Questions on Galil mag use in Saiga .223

[stiletto raggio 20]

I already own a Galil and, after purchasing it, had the foresight to buy ten Orlite mags and a 50 round steel while they were still relatively cheap. I am about to undertake my first Saiga conversion and for economic reasons, I am going to make it a .223. I would like to have magazine commonality here because the biggest turn-off to .223 AKs is the funky mags. I did do some research on the thread before asking these questions, but there were three things I still don't full grasp.

 

1) I read that "a small amount of relief on the front of the mag" is needed to get Orlite's to work in the .223 Saiga. What exactly does this mean? Just sanding down the front of the mag a bit?

 

2) Dinzag make feed rails that specifically facilitate Galil mags. Is this with or without modifying the Galil mags? My worry is that modifying my Galil mags will effect their reliability in my Galil.

 

3) Nobody mentions the steel mags. Is anything necessary to make teh Galil steel mags work in a modified Saiga?

 

Anybody?

[nalioth 405]

This portion of the magazine needs to be removed so that it fits the mag well. After modification, it should still work fine in your Galil.

 

 

The search feature will get you lots more info on this.

Edited February 18, 2008 by nalioth

[stiletto raggio 20]

Awesome. One down, two to go.

[crowak 12]

You have to modify the mag no manner what type of feed ramp you use. I suggest using Dinzags bullet guide, I have one and it works flawlessly with my Galil mags. Plus he supplies the tap and drill bit.

 

I have read somewhere that the steel 50 rounders take more modifications to work reliably in a Saiga.

[vjor 2]

Brother, I dont mod the orlites any more, I open the mag well to take unmod orlites,

yes I use dinsag feed ramps or bullet guides, well I can do my own but

the diman guides are good, on steel mags the spring does not have

as much tension as the orlites plus the fallow er is different, let the bolt

push down on the bullets and cause the case to get stock as it feeds.

 

I havent play a lot with the metal galil mags on my guns, cause shit load

of orlites and bulgarians mags.

 

Yes even with mag well open to take unmod orlites, the gun will take

Bulgarians mags, the Bulgarians have to be mod a little, cause

they are made for short locking lugs on the mag well like AK74 mag well

the saiga as full lugs like and AK47 or AKM, thats is why the galil mag

fit on the saigas mag well, the galil rifles wells are copy after AKM

mag wells not AK74 mag wells. The Bulgarian mags have to be cut on the top front

a little to fit the mag well of a saiga.

 

Dinzag bullet guides will fit your rifle, but you have to see if the trunnion is cut

or round, before you ordering a bullet guide from him, I have both kind of trunnions

round and cut on .223 on the cut I have my own bullet guide and on the round I have

Dinzag bullet guide, but he makes guides for both types of trunnions .

 

One thing, people that have cut there lugs on the saigas to take unmod ak74 mags

usually have a hard time using galil mags, miss feeds and bullets get stock as it feeds

plus rocking up and down on the mag well big time. Have seen use of proxies or other stuff

to make them work but leave gun vulnerable to miss feeds and other problems as poxis

brake or wear out after heavy use.

 

In few is more than one way to skin a cat, the easier way to use orlites is to cut on the sides

of the front to fit the mags on the saiga mag well ( like naliot post). or go the hard way

and open the mag well.

 

 

Carlo.

[nalioth 405]

One thing, people that have cut there lugs on the saigas to take unmod ak74 mags

usually have a hard time using galil mags, miss feeds and bullets get stock as it feeds

plus rocking up and down on the mag well big time. Have seen use of proxies or other stuff

to make them work but leave gun vulnerable to miss feeds and other problems as poxis

brake or wear out after heavy use.

Yep, if you grind your Saiga to use regular ol' commie AK mags, it won't work well (if at all) with the galil mags.

[topmaul 42]

what we did was to build the front lip of the magazine with JB Weld it has held out so far. we also had to take a little off the sides to they would seat. Galil mags tend to sit a little lower in the rifle than commie ak mags. It seems to work though. we tried to make the galil match the oem mags

Edited February 19, 2008 by topmaul

[termite 463]

Seems kind of strange that ALL I did to my gun was add a bullet guide and the 50 rounders work fine, they do have some side to side movement, or wiggle, or what ever you want to call it. Now, the 32 round orilites, I did have to take the dremel and sand the ribs down to get them to go in and lock up. I have a problem getting pictures to post on here like normal people, so Stiletto, send me a PM with e-mail and I'll send pics of my mags for you to look at. But the 50 rounders do flop from side to side, but not so bad as to make them un-shootable.

[ArcFault 4]

This is what I did with my 50.

 

http://forum.saiga-12.com/index.php?showtopic=15274&hl=

 

I'm pretty sure that I didn't have to grind the top front like I did, I think that I should have just let it wear in instead, but the mods to the locking lugs were probably a good idea in my case.

 

If you want interchangeability you should probably just leave it alone. If it worked for termite, it will probably work for you too. Just use Dinzags guide, at this point I believe that it was because I was using my own guide that I had to do what I did.

 

Good luck.

[kaz8772 0]

When you grind the Orlites, don't just grind them flat - grind them at angle and bevel the edge. All of mine lock up tight, and there is no side to side wobble.

 

[vjor 2]

When you grind the Orlites, don't just grind them flat - grind them at angle and bevel the edge. All of mine lock up tight, and there is no side to side wobble.

 

 

That is a good idea, when I used to do that, I just file enough for the mag to fit tight as hell

but that idea is great kaz8772. man I like simple solutions makes life a lot easier.