AK47 Bolt Hold Open follower + modified safety lever

**Dochartaigh** · May 12th, 2012, 03:14 PM

So I went through all 5 pages of results when I search here for "AK47 bolt hold open" and still aren't finding exactly what I'm looking for...

I've been researching how to make the bolt on my AK47 stay open when the last round in a mag is fired. I have a Romanian made Draco 7.62. What I've found so far are homemade mods:

--dremel the two nubs on the inside top of the mag so the follower can go up farther
--remove the mag follower, dremel it away, and form the follow into the exact shape of a 7.62 round so the bolt catches on it and can't move forward (thus staying open)
--Remove a section of your safety so when it's moved into safe it holds the bolt back so you can remove the mag, insert another mag, and release the safety to chamber another round.

The above seems pretty extensive and seems like it's going to cause numerous problems (hard to pull down safety lever, the fact that my bolt has to be pulled ALL the way back and released to chamber another round, problems with the bullets stacking right on a modified follower unless I form it perfectly, etc.). So my questions are:

1.) Are they any non-plastic followers that I can buy that will fit standard European/Chinese metal AK magazines? I understand I'll have to dremel off the nubs on my existing mag (I think), which is something easy and unlikely to cause any problems.

2.) Do I have to modify my safety, or buy something like the Krebs custom safety with bolt hold open: http://www.krebscustom.com/PartsPage...kovParts.shtml

Or if I only install the bolt hold open follower, can I simply pull the empty mag out (will it let me pull it out easily or is it going to get caught up on the bolt held forward with the strong recoil spring?),

**marinville** · May 12th, 2012, 04:28 PM

Yugoslavian mags have bolt hold open followers. They will hold the bolt open after the last round is fired. I have a handful of them. They are not hard to remove. The bolt will slam shut as you are removing them, but it will not catch on the mag/follower. I have never had that problem. You can purchase them at APEX gun parts in 'fair' condition for $18.

**Dochartaigh** · May 13th, 2012, 01:12 AM

Thanks. Just bought 6 mags though before I even knew the AK doesn't automatically hold the bolt open on last mag (what can I say, I'm an AR guy mostly).

Do these followers fit Russian/European mags (was told my mags are western European mags; got them from AimSurplus)? And does anybody sell the follower only?

**nfafan** · May 13th, 2012, 04:33 PM

Supposedly you can get Tapco followers and supposedly they fit Euro mags...

**Dochartaigh** · May 14th, 2012, 10:43 AM

Lots of bad reviews on those Tapco followers... I might just leave the gun how it's supposed to be run. Also read that the bolt hold open mags can damage both the mag and the bolt itself over time.

...just wish I could tell when my AK is empty. On my AR it's a distinctive sound /feel (although not very loud) when it's shot the last round and I can always tell. On my AK (which I admit I only got recently), I can never tell.

Thanks for all the help.