SKS 37 round mag woes

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ComputerFlake

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I've got an SKS that has had the mag conversion done on it. It uses the 37 round magazine with the "duck bill" collar on it. Has ANYONE ever had any luck getting this type of configuration to feed properly? If it's just the mag wearing out I'd be more than happy to buy a new one but EVERYTHING I've read shows that this type of conversion never feeds properly.

It would seem that someone somewhere would have had this configuration work properly or people wouldn't continue to do the conversions. Is there a better message board for specifically SKS related questions? Thanks gang.

CF
 
Converting an SKS to take detachable mags is like trying to turn a Garand into a belt fed.


I am completely content with the fixed 10rder on my Russian.
 
I tried a bunch of different types of larger capacity and detachables on mine. I never got any to work satisfactorily. I ended up selling the mags, going back to the ten round fixed magazine and enjoying 100% reliability.

I got a big bag of stripper clips from CDNN, loaded them up and carry them in either bandoliers from Aimsurplus or German Grenade pouches from Cheaper Than Dirt.
 
That's about the same response I've seen on every SKS forum I've read. I've seen different testimonies from people who are trying to sell magazines but no one has said anything positive about the conversion. I'm considering just buying a 10 round original fixed and replacing the worthless magazine. Fortunately whoever did the conversion did a clean job so it's not all scarred up underneath.

I'm really just trying to see if ANYONE has had anything positive to say about using the magazines. Seems more like a bunch of hype from salesmen than anyone actually having success and being happy with the ammo feeding properly. Sound about right to you guys?

CF
 
I tried the 30 round SKS thing. Worked OK in the beginning, but the mag wore down quickly. Even before I got my AK I switched back to the 10 rounder. Stripper clips can be very quick. I tend to unload the same amount of ammo in the same amount of time from my SKS as I do my AK, thanks to the stripper clips. This, of course, does not count when I'm bump firing... :D
 
The SKS was never meant to be altered......

and cars were never meant to be modified for racing off-road, either. I like the way the SKS was designed and I like the 10 round mag. I also have had excellent sucess with so called duckbill mags, especially the 20 rounders. If a guy is content to used the rifle as issued....great. I like to race sometimes. We customize our guns to do what we want them to do. I don't just like higher cap mags because they hold 20 or thirty rounds. I like them because they hold more than 10. Not everyone has had such poor sucess with the duckbills. I've seen them work well more often than not. Personally, I find the 20 round mags to be a nice balance of size and weight for the SKS. Should we all be content to use our guns the way they're supplied by the factory? I like the AK, the AR, and the SKS and as long as they function properly, I'll modify them as I please.
 
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DO the 20 round mags from CDNN work? Is it a difficult conversion?
 
the 1 i think your referring to is the special made metal mags with the flat steel tab on the end and the metal housing that went into the magwell.some skss' had another conversion that allowed them to use standard ak47 mags-basically a chopped ak47 mag catch and some bigtime welding and polishing.was done to the chineese versions that came in early.one can sometime get the steel aftermarket duckbill mags to fit any regular chineese but they would not fit the russian made guns and the plastic ones to fit the russian made sks but not all the chineese.there is a 20 round chicom non detachable steel mag for the sks.its longer than the standard 10 round mag and thats it-same tryianguliar shape.the regular 10 round mag works slick enough for me too-i polished the stripper clips with ultrafine steel wool where it slides into the mag and where the rims of the bullets set in the clip with a nail wrapped in steel wool.the new strippers just didnt have enough zip.
 
If I were starting from scratch, I would stay with the original, but my old Chicom SKS was set up with detachable mags. The 30 rounder it came with worked just fine, as long as you only loaded 20 rds. I bought 3 20 rounders, and one of those worked with no problem, the other two made good ammo storage boxes. Then I bought a couple of 10 rounders, and both of them worked just fine.
 
So some people have had the duck bill mags work properly? Mostly under 30 round capacity? Sheesh. This is getting wierder by the minute.

Ok, here's what I have so far from the material that I've read:

Avoid ALL plastic (Zytel) magazines. They work well for awhile and then eventually stop working at all. (I like the self-lubricating idea on these though)

Stick with the 20 round mags or lower and your chances improve in feeding ammo properly.

The original 10 round internal mags ALWAYS work properly and stripper clips make reloading them quick and easy.

Any time you're dealing with higher capacity mags, it's a crap shoot whether you'll get one that works or not and you might get one that works properly for awhile and then suddenly stops working.

That sound about right? If so, all these factors considered, I'd be willing to spend $20 to try and get one that works properly. Regardless, it's alot of fun to shoot (more than I figured), is easy to maintain and modify, and has less recoil than the AK/MAK. And accurate as you could ever want even without a scope. Lightweight weapon with plenty of upgrades available. Still well worth the $200 I spent on it.

CF
 
That sounds about right.

I had the same experience as wasrjoe. I got a couple USA 20 round Duckbills from CDNN and used them for quite a while with much success. Then they started to get unreliable, even after cleaning and swapping in new springs. I think one worked reliably though. Finally, I found that it was more fun to shoot one of my stock SKS, so I went back to original fixed mag and never looked back.
 
My Chinese that I picked up a few years ago came already set up for detachable mags. It came with two 30 round ones that have worked flawlessly as long as 1) it is seated correctly & firmly & 2) you load 27-28 rounds max.

I tend to shoot my Albanian or Yugo more FWIW.

Greg
 
I've seen different testimonies from people who are trying to sell magazines but no one has said anything positive about the conversion.
Click to expand...

There's the key point. As a general rule the only people who have anything positive to say about them are the people who have a financial interest in selling you one. Funny how that works. ;)
 
BryanP, possibly but someone somewhere has to have had a decent experience with these things or they wouldn't continue to sell. It'd be like someone selling square wheels. I'm just trying to find out how many have had bad experiences versus good experiences. Or at this point ANYONE who has had a good experience. Heh

CF
 
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