AK74 Magazines and the Future AK Market

While I have noticed it lately, actually trying to locate more 5.45x39 AK74 magazines for the M10-545 has brought it into focus.  Surplus 5.45x39 magazines are at least in an import lull right now.  There may be another wave of them coming in soon, but I think there could be a limit that we are hitting now.  In general, much of the AK surplus is starting to dry up.  There will always be a lot of stuff out there due to the shear numbers of AKs but the good stuff is starting to dry up and the market will eventually have to change to more U.S. made items.

You can already see this in the numbers of AKs Arsenal has imported to K-Var recently, with popular models not being as available.  Granted they have always ebbed and flowed but the ebbs are getting longer.  Another example is Triangle or Polymer side folders.  These have sharply risen in prices as availability has gone down.  Parts kits that were once plentiful are now drying up and the ATF change on kit's barrel policy have overall made them less attractive as well.  Even ComBloc metal 7.62x39 magazines are getting spotty at retailers. The U.S. made aftermarket will be there to pick up the slack, but the price point for the same amount of quality will go up.

Going back to the specific issue of AK74 magazines, hopefully US Palm or even Suarez's TSD will get on board.  For a long time, high-end U.S. made AK74 magazines have been seen as economically soft products due to the problem of a more niche market and the availability of cheap, high quality surplus magazines.  But it seems that may have finally shifted now since the surplus magazines are not in stock at most retailers.  US Palm has a great AK30 magazine that hopefully could be easily redesigned for 5.45x39.  TSD is a potential too since it has an AR15 magazine that might be adapted.  K-Var does import new production Bulgarian magazines but again this seems to be never imported in large enough numbers. Maybe even MD Arms will finally bring their Quad Stack to market and be in 5.45x39 as well.  Tapco's magazine may be a good option if you are okay with going down a notch from surplus quality.  I know their magazine design and Tapco in general has a lot of fans and detractors, but no matter what your opinion of the company, you can't deny that Tapco magazines are at least slightly lower quality due to their lack of metal reinforced lugs/feedlips/floorplate rails.  Hold on, it is going to get interesting!

Jerking the Trigger US Palm AK30 Magazines review

Matt over at Jerking the Trigger has a great review of AK30 magazines.

US Palm Cage Pictures

Armed and Christian's comment on the MD mags made me want to share these

You can see the metal rear lug and the metal cage in the mold holes.

Metal on front lug

More pics of the cage inside the mag.

The line is the approximate location of where the cage stops (no metal feed lip support)

For reference, this K-Var pdf details their metal parts on the Bulgarian Circle 10 waffle mags.

Note the extra metal in the front strap, floorplate area, and lips in the Circle Ten. US Palm's response would be that it just adds weight and their mags are strong enough without it due to their design.

US Palm's lug cage goes all the way around where the Circle Tens don't. It wouldn't surprise me if US Palms were stronger in the lugs than Circle Tens. Of course, the US Palms might be weaker in the lips. I think if there are no defects, the US Palm "floorplate" is stronger, but if you are the type that likes to pull your floorplate, the Circle Tens are the way to go. But for the most part, besides for me being a US Palm fanboy, I think they are equally good in both theory and my experience. "They are both equal and it is purely a personal preference."

I have both and they are both my "first line" magazines depending on which gear setup I use. The Attack Rack has the US Palms, the Hawkepaks Civil Defense Survival Kit Bag has the Circle Tens. Unless it is a 40 rounder or 20 rounder, ComBloc metal are generally kept around as bench warmers.

Now if the MD Arms Quad Stacks are as good as Mike says, the others might become second string. If you guys want a magazine depth chart I can make you one (I must be excited the NFL is coming back with all these roster references).

US Palm Fanboy updates

What's a blog reboot without an US Palm Fanboy update. Now I know how the AR guys feel about Magpul.

Magazine Rebuild kit-FWIW, I like their regular mags a lot. This could be a good option to add 922r parts to your steel mags or of course fix worn out ones. I'll be very interested to see their floorplate design since regular AK30 mags don't have a traditional floorplate.

rEvolution package- Consists of AK30 magazine(s), AKTR railed handguard, AKBG grip (which is awesome!) and AKES enhanced Safety (Krebs style execept no cold range bolt hold open notch and tab is riveted on). Looks interesting, I could skip the AKES though these days, but would have liked it a lot a few years ago. I really need to get on board with one of their handguards built under a partnership with Midwest industries. They offer several different top handguards to allow cowitness with most of the common red dot out there (Vortex Sparc and maybe one of the Mini red dots do not cowitness) . Kinda disappointed to see the rEvolution package doesn't come with a couple of their rail covers.

They will be releasing their V2 Attack Rack Chest rigs any day now. This generation will have some MOLLE on the sides and offered custom shaped soft armor (no word if the armor will be offered for the V1) AK style and "Multi-platform"

I have one of their V1 Attack Racks and while I'm not big on chest rigs for my purposes, I like it a lot when I need to be tacticool.

US Palm AK Battle Grip at OST, 10 rounder AK30s shipping

The AK-BG (Battle Grip) is now for available at One Source Tactical for $30. Listed colors are Black, FDE, and brown. I won't be getting one until later this summer since my funds are tight right now.

The 10 rounder Ak30s are now available at Scottsdale Gun Club (parent company of US Palm)

US Palm AK30 blocked to 10 rounds to be available soon

US Palm has announced 10 round blocked AK30s will be available soon. This is no surprise since they have said they intended to offer this for awhile. But it is still good to see them supporting the shooters that have to deal with California and other locations unfortunate laws. Overall, 10 rounder AK mags have been harder to find, with many of those then being of poor quality Since it is a regular AK30 body blocked to 10 rounds, it still looks like the normal sized AK mag which could be a plus for some shooters. However, the bad news is that they will cost about $5 more since they require different molds.

On the plus side it looks like US Palm will be considering some other colors for mags soon. My vote is still for foliage green, I think it works in the widest variety of environments and works well in my neck of the woods.

Pictures of another AK30 with cracked feedlips

Here at arf.com via m4carbine.net (haven't went over there yet to find this thread)

http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=4&f=55&t=126305&page=4

Interesting, like to hear the whole story but can't find the original post and it sounds like the guy who put it up at Arf.com didn't know either. I spent part of the week explaining why the AK30 current website copy wasn't false advertising and had a full circumference metal cage in the top of the mag for lugs.

I'm not giving up on the Ak30 yet, but right now I want more info.

EDIT: More info is in that thread now, apparently it was two members with two different mags at a Tactical Response class. Also there is another thread at WarriorTalk. It may just be a squabble to discredit US PALM which is what Gabe Suarez believes. If you care about the drama behind it there is a thread at warriortalk.com that goes lightly into the details. Not being news so to speak, I'm not putting that here. I'm going to continue to keep my AK30s loaded and ready to go.

US Palm comments on plate carrier, has new video

LOL, really guys I'm not trying to make this into a US Palm blog, but it seems right now they are putting out some of the coolest stuff for AKs.

In this thread they are talking about their new plate carrier that will included a IIIA plate backer with some great pics:

http://warriortalk.com/showthread.php?t=66996

Also Tim linked to their new tongue in check video of the AK30 mag taser test:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ck4xHEu-JdI

So far their Youtube channel has been pretty bare, hopefully they'll post some more stuff.

US Palm Stuff

One Source tactical has some AK30s in Flat Dark Earth. http://www.onesourcetactical.com/uspalmak30-762x3930roundkalashnikovmagazine-1.aspx

http://warriortalk.com/showthread.php?p=909231#post909231

I'm holding out for some Foliage Green that Gabe Suarez has hinted at, although it isn't on the AK30 packaging as possible colors (which is Black, FDE, and Bakelite). Flat Dark Earth IMO isn't the best choice for my midwest location.

SGCUSA.com now has the black AK30s in stock and the look to have a foliage Ak30 on their AK30 banner http://sgcusa.com/ EDIT: According to Rob Anderson this was just a lighting/photoshop effect, both mags are actually black. It seems that if foliage is in the works it is very far on the back burner if at all. Bakelite is the next color up. I must admit their FDE is more dark earth than others sandy tan FDE so it might still be a good choice here. They also say that they might be producing some 5.45 mags torwards the end of the year but right now they are trying to service military contracts that are mostly 7.62x39.

Also US Palm's website is being redone and will relaunch April 2. If you look through the transparent announcement they seem to have a stock mag pouch, the Attack Rack AK chest rig, and what looks to be a plate carrier rig. http://www.us-palm.com/

Also Gabe Suarez has a preview picture of their grip:

http://warriortalk.com/showthread.php?t=66109

Even I with medium hands find the regular AK grips thin so this could be a great option. While I've come to really like the Tapco SAW grips in the past, I might need to give the US Palm and the Hogue's a try.

AK30 versus other tested to failure

This thread has the videos along with some pictures of the AK30, Circle Ten Waffle, and Combloc steel mag caveman destruction test Gabe Suarez did. He feels that the Combloc steel probably wouldn't have fed after test round 2, making it the least rugged (but still very robust, I'd love to see the same test with AR mags)

Basically he still feels that the AK30 is the winner and the picture of a failed feed lip after a claim of drop on a carpeted floor is false and is either somebody lying. Not mentioned, but my thought is alway that it could be a lemon, like even the now AR standard of PMags had bad batches.

http://warriortalk.com/showthread.php?p=898850#post898850

Pictures of a broken lip AK30

http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=4&f=55&t=126305&sr=0

User claims it fell out of his bag on to carpeted floor. Rob Anderson of US Palm replies in the thread.

Gabe Suarez over at Warrior Talk says he did drop test on concrete to where Combloc metal lips were bent (the only bad AK mag I've ever had was a bent lip 40 rounder). Photographic evidence to follow at One Source Tactical.

My popcorn is out, I'll do a drop test of my own on my carpeted floor.

EDIT: Here's the video replies:

http://www.suarezinternational.com/MVI_2881.avi

http://www.suarezinternational.com/MVI_2882.avi

http://www.suarezinternational.com/MVI_2883.avi

AK30 comparison pictures

Here's some comparison shots between the U.S. Palm Ak30, Circle Ten Waffle, and standard ridge backed Combloc steel mags.

Overall, the AK30s are still my favorite and well worth the around $30 each I paid for them. The springs are strong, the magazine feels up to the AK standard of ruggedness, and they are lighter and better fit/QC than the Circle Tens. BUT I've found two minor gripes.

First Magpuls will come off too easily. Granted they might be a little stretched out from being on my Circle Tens, but overall they don't grip as well. Also the slanted floorplate either gives even less surface area for the Magpul to grip on or requires you to seat the Magpul further up the magazine making the loop smaller. Looks like I'm back to some duct tape, paracord sheath with zip tie inside for my AK30 pulls.

The second even more minor gripe is no witness hole for a full load. I'm so used to looking at that hole when I finish loading a mag, I've gotten lazy in counting how many rounds are in there.

AK30 Palm Magazines are shipping

According to Gabe Suarez here:

http://warriortalk.com/showthread.php?t=64936

The thread includes some great description of why it is better than Circle Tens and some pictures of a mud test. Can't wait to get mine!

Also another member at Warrior Talk got a nice package with patches and sticker with his mag, he must have had company contacts.

Rob Anderson from U.S. Palm was on Tom Gresham's Gun Talk this weekend

http://guntalk.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=579708 About at the 28 minute mark.

Rob Anderson was on talking about there new AK30 magazine and teasing some new products included body armor and a new AK grip soft launched at SHOT which is getting some Mid-East orders from Saudi Arabia and Jordan.

Rob and Tom eluded to the fact that an AK magazine plant blew up "in Russia" (as Tom said) and then Rob claimed the only metal cage magazine in production which would seem to mean Circle Ten isn't making any more of their waffle magazines but they are located in Bulgaria but Tom isn't a big AK guy so he may have had his geography confused.

One other interesting thing from the interview that they don't use front and back reinforcement metal straps like the Circle Tens due to the fixed floorplate.

U.S. Palm Mags shipping this week

U.S. Palm (a division of Tango Down) announced on their twitter page that they will be shipping their delayed mags to Onesourcetactical.com this week! Which hopefully means I will have some in hand some time next week since I pre-ordered there.

Gabe Suarez says these mags will be the best, even better than Bulgarian Circle 10 Waffles which are my current go to mags. Apparently the delay was so they could fix either some production issue.

I'll be sure to post up here what I think!