AK mag experts please come in!

[Terminator03]

Well, as many of you know I finally got my first AK a couple of weeks back (M&M M10-762). It came with a poly 10 round mag, and since that grew old quickly, I decided that some 30 rd. pre-bans were in order, so I bought some and they finally arrived today. They appear to be in very decent condition, but when I started loading them up, that's when I became concerned. Out of the 4, only the oldest looking one took all of the rounds correctly. The others seemed to have follower issues where they would jam after about 15-20 rounds, and on one I couldn't even get the rounds back out without disassembling the mag, and slamming it against a solid surface to dislodge them. The mags have no external dents, or other damage that would likely be a culprit for this type of binding. If this is a follower issue, is there an "improved" polymer follower out there like the ones Magpul makes for AR mags? Other suggestions? I haven't had a chance to see how they cycle in actual fire, but based on how they feel in static loading, I believe they will have feeding issues. Any suggestions on what I can do to improve these, or smooth out the action will be greatly appreciated!

 

[Dench]

I would start with taking the mag apart and fully scrubbing the body and follower. wipe the spring down with a cloth, throw it back together and see what happens.

if that doesnt work I would think the mag body is deformed.

 

[Terminator03]

I would start with taking the mag apart and fully scrubbing the body and follower. wipe the spring down with a cloth, throw it back together and see what happens.

if that doesnt work I would think the mag body is deformed.

Thanks, I will give that a shot, since they did seem to have some oily residue. I did look them over well, and there doesn't appear to be any obvious deformation, dents, crushing, etc.

 

[billmelater]

I use a paint stirring stick to see how smoothly they work empty. I'll soak them in a tray of mineral spirits for a while, then dismantle and clean the body with a 12 ga bore brush. Scrape the gummy crud off the sides of the follower, blow dry and re-assemble. You may see marks on the follower if it's been scraping a dent.
They say it's not necesary, but I coat them inside and out very lightly with CLP. Hopefully, I'll never have to touch them again.

 

[Terminator03]

I use a paint stirring stick to see how smoothly they work empty. I'll soak them in a tray of mineral spirits for a while, then dismantle and clean the body with a 12 ga bore brush. Scrape the gummy crud off the sides of the follower, blow dry and re-assemble. You may see marks on the follower if it's been scraping a dent.
They say it's not necesary, but I coat them inside and out very lightly with CLP. Hopefully, I'll never have to touch them again.

Thanks, that sounds like a good plan for cleaning them up. I guess, I just got excited to load them all up to get them ready for my next range trip, and didn't figure on having to strip them down before use. I guess I was spoiled by buying all N.O.S. Colt pre-bans for my AR, and they were perfect, and ran flawlessly right out of the box.

 

[flintoid]

cosmoline.

I had one steel RPK mag that doesn't take a "full load" and that's because it is deformed. It took a blow in a previous life.

If they don't look dented or bent, just clean em out.

 

[Terminator03]

cosmoline.

I had one steel RPK mag that doesn't take a "full load" and that's because it is deformed. It took a blow in a previous life.

If they don't look dented or bent, just clean em out.

That makes me feel more hopeful, thanks. As I said they look really good externally, and even the finish coating is nearly perfect on all but one, which just has finish wear, but no dents, or gouges. Ironically that worst looking one is the only one that took all the rounds in the way it should with no binding. I will take them all apart and give them a thorough cleaning at this point, since it sounds like that is the likely culprit.

I mentioned this in the OP, but no one addressed my other question yet. Does anyone make an "improved" follower upgrade like the Magpul ones?

 

[drgrant]

There are also some shitty mags that CAI or someone like that has been injecting into the gun show circuit.

No, nobody makes an improved follower because it's not necessary. The only followers made are US ones and thats only for 922R parts count BS, not function issues.

-Mike

 

[bawannabuck]

I use a grafite based paint sold at tractor supply,its black and matches the mag just clean the inside body and a few light coats let dry for a day or more.Worked for me.

 

[Dench]

I mentioned this in the OP, but no one addressed my other question yet. Does anyone make an "improved" follower upgrade like the Magpul ones?

Not that I know of. AK mag followers are diesel and dont need to be replaced.

 

[bfm]

One thing I have noticed on a few mags is that sometimes a round, normally one of the top two, can slide forward during loading so that the tip drags along the front of the mag. I always try to load with the spine facing down to avoid this as it can jam up the feeding.

 

[45collector]

One thing I have noticed on a few mags is that sometimes a round, normally one of the top two, can slide forward during loading so that the tip drags along the front of the mag. I always try to load with the spine facing down to avoid this as it can jam up the feeding.

Yep I do the same. But with most mags, once the round is seated all the way in the mag, it doesn't matter if it's positioned more forwards or backwards. If that did matter, life would suck.

 

[bfm]

Yep I do the same. But with most mags, once the round is seated all the way in the mag, it doesn't matter if it's positioned more forwards or backwards. If that did matter, life would suck.

Normally it doesn't, I have had the nose of a round go far enough forward to deform and jam the mag. Only had it happen if it got bad while loading, never had it happen after a mag was loaded and had started shooting.

 

[flintoid]

with hollow points, you have more issues with the feed issues inside the mag. More surface area = more friction. They also hang up on combloc bullet guides, so I usually just stay away from them.

 

[Terminator03]

There are also some shitty mags that CAI or someone like that has been injecting into the gun show circuit.

No, nobody makes an improved follower because it's not necessary. The only followers made are US ones and thats only for 922R parts count BS, not function issues.

-Mike

Thanks Mike. I don't know anything about the origin of these as far as what country they were made in, or anything like that. I didn't notice any obvious markings, or stamps on them.

I use a grafite based paint sold at tractor supply,its black and matches the mag just clean the inside body and a few light coats let dry for a day or more.Worked for me.

That sounds like it would be a good product that would protect against corrosion, lubricate, yet not collect crud like oil, or grease would. I will look into that.

Not that I know of. AK mag followers are diesel and dont need to be replaced.

That was kind of what I figured would be the case, and was just waiting for someone to say it.

 

[Terminator03]

One thing I have noticed on a few mags is that sometimes a round, normally one of the top two, can slide forward during loading so that the tip drags along the front of the mag. I always try to load with the spine facing down to avoid this as it can jam up the feeding.

I did notice that while loading too, and made a deliberate push on each round to ensure it seated against the back. There seemed to be almost no margin for error in the length of the rounds clearance-wise.

 

[Terminator03]

Ok, I decided to take a bit of time to de-bug these mags, and I seem to have found the culprit with at least one of the mags. Check out the pics below, which aren't the greatest, but should show what's happening here. After around 20 rounds are loaded, it would bind up, and the top rounds would be loose enough to fall out, but I couldn't even force anymore in.

It appears that the spot weld changed the internal dimension enough to cause the overall length of the round to jam in place. Has anyone ever seen, or had to deal with this before?

 

[Inferno]

Waaay too tight. There should be some wiggle room for those rounds!

Looks like it's just a defective mag unfortunately.

 

[flintoid]

first off- what the hell do those sticky notes say? "I love you but I blew a cock"???


secondly- I've never seen anything like that. What does the outside of the mag look like? Any stamped proof marks on the spine? (so we can identify where it is from), are those HP rounds? Soft point? etc? What do the spot welds look like? Are they deep? Short? Small? What does the mag look like? I want to see side photos, spine photos, and spot weld photos.... that aren't out of focus .... so we know what the hell this thing is.

judging by spot weld dimples on the feed lips, it almost looks to be egyptian. If you take a picture of the back of the lips near the retention tooth, I'll be able to see the other defining spot welds on the rear. You can derive the maker from proof marks, spot weld characteristics, finish, and cosmoline smell (if you are, you know, into that sort of kinky shit).

I've never seen anything like that before. And I have owned a ton of 7.62 mags.

 

[atilla]

it's similar behavior to a mag i own--but worse. post moar pics!

 

[Dench]

mags out of spec.

shit can it and move on.

AK mags are like $13. I wouldnt put more than 20 mins into trying to fix one.


http://www.aimsurplus.com/product.a...i+Steel+AK47+7.62x39+30rd+Magazine&groupid=15


go for it.

 

[Terminator03]

mags out of spec.

shit can it and move on.

AK mags are like $13. I wouldnt put more than 20 mins into trying to fix one.



http://www.aimsurplus.com/product.a...i+Steel+AK47+7.62x39+30rd+Magazine&groupid=15


go for it.

I'm going to attempt to remove some metal from the offending area before throwing it out. I'd love to be able to order the ones on that link, but it says right at the top they won't ship to MA, so I would have a logistical problem there, unfortunately.

 

[Terminator03]

first off- what the hell do those sticky notes say? "I love you but I blew a cock"???

Ha, I wish it was something like that. It was actually a note that my daughter taped onto a spare monitor in my office when she was 6, or 7 as an apology for being bitchy. It actually says "I love you but I just have a cold!!!" I guess it was supposed to be an excuse for treating me poorly that day.


secondly- I've never seen anything like that. What does the outside of the mag look like? Any stamped proof marks on the spine? (so we can identify where it is from), are those HP rounds? Soft point? etc? What do the spot welds look like? Are they deep? Short? Small? What does the mag look like? I want to see side photos, spine photos, and spot weld photos.... that aren't out of focus .... so we know what the hell this thing is.

I will take some shots of the outside, so maybe you can identify it. I can see that the internal area got pushed in a bit during the spot welding process, so I will have to remove a bit of metal in that area to fix the tolerance there to be able to salvage it. Sorry about the focus, the camera I was using was having trouble focusing inside the mag because of the lighting. It is just an old point and shoot Nikon.

judging by spot weld dimples on the feed lips, it almost looks to be egyptian. If you take a picture of the back of the lips near the retention tooth, I'll be able to see the other defining spot welds on the rear. You can derive the maker from proof marks, spot weld characteristics, finish, and cosmoline smell (if you are, you know, into that sort of kinky shit).

I've never seen anything like that before. And I have owned a ton of 7.62 mags.

I inserted some answers in red above. I will take some pics, so hopefully you can help with the identification part. It is pretty clear what I need to do to get it to function, it just pisses me off that I have to go through the effort. I just spent $20 a piece on them (plus shipping), so I'm not going to throw any in the trash without at least attempting to fix them. Fortunately the others appear to be functioning fine now that I took them apart and gave them a good cleanup.

 

[flintoid]

cool. I'm interested as to seeing if it is identifiable. For me, it's interesting knowledge. For many, it's useless. I'll look for picture updates to see if I can identify it.

But yeah, dremel it or file it down and it should be good. If it's on the outside of a spot weld, it's going to be a bear to file down, though.

 

[Dench]

I'd love to be able to order the ones on that link, but it says right at the top they won't ship to MA, so I would have a logistical problem there, unfortunately.

no friends in free states?

 

[Terminator03]

cool. I'm interested as to seeing if it is identifiable. For me, it's interesting knowledge. For many, it's useless. I'll look for picture updates to see if I can identify it.

But yeah, dremel it or file it down and it should be good. If it's on the outside of a spot weld, it's going to be a bear to file down, though.

I am actually interested in learning all that I can about this platform, so it is something that I'd like to know myself (origin of manufacture). I actually took several pics from different angles, but saw no markings other than the spot welds themselves. I also took a better shot of the inside where the offending metal is. It actually appears that some rust may have helped to "push" the metal out in that area, but it may all be do to the way it was welded.

In this pic, if you look closely, you can see where I circled the offending area on the outside, and put a little "+" where the bullet tip was contacting.

Let me know if there are any other angles, or areas you would need to see better.

 

[Terminator03]

no friends in free states?

Yeah, we have relatives in NH, but getting them to accept packages with gun stuff might be an issue. I will definitely ask at the next family get together, though.

 

[flintoid]

Yeah, we have relatives in NH, but getting them to accept packages with gun stuff might be an issue. I will definitely ask at the next family get together, though.

AK mags don't look like guns stuff. And neither do the boxes that they come in.

Neither do AK drum mags. It's a bee feeder!

 

[Terminator03]

AK mags don't look like guns stuff. And neither do the boxes that they come in.

Neither do AK drum mags. It's a bee feeder!

I love that! I'll have to use that!

Did you see the new pics I added a couple of posts above?

 

[Dench]

Yeah, we have relatives in NH, but getting them to accept packages with gun stuff might be an issue. I will definitely ask at the next family get together, though.

AK mags don't look like guns stuff. And neither do the boxes that they come in.

Neither do AK drum mags. It's a bee feeder!

Well, for AIM you have to have the billing address be in a free state. If you want to buy mags, you just order them. If you want ammo, you need to have a picture ID on file to verify age.

It WELL worth it to get someone in a free state to be your AIM buddy. Lots of NES'rs are willing. You can get amazing deals on preban mags and ammo from AIM.


go for it!!