I purchased a new Romanian WASR AK-47 that came with two steel military magazines. One hooked and snapped in perfectly with no play; the other mag wouldn't even go into the well. I noticed that the ill fitting mag didn't have enough machine work done to the forward top of the lips compared to the good mag that appeared to have been ground down somewhat in the affected area. I didn't think anything of it assuming it was a fluke, until I ordered 10 more mags from the same store. The new mags looked like the same Romanian mags that came with the rife and 3 of them were ill fitting too; so I then had 8 well fitting mags and 4 ill fitting mags. Instead of attempting to file down the ill fitting mags and run the risk of ruining them, I returned those 4 mags for a refund at the store. My question is has anyone else had this problem, and should I just file down the forward part of the mag lips if I run into this problem again if and when I order more?
None of my Ak's or mags have had this problem...I use various makes of mags and a drum , and they all fit nicely ! Sounds like your mag well may need a bit of filing...
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[I]You know you might be facing your doom,when all you get is a click when you're expecting a BOOM!:( [/I]
None of my Ak's or mags have had this problem...I use various makes of mags and a drum , and they all fit nicely ! Sounds like your mag well may need a bit of filing...
Thanks. I kept that possibility far in the back of my head hoping that wasn't the case. Those mags that do fit do so snugly with absolutely no wobble of play, so maybe they are too snug. Fortunately, only the front of the magazine well would have to be filed since the rear of the mags fit perfectly. I know filing is something I'll have to do “slowly and gradually” because there is no returning what gets filed.
Just a little flat filing where it is tight is usually all that is necessary since the mags lock up on the front lug and rear Latch ,Just a little clearance will help!
If your reciever is dimpled , that helps with side to side wobble too.
Rich
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[I]You know you might be facing your doom,when all you get is a click when you're expecting a BOOM!:( [/I]
Thanks Rich. I'll probably go back and get those four mags that I returned, or four others and use a flat file. I know it cold take a while of filing and fitting as little as necessary. Less is best.
It only takes a few minutes to file the clearance as the receivers are not rock hard...you can usually see where the paint is getting scraped off the mag and just a few strokes with a file at that area of the magwell (a couple of thousandths of an inch clearance each side) will fix it...a liitle on both sides!
Then round the insert edge of the receiver a smidgen with the file at 45 deg, to the well so it is not sharp!
Rich
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[I]You know you might be facing your doom,when all you get is a click when you're expecting a BOOM!:( [/I]
I kept hoping it was a magazine problem and not the rifle, but after a third of them wouldn't go in and two-thirds would, I should have fully concluded that it was the rifle itself. That was a good idea about the 45 degree bevel on the metals edge. Come to think of it, there is a very shallow bevel on the edge now, as if that step was not completed; probably a quality control issue. At least they left a little too much on and didn't take too much off. You're correct, the material that needs removing will be ...very... minimal.
I second the receiver as the issue; my WASR wouldn't take any of my Bulgarian polymer magazines. The reason was the angle cut on the receiver was too tight of an angle, like 90*, and not the 120* or so that they are supposed to be.
__________________ When I can't think of anything original to post I think to myself, 'what would Sprout say?' -PSLMAN
