Review of Liberty Magazines

[netpackrat 566]

[monomonk 0]

No offense to industrious entrepreneurs, but my opinion is that we should forget about these crudely modified 17 round mags. Pay a little more and get the FBMG 20 rounders. Some people have had problems with them, but I have six and all that I have used so far have worked fine. And they have the professional appearance I appreciate. FBMG made a number of serious mistakes in producing and marketing these mags, but the final product turned out well. If you can get your hands on some of these mags, I think you will be pleased. They really are the answer to the prayers of Saiga .308 owners.

 

Monomonk

[buckandaquarterquarterstaff 5]

I dunno, my experience with saiga shottys tells me that you should range fire them to see if you have any issues. Hand cycling them doesn't provide nearly the forces that actual live firing them does.

 

Also, if I remember correctly the guy would exchange them if you had issues. So there are at lest two things you can try to satisfy yourself that they might work OK for you. At worst you should be able to get some reliable backup mags of a reasonably high capacity. I agree that the welds look a bit sketchy, but given the implied warrantys I'd let they guy make good on it, and let us know how that part of your experience goes.

 

Thanks for taking the plunge on these either way.

[mk23 0]

Are the FBMG 20 rounders currently available?

[Oswald2001 0]

I give an 'A' for effort to the maker of the 17 round mags.

 

He is in the arena giving this project his best efforts.

 

 

 

I would, however, choose to go with the FBMG mags.

[netpackrat 566]

I dunno, my experience with saiga shottys tells me that you should range fire them to see if you have any issues. Hand cycling them doesn't provide nearly the forces that actual live firing them does.

 

It isn't a matter of not having enough force, it is a matter of there being too much slop in the lockup, causing things to not line up, as far as I can tell. My experience with the factory .308 mag and with the other AK rifles I have built tells me that I should expect them to hand cycle correctly.

 

Also, if I remember correctly the guy would exchange them if you had issues. So there are at lest two things you can try to satisfy yourself that they might work OK for you. At worst you should be able to get some reliable backup mags of a reasonably high capacity. I agree that the welds look a bit sketchy, but given the implied warrantys I'd let they guy make good on it, and let us know how that part of your experience goes.

 

Well, it isn't just the feeding. You have to really force these into the magwell, and I am worried that eventually it will damage the magazine catch. I don't think a replacement mag would be any better in that regard unless he changes the way they are built.

[netpackrat 566]

I give an 'A' for effort to the maker of the 17 round mags.

 

He is in the arena giving this project his best efforts.

 

 

 

I would, however, choose to go with the FBMG mags.

 

+1. It's just disappointing.

[muttman2 0]

netpack rat,

this is what liberty mags should look like. ther are some big problems with ( liberty ) mags from the photos that you have posted. the photos that I have posted come from

 

http://pookieweb.dyndns.org:61129/AKM/AK_308/mag_308.htm

 

he made some big time changes to the gun to get the mages to work but they do work.

 

muttman2

[buckandaquarterquarterstaff 5]

I dunno, my experience with saiga shottys tells me that you should range fire them to see if you have any issues. Hand cycling them doesn't provide nearly the forces that actual live firing them does.

 

It isn't a matter of not having enough force, it is a matter of there being too much slop in the lockup, causing things to not line up, as far as I can tell. My experience with the factory .308 mag and with the other AK rifles I have built tells me that I should expect them to hand cycle correctly.

 

Also, if I remember correctly the guy would exchange them if you had issues. So there are at lest two things you can try to satisfy yourself that they might work OK for you. At worst you should be able to get some reliable backup mags of a reasonably high capacity. I agree that the welds look a bit sketchy, but given the implied warrantys I'd let they guy make good on it, and let us know how that part of your experience goes.

 

Well, it isn't just the feeding. You have to really force these into the magwell, and I am worried that eventually it will damage the magazine catch. I don't think a replacement mag would be any better in that regard unless he changes the way they are built.

 

It's your money. If it were mine I'd get him to replace them with something workable and if he can't then that's the real sign of failure. Look on the bright side, you'll probably have three sets of mags delievered before FBMG gets you one.

[netpackrat 566]

Ignoring feeding, they need to be redesigned for easier insertion. I'm not really interested in trading for another example of the same thing.

[lollygagger 1]

[Cryptkeeper 0]

I've been waiting on my FBMG mags for over 7 months now still nothing

[lollygagger 1]

I've been waiting on my FBMG mags for over 7 months now still nothing

 

Looks like is the Ruger "marketing" approach.

 

My take is to maybe get a spare factory mag, tweak all to feed 10 rounds (that is enough in .308)...

 

And, IF 20 rounders are common;y available sometime -cool. If not, the panties-in-a-knot routine that some exhibit, is both unbecoming and does not prompt things anyway.

Edited September 25, 2007 by lollygagger

[buckandaquarterquarterstaff 5]

I've been waiting on my FBMG mags for over 7 months now still nothing

 

Looks like is the Ruger "marketing" approach.

 

My take is to maybe get a spare factory mag, tweak all to feed 10 rounds (that is enough in .308)...

 

And, IF 20 rounders are common;y available sometime -cool. If not, the panties-in-a-knot routine that some exhibit, is both unbecoming and does not prompt things anyway.

 

Yes, but...

 

When I called FBMG a few time on the same order, the order arrived. It does seem that FBMG monitors this board from time to time, and they have a good track record of making good for those that air out their frustrations here (unbecomming or not).

[netpackrat 566]

My take is to maybe get a spare factory mag, tweak all to feed 10 rounds (that is enough in .308)...

 

My factory mag only holds 5.... so WTF? It looks like every other Saiga factory mag I have seen in pictures. Can I still modify it to take 10 rounds? And if not, what are the other differences between it and the 8 round factory mags?

[lollygagger 1]

My take is to maybe get a spare factory mag, tweak all to feed 10 rounds (that is enough in .308)...

 

My factory mag only holds 5.... so WTF? It looks like every other Saiga factory mag I have seen in pictures. Can I still modify it to take 10 rounds? And if not, what are the other differences between it and the 8 round factory mags?

 

I don't know what your 5 rounder looks like...

 

Here is the factory 8 rounder with what is cut off the follower (and spring) to allow for 10 rounds to cycle (with the floor plate lock removed).

 

 

Maybe that can give you something to compare yours to.

 

Note: Some have said that they got 10 rounds in the mag WITHOUT removing the locking plate...but it would not work with 10 rounds in the gun -that is because the last round needs to be able to be depressed about half it's diameter. That is why the lock has to go (the floor plate will have to be secured at the bottom back with a screw to avoid recoiling loose).

 

Important: The "guide" on the front side of the follower needs to have a portion, just a small amount, left as it serves as a "stop" for the folower -fail to do that and the last rounds may misfeed.

 

Also FWIW, if you don't mind the mag looking a bit odd, the old trick where you use the bottom half of a HK G3 mag rigged as a "extension" into the bottom of a standard Saiga mag, and, modify the HK G3 folower (a little trim off the sides & some taper at the front so it passes thru the Saiga mag body) -actually works pretty well. It yields a functioning 25 round mag. For $3-4, you can usually find some old HK G3 beat up aluminum mag to experiment with -a moderately experienced mag tweaker can do this (fun project...yes, it is reversable).

 

if so inclined, some views (looks best in black)...

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v419/Lol...igamagmod-a.jpg

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v419/Lol...igamagmod-4.jpg

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v419/Lol...igamagmod-2.jpg

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v419/Lol...igamagmod-5.jpg

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v419/Lol...igamagmod-8.jpg

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v419/Lol...igamagmad-7.jpg

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v419/Lol...igamagmod-1.jpg

 

What's with these 5 round mags anyway (New issue? Certain states?)?

Edited September 26, 2007 by lollygagger

[muttman2 0]

I like this mod. now If I can spend for mags. thanks for posting this. muttman2