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.
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…
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