps7780fde4.jpg
mag2_zps5e0befcf.jpg
mag4_zps8c02ac05.jpg
mag5_zps5ef00cc8.jpg

This is what CSSPECS has to say about their product.

 

Long awaited stamped steel magazine for saiga 12 shotgun.
Magazine is all metal. Extra thick welded feed lips for long service life.
Finish is black nitride on magazine body, floor plate and spring guide.
Finish of follower is black oxide.

Magazine can be loaded with 9 shells on an open bolt. Or 8 rounds on a closed bolt.
Magazine is made for both 2 3/4" & 3" shells.
Some of the longer roll crimped 3" may not be compatible.
 
Magazine is slightly smaller than a 40 round AK magazine,
and could be compatible with web gear for RPKs.
 
Follower and feedlip assembly is not compatible
with factory LRBHO mechinisims.
And we have no information about function/alteration with magwells.
We are working on a fix for this for future batches.
 
Fitting is highly likely. Expect to file these to fit your shotgun.

 

 

 

Some pics showing the robust construction of these mags.

The Black Nitride finish is very tough.
When fitting the mag to the gun, just getting through the finish takes several swipes of the file.
Fitting if needed, is very easy and is done on the rear lug. Five minutes is all it took me to fit each mag.

The only Con I could find on these is the rib on the back.
It is very pronounced an can bite into the webbing of your hand during mag changes.
A strip of automotive door trim solves this issue.


mag6_zps591c0f43.jpg
mag7_zps92528903.jpg
mag8_zpsb7276b39.jpg
mag10_zps88c586c4.jpg
mag9_zpsfcee8fd4.jpg

 

2.75" Buck & Slugs
mag11_zps8918bcbc.jpg
mag12_zpscee39171.jpg
3" Magnum Buck.
mag13_zpsc883871c.jpg

Edited by ChileRelleno
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Nice! I've 3 on the way and will be adding more and more as the weeks go by.

Would really like to see a flat back version, where one side over laps the other enough to be spot welded. That and a 10rd version.

 

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What's up with the ribbing? Couldn't they have overlapped the metal?

This how CSSPECS explained it.

 

Ever try to fold paper over a round surface? It crumples up, because the surface area needs to decrease.

The ribbed back increases the surface area and helps pull the metal out of the die. Its also very strong, to cave the back of the magazine in, you have to bend 1/4" of steel.

 

To make a Chinese style flat back you actually make the same flange but an even deeper stamping, then on a second stage you shear off the extra metal. This leaves a nice crisp stamping but with no rib on the back.. They are also prone to distortion in heat treatment, due to the stresses left in from the shearing. And it makes the tooling 4X more expensive.

 

The AR-15 pattern magazine uses a step in the back to stretch the metal, similar to a ribbed back. However with a single stack magazine it give a lot of uncontrollable variables. And in the designs I could not get the feedlips to attach to the magazine in a way that would allow the rounds to slide up without hitting an edge.

 

When I make an .223 magazine, its probably going to be like an AR-15 at the back, simply because its a great design in that application.

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What's up with the ribbing? Couldn't they have overlapped the metal?

It is a vastly more complicated tooling set.

 

I may be able to make some flat backs by removing the rib and tig welding them. I'll try it on the next batch. They would be more expensive.

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Car trim goes a long way. While no rib would be nicer, it becomes nearly a non-issue with the trim.

 

Nice write up, Chile. Straight to the point.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Looks like a great mag..Is there a noticable weight difference between the steel 12rd and say a surefire 12rd mag? Just curious? I have a dozen or so mags still in the wrapper...may have sell some off and try a few. Nice write up Chile...Thanks.

Edited by sccritterkiller
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Looks like a great mag..Is there a noticable weight difference between the steel 12rd and say a surefire 12rd mag? Just curious? I have a dozen or so mags still in the wrapper...may have sell some off and try a few. Nice write up Chile...Thanks.

There aren't any 12s available, only 8s... Plans for 10s are apparently subject to demand.

I haven't a scale, but a steel 8 feels close to a poly 10.

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Looks like a great mag..Is there a noticable weight difference between the steel 12rd and say a surefire 12rd mag? Just curious? I have a dozen or so mags still in the wrapper...may have sell some off and try a few. Nice write up Chile...Thanks.

 

There aren't any 12s available, only 8s... Plans for 10s are apparently subject to demand.

I haven't a scale, but a steel 8 feels close to a poly 10.

I see that now on the 12rds....thank you sir!

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  • 3 weeks later...

 

What's up with the ribbing? Couldn't they have overlapped the metal?

It is a vastly more complicated tooling set.

 

I may be able to make some flat backs by removing the rib and tig welding them. I'll try it on the next batch. They would be more expensive.

 

Ok, so here is my question....

Cant you just make one of the folds (that are already utilized to form the rear of the magazine), just a little offset from the opposite side, so that side can overlap the other? Say both folds at the rear of the mag are at the 2-5/8" mark in the current configuration and the steel is 1/16" thick, fold one side at the normal 2-5/8" mark and the opposite side at 2-11/16". Then where they over lap, spot weld them to each other, using longer fingers on a pinch type spot welder, to get all the way into the mag body. Or maybe stamp out holes on the over lapping side for a roset weld (although that would be a manual weld process).

That route seems simple to me, perhaps I'm missing something that makes it more complicated....

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  • 1 month later...

Quick question I just picked up one of these steel mags haven't tried it out yet but is the floor plate suppost to just slide off te base? When I noticed it I removed it and put it back on and its seems its suppost to lock like must magazines do on that point! Did CSS make these this way to slide right off or did I get a bad batch?

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Its supposed to lock, Its not on all the way.. Probably slipped through without getting snapped on all the way.

 

Tap the front of the floor plate on something like a block of wood or a chunk of plastic. The retainer will snap in.

 

Here this should get you started.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0mzKJwhCY8&feature=youtu.be

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When I make an .223 magazine, its probably going to be like an AR-15 at the back, simply because its a great design in that application.

 

Does this mean the 223 magazine project will get under way soon? big_smile.gif

Edited by Jim Digriz
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