AR and AK mags...

[RP88]

alright...

I've been scouting around for AR and AK mag deals.

For AK mags, that's easy - buy steel surplus as many and as cheap as possible

For AR's...I'm lost, mostly. There are alot that seem good for the price but are probably junk. The ten-pack deals from Bravo look nice, then there are the super-cheap aluminum ones and the 13-dollar 'GI' mags on CDNN, then C-products that are everywhere, and so forth.

Which ones are worth the money and which ones arent? Also, are there any other good deals on AK mags other than the AIM ones?

 

[nalioth]

http://www.44mag.com has the best service and is very competitive with his prices.


The guy works Sunday on order fulfillment.

As far as choices in AR mags go, so long as they're GI spec, you really can't go wrong.

A step up is the Mag-Pul P-mags.

 

[HorseSoldier]

The P-Mags are very good quality and not much more than a lot of the good deals on USGI aluminum mags.

For the AK -- +1 on getting surplus steel from Eastern Europe. The bakelite mil-surps are good for 74s, but for 47s they're exceedingly scarce and very pricey. I've had good luck with the plastic mil-surps that replaced the bakelites in Russian and Bulgarian service for 74s, but for 47s there are good and very bad plastic mags out there.

 

[RyanM]

Me, I'm planning on buying Pmags and nothing but, for my AR-15.

http://store.a51tactical.com/ has 'em for $129.95 for 10 of them, with $8 flat rate shipping. Best deal I've seen so far.

 

[taliv]

botach has a better deal on pmags. caveat emptor.

get the D&H mags from bravoco or pmags.
I would not get cproducts.
I would not buy HK steel mags
I would not buy anything at a gunshow.

 

[MechAg94]

I agree on not buying from a gun show unless you know dang well what you are buying. Lots of cheap stuff out there.

I have had decent luck with C-products, but the D&H mags are good too and have done well for me. The P-mags have been flawless. I like them a lot.

For the AK47, if you find the Bulgarian waffle pattern polymer mags, they are pretty good. I have heard the flat sided ones aren't good, but I haven't bought any. Kvar sells the polymer mags, but are often out of stock on things.
As always, the steel mags from former Combloc countries are normally good. I have had some that were very worn or had weak springs, but they normally worked well enough. There are some deals out there on 40 round mags also that seen to be pretty good.

 

[possum]

there are many places you can pick up gi spec mags for $10 a pop, if i was buying mags right now though i would get the pmags, brownells has them at a great price, and they are well worth it and so much more.

 

[Z-Michigan]

For the AK47, if you find the Bulgarian waffle pattern polymer mags, they are pretty good. I have heard the flat sided ones aren't good, but I haven't bought any.

The Bulgarian waffle mags have steel inserts and are supposed to be extremely tough. They seem a bit hard to come by and prices in the $20-30 range.

The Bulgarian slabside mags are, if I understand correctly, specifically made for the commercial market, or as a budget alternative. Nonetheless they seem quite good and solid to me. Prices are more in the $13 range. Recently they started importing them in clear plastic.

As always, the steel mags from former Combloc countries are normally good. I have had some that were very worn or had weak springs, but they normally worked well enough.

Yes, the original steel mags are extremely solid for what they are. Lots of good deals right now, including at Midway USA, AIM Surplus, and CDNN.

I will add that the new Tapco AK mags that came out a month or two ago work great and seem very well made. They resemble Magpul Pmags in many ways, though I have no idea if it's any more than superficial appearance. They are an especially good choice if you have a gun that needs a US-made mag for 922(r) compliance.

(*I think Tapco used to sell Promag AK mags and those would be nothing special. The newer model has a more blocky appearance.)