? about Mags for AK

[Bravo Whiskey]

I am asking for a buddie who has a ChiCon SKS. He has know clue nor due I as to what brand mags are best for this Rifle.
30rd type. He only has one and I am pushing him to pick up a bunch more.

TIA,


Side note that I looked on GB @ the AK stuff (I always look @ the AR stuff) & I was amazed at how the baseline prices are so much cheaper for AK items vs. AR items. I may have to go over to the dark side.

[nfafan]

I can't help as I left all the 10rd SKS rifles I ever had in their stock 10rd configs, but are you asking about 30rd AK mags in general, or 30rd mags specific to the SKS?

Unless the SKS was modified to accept stock, everyday 30rd AK mags, you may be thinking of the TAPCO SKS-specific mags, which supposedly work best with the TAPCO stock.

Your best bet for all things SKS is here:

http://www.sksboards.com/smf/index.php

Be sure to check the CHICOM and accessories subforums.

[Guns4Fun]

I don't want to sound like the firearms police but if your buddy wants to put a detachable mag on a chi-com sks he will need to read up on 922r and make sure he has enough US parts in the gun.

To answer your question, not too many duck bill sks mags work very well. The USA brand sucks - give tapco a looks see.

[mak47]

Is it an SKS or an AK? The title says AK, but your post says SKS.

If it's an SKS that doesn't have a detachable magazine, leave it alone, buy a ton of stripper clips and use those to load the rifle as it was intended. The aftermarket US made 20-30 round SKS mags are all pretty much worthless.

There were Chinese SKS's that were designed to accept AK magazines. Typically they're referred to as SKS-D or SKS-M models. If it's one of those, I would avoid the US made AK mags because they tend to be a bit out of spec from the original military mags that these rifles were designed to use. Otherwise, any surplus military magazine should work fine.

If it's an AK, then again, use the military surplus mags you can find all over the web. Don't waste your money on Gunbroker though. From what I've been seeing most of the sellers there are still living in Obama Craze world where beat to hell AK mags are worth $30 each. These mags can be found for $10-$12 each on a lot of sites (www.centerfiresystems.com , www.copesdistributing.net to name a few)

[Bravo Whiskey]

Thanks Guys, I will find out first hand what model it is. My buddie said it was an SKS that came w/ 1 ten rd mag as he picked it up before the ban back in 94 (?) and has since aquired one 30 rd mag. He states that it is a ChiCom knock off of an AK 47 but I know that he may not know what he has.

[mojo]

Originally Posted by Bravo Whiskey

Thanks Guys, I will find out first hand what model it is. My buddie said it was an SKS that came w/ 1 ten rd mag as he picked it up before the ban back in 94 (?) and has since aquired one 30 rd mag. He states that it is a ChiCom knock off of an AK 47 but I know that he may not know what he has.

Thats what it sounds like.

[Kaos]

Originally Posted by Guns4Fun

I don't want to sound like the firearms police but if your buddy wants to put a detachable mag on a chi-com sks he will need to read up on 922r and make sure he has enough US parts in the gun.

To answer your question, not too many duck bill sks mags work very well. The USA brand sucks - give tapco a looks see.

^This.

If you want to use detachable mags, unless it's a D or M model sks, you're going to have to comply to 922r (10 or under rule) which luckily for SKS' isn't very hard to do.

Tapco mags work pretty well in my opinion, I had a few with my SKS when I was still using it.

And as for AK vs AR debates....that's a whole other issue.

[RoyJackson]

Originally Posted by mak47

There were Chinese SKS's that were designed to accept AK magazines. Typically they're referred to as SKS-D or SKS-M models.

If it's an SKS manufactured to accept AK mags, as described above, then any AK mag will work. Most of mine are Eastern Block mags. They all fit, but they aren't as easily inserted or removed as they are in an AK rifle (the 5 round AK mags are actually difficult to insert or remove). They also rattle around more then the same mag does in an AK. Nature of the beast...

If this SKS has an aftermarket conversion...well, all bets are off.

[Fragger]

Many think that the SKS D and M series that were made to use the AK47 type mag work better with the flat back type similar to the current Korean mags being sold and the Chinese that were available some time ago.

On the otherhand it sounds like your bud is using an aftermarket SKS mag typically called by most a "Duckbill".

If the latter is the case the best detachable mag out there is the TAPCO 20 round and yes as posted above one should consider the 922r questions.

[Bravo Whiskey]

All you PAFOA'ers prove that this site is a great data base from which good info can be gleaned.
Bud called me back today regarding his gun.
SKS 56 w/ the semi fixed 10 rd mag/well. Not a C or D Mod.
Gun was given to him on the eve of last ban by his father(who happened to have been an A-6 driver in the first deployed A-6 squadron to go Downtown) and also a 30rd mag..
My bud just thought that it was a bad system to ready the gun to accept removeable mags..
I posted him what you all filled me in and he checked everything out today and now knows that it is true. He also figured out that those little "strip things " are indeed stripper clips.
Thanks guys.
We may get a new member.