Upgrading Metal SKS Magazines

[jdgabbard]

I can’t say what the status of magazines is currently. I honestly have not purchased a new SKS magazine in decades. Though, I hear the Tapco magazines are fairly decent. And in that regard, most aftermarket metal mags I have run across over the years have been decent, though with a hit or miss bolt hold open.

I my experience, the real problem with plastic mags were always the friction between the follower and the magazine body which lead to unreliable feeding. That and magazine lips which would spread under pressure. Whereas metal magazines tended to just have crap followers - as can be seen below. This was a loose follower design which worked well for feeding, but was poor for accurately engaging the bolt hold open.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20230719/3f9d57edc27eca2a6e84333ad0e2b4c0.jpg

I never could understand how companies could seemingly make a fairly reliable AK magazine, but fumbled when it came to designing a seemingly similar SKS magazine. It just didn’t make any sense. Maybe we’ll get lucky and Magpul will make some with metal inserts at the feed lips and magazine catch’s - both front and back.

Until then, I decide the only way to get a reliable follower in metal mags was to use an AK follower. However, this presents a few problems. First, it has no bolt hold open compatible with the SKS. So that doesn’t really solve the problem. Secondly, if used in the SKS mags the dimple in the follower will cause the bolt to impact the follower after the last round, damaging it. While it will operable smoothly in the magazine - at least in my examples from several decades ago.

Over the years I just dealt with the issue. Though I have gained considerable knowledge of working on firearms, metal forming, etc. It just so happens that after having not shot my two rifles in several years I have decided to work on debubbafying (c) them by restoring them back to somewhat original configuration. In case you are wondering I have a Norinco commercial variant, and a Norinco Cowboy Companion Paratrooper model based on an original long lug receiver.

This lead me to decide that all I really needed to do was to install a rib along the backside of the AK follower, and I would have a functional bolt hold open. Which solves the issues above. I don’t have a welder these days, so I decided that a silver bearing solder would be the next best option available to me. After cutting a nail down to size, bending to the proper radius, and doing a little cleanup with a wire wheel I cleaned the surfaces with acetone, and proceeded to heat the metal of the follower and the nail with a large blade on my soldering iron.

After about 10 minutes of work, and a little paint job I ended up with what you see below. It isn’t the most beautiful job I’ve done. And I have not yet tested it. But it does lock the bolt open on an empty mag. And seems like it could be quite durable. However, if I were to make a change, I would opt for a slightly larger nail. But it can’t be too large as the lower portion of the magazine cannot fit one much larger.

I am posting this mostly as a simply DIY for anyone that has been frustrated with crap SKS magazines over the years. I prefer the factory magazines as they are quite reliable. However I only have one 10rd, and a 20rd Chinese Star magazine. But I have 4-5 metal 30rd magazines. And if I have them, I might as well use them some…


https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20230719/21800d9001fd0f04a0b77328bdcb6849.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20230719/7a31035427542b7e154b85eac6f49307.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20230719/003aa6020dbc9375e90605f19b950e97.jpg


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[deces]

Neat project you got going.

[barnetmill]

The only AK mags I trust oem military spec that were made in former combloc countries. For the SKS I only fully trust the original fixed as issued 10 rounders. I have tried the fixed 20 rounders, while they worked they seem ill fitted. I have some brass yugo type stripper clips that I can use for reloading the sks. I only keep the SKS in case detachable mag guns are banned.

Below is the making of the AK mag and one can see that there is a bit of effort put into it. I below it is in Serbia and so the Russian and Chinese mags could be different in some aspect of manufacture.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJxtdAAo_bQ&t=103s

[deces]

The only AK mags I trust oem military spec that were made in former combloc countries. For the SKS I only fully trust the original fixed as issued 10 rounders. I have tried the fixed 20 rounders, while they worked they seem ill fitted. I have some brass yugo type stripper clips that I can use for reloading the sks. I only keep the SKS in case detachable mag guns are banned.

Below is the making of the AK mag and one can see that there is a bit of effort put into it. I below it is in Serbia and so the Russian and Chinese mags could be different in some aspect of manufacture.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJxtdAAo_bQ&t=103s

Those guys would make a killing if they started stamping the Fleur-de-lis on those mags.

[405grain]

I think the main problem with detachable magazines for the SKS is that they were an afterthought. The original rifle was designed for the fixed magazine, and the detachable magazines were designed to fit an existing firearm after the fact. I've read that some of the detachable mags weren't that good. I prefer the fixed magazine for several reasons. First, it is reliable. Second, in the state where I live 10 round magazines are the maximum allowed, so the fixed magazine is already at that max. Things like pistol grips, detachable magazines, and other features are considered "assault weapons" here, but the SKS is fine because it doesn't have any of those evil features. In my experience the SKS is generally more accurate than an AK, and given the choice I'd choose the SKS over the AK.

Back in the day milsurp rifles were muy cheap, and widely available. Those days are over. The accessories market for all those imports has dried up too. Though its not out of the realm of possibilities, I doubt that any manufacturer is going to tool up to start making more aftermarket equipment for the SKS. The profit margins just aren't there any more. AK and AR parts are a different story because there's still a huge fan base. But most folks that own an SKS have already done whatever they're going to do as far as modifying the rifle.

[jdgabbard]

I think the main problem with detachable magazines for the SKS is that they were an afterthought. The original rifle was designed for the fixed magazine, and the detachable magazines were designed to fit an existing firearm after the fact. I've read that some of the detachable mags weren't that good. I prefer the fixed magazine for several reasons. First, it is reliable. Second, in the state where I live 10 round magazines are the maximum allowed, so the fixed magazine is already at that max. Things like pistol grips, detachable magazines, and other features are considered "assault weapons" here, but the SKS is fine because it doesn't have any of those evil features. In my experience the SKS is generally more accurate than an AK, and given the choice I'd choose the SKS over the AK.

Back in the day milsurp rifles were muy cheap, and widely available. Those days are over. The accessories market for all those imports has dried up too. Though its not out of the realm of possibilities, I doubt that any manufacturer is going to tool up to start making more aftermarket equipment for the SKS. The profit margins just aren't there any more. AK and AR parts are a different story because there's still a huge fan base. But most folks that own an SKS have already done whatever they're going to do as far as modifying the rifle.

I completely agree with you on the fixed magazine. However, one of the Norinco rifles I have didn't have one when I bought it - it did, just the 20rd Star mag. With that in mind, I would rather have a detachable mag rather than that unwieldly thing. And with the 10s of thousands (at-least) of 10rd mags out there, there is no way they're worth the $100 price tag people are posting them for on FleeBay, GB, or the various web stores. I could see them going for 50-60 bucks. They're just not worth more than that though.

That leaves people without a 10rd magazine a limited number of choices when it comes to feeding the rifles. The polymer mags suck in my opinion. The metal mags are better, but with crap followers. Thus the upgrade.

And you're right, the prime time to offer decent accessories was 20-30yrs ago. However, for some reason they never did offer a great magazine replacement. At least not one that I have seen.

[405grain]

316212
You're on the right path. Back in the day I modified an 1894 Mauser that I converted to 7.62x39 to take single stack AK mags from a Romanian WASR. To get your SKS mags sorted out you'll need to do it yourself. Keep at it, your almost there.

[deces]

It sounds like you are not thrilled with your star 20, what's the issue?

[jdgabbard]

316212
You're on the right path. Back in the day I modified an 1894 Mauser that I converted to 7.62x39 to take single stack AK mags from a Romanian WASR. To get your SKS mags sorted out you'll need to do it yourself. Keep at it, your almost there.

That’s a good looking rifle! It’s even more interesting that you converted it to work with the AK mags. I’m impressed!

Yeah, I just need to range test them. I have a cut down 30rd mag (now a 14rd mag) that this is going into. But assuming I don’t have to make any major changes I’ll be doing this to a 10rd, 5rd, and 4 more 30rd mags.


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[jdgabbard]

It sounds like you are not thrilled with your star 20, what's the issue?

It’s just weird. That’s all… It has a weird shape, doesn’t fully open when installed in the rifle -though that could be due to the polymer stock and I have some original stocks ordered - and I just haven’t decided that I like it… It functions fine. Never had a problem with it. It’s just weird…


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[deces]

Right, they are thinner and less durable. Sometimes they need to be fitted to correctly lock up. Another flaw is the follower arm can get bent and cause feeding issues.
I rather like the added length though, it almost gives my Albanian a forward grip feel.

[jdgabbard]

Right, they are thinner and less durable. Sometimes they need to be fitted to correctly lock up. Another flaw is the follower arm can get bent and cause feeding issues.
I rather like the added length though, it almost gives my Albanian a forward grip feel.

It definitely hangs down there. I guess some of it goes back to my marksmanship training in the Army. We did do ARM and MOUT with forward grips. I just never liked them from a marksmanship perspective. They, at least for me, were more for controllability than accuracy. And the 20rd mag hangs down too far -too far forward- for it to be comfortable in a good firing position, prone or otherwise. Some of that is because I have tiny T-Rex arms (just joking, but only 5'8). The 10 round mags are not a problem, as they don't get in my way. Detachables are not, as the duckbill is typically hidden in the stock. I guess it's just what I am comfortable with... Then as it concerns usability, they work fine, and accept stripper clips fine. I just like being able to open the bottom and top off the rifle. Can't easily do that with the 20rd mags...

[GhostHawk]

I have a couple of the 20 round Tapco mags and had no issues with them. However once I got ahold of some stripper clips I prefer the original 10 round metal mag and reloading from stripper clips. Seems faster and less trouble than changing mags.

My SKS sits in the basement across the arms of an office chair. Right below it is a plastic box with 10 stripper clips each loaded with 10 rounds. That along with the 2 20 round Tapco mags loaded and the 10 rounds in the mag of the SKS with the bolt back is 150 rounds. Good enough for me.

[mace2364]

In my experience, the original 10rd was the best for the SKS. Every other mag out there, I’ve personally seen problems with.

The tapco mags were probably some of the better, BUT they will get brittle and break in cold weather. And the one I saw that happen to, wasn’t being abused when it happened. Part of the feedlips broke off while the guy was shooting it.

If you want reliability with an SKS, you pretty well need to stick with the mag it was made for. People have gotten some of the aftermarket stuff to work ok, but that’s the exception not the rule.