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!

Quad Stack AK74 magazine Reserve not met on GunBroker

There was a quad stack 60 round AK74 mag that was on Gun Broker last week. It started at $600 and closed at $900 without meeting reserve! I'd agree they are an ultra rare collectors' item and maybe the only one in the United States, but I'm not going to spend $900+ on any one magazine (unless I hit the lottery). I'd also be afraid the the Russians will finally put these into regular production allow more to trickle in from individual collectors, if not even imported by distributors.

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=162814104

Overall, the design seems pretty interesting when you look at the patten diagram:

http://img104.imageshack.us/img104/1228/82529pj4.jpg

Basically a quad stack until it hits the divider and limits the feed down to double. I wonder though how reliable that is. The fact that it isn't in production in Russia would lead me to believe it isn't.

Hornady 5.45x39 V-Max Delayed

After going past the 4/1/10 arrival date, MidwayUSA updated the arrival date of this load to 7/23/10.
http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=390432

http://www.hornady.com/store/5.45X39-60-gr-V-MAX-Steel-Case/

I've been waiting for the 60 gr. Hornady steel cased with a V-Max bullet to come out for awhile now. Honestly, the promise of that load was the tipping point for me to actually get a 5.45x39 rifle. I figured at with that load it would be a good "urban" load similar to their TAPs ammo and the AK74 would become my home defense carbine. I'm still somewhat hesitant to use the 7.62x39 V-Max load in my 1950s subdivision. I'm just as hesistant to use the MilSurp 5.45x39 since the bullet holds together so well.

Well it looks like I'll be waiting a little longer to transition to that AK74. I might try to do a 7.62x39 vs. 5.45x39 test in late Spring/Early Summer similar to the one over at 230 Grain:

http://230grain.com/showthread.php?t=65428

(I'll edit for links later, I'm on my iPhone with this aweful Blogwriter app, and it slows me down enough to where I won't be able to get them in before my wife is ready to leave for Easter Service!)

New AK74

Sorry for the slow posts lately! I got a new Bulgarian kit on NDS-2 AK74 in my arsenal. It was one of those blow out deals that Centerfire Systems was offering for $350 shipped! BTW, it is featured as the first article in the new Guns & Ammo Complete Book of the AK.

The Nodak NDS-2 seems to be good quality albeit no frills. The other 922r parts it has the Tapco G2 FCG, Century pistol grip, and Tapco stock.

I can't tell if Century's handguard that looks like a polymer version of Yugo handguards is U.S. or not. If it was I would change out the stock for a Polish wire folder today, but it looks like I'll have to wait on a U.S. handguard for that.

It did come with surplus Circle 21 and Circle Ten mags.

The gas piston is very clean but not U.S. marked. The brake seems to be original with zig zag cuts and side ports on it (IIRC most U.S. 74 brakes don't have those details). The crown is clean under the brake as well. It os a parts gun without matching serial numbers. Overall for a second string, first time 5.45x39 rifle it should be a great purchase pending a round at the range.

As long as it shoots ok I should be very happy with the purchase. It is much nicer than my WASR10/63, which I'm selling to offset the cost of this rifle. BTW, the WASR had version 2 of that horrid paint job in the banner of this site that looked only marginally better (it was my first Krylon job). My MAK90 now has a pretty good OD base with black furniture that looks much better. But since I'm looking to sell the WASR the paint job must go. One reason A lot of people recommend Krylon over Duracoat etc. since it can "easily" be removed. I would say that yes, a lot of the paint comes off easily but there are a lot of places I've had to go at with a toothbrush to remove and it's NOT easy or quick. I'll only be painting my "keeper" rifles from now on.

AK74 magazines from Tapco

Cope's Distributing now has Tapco Ak74 magazines for your 5.45x39 rifles!

http://www.copesdistributing.net/product_info.php?products_id=2271&osCsid=47b7843ba77ad71ab5b482b043ec5b74

The Tapco magazines aren't my favorite, but they could be great range mags and/or good for quick 922r compliance. Long term though I would recommend all your 922r parts be in the gun or only own U.S. made mags and that limits you from a whole world of magazines.