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AK-63DS AMD-63 Croatia feed issues Hungarian jam magazines steel

Recent AMD-63 Range Visits and Issues with Croation Magazines

For brevity, below are my range notes from today’s range visit.  I also visited last week:

Had issues today.  The new Croatian mags will not work in the AK-63D/AMD-63.  They will not feed ammo into the firearm.  At all.  Two of them won’t strip ammo from the mag and two jammed when trying.  Luckily, I had one of the Atlantic Firearms mags with me (they are new also)…it fed and fired without a hitch, so I had to use this one mag during my session, stripping out ammo from the non-functional mags and reloading that ammo into the functional mag.  It took a bit of time and I only had an hour (range was packed, too).

When I got home, I tried to see if the SAM7 would load ammo from the Croatian mags.  It would.  It seems the AK-63D/AMD-63 does not like the Croatian mags, even after I fixed them so that they’d latch into the mag well (before that, they wouldn’t even latch).
The firearm never got hot because I only fired 49 rounds from it.

I also had to readjust the front sight because I was hitting very low.  To raise the POI, I had to lower the front sight post.

I’m hitting low left still, which indicates I’m flinching.
The fired brass is dinged at the opening lip on a lot of the spent cases.  As well, there’s brass dings on the outside of the ejection port.

Need to open up the firearm to check to see how the bolt carrier tang is.  Also need to check the front trunnion and bolt for wear.

Also, I experienced some trigger slap…stings a bit.

Additionally, I shot the last mag standing up.  I was able to put the majority of the 15 rounds in the middle of the paper (there were two flyers).  I think if I keep practicing shooting while standing, I can get the hang of it, if I lean forward and keep the stock planted deep in my shoulder pocket.

I may need to get a new rear sight…this one is difficult to see, which affects front/rear sight alignment.  It’s difficult for me to hit where I’m aiming if I can’t properly align the sights.

There’s 171 rounds through the AMD-63 now.  I brought close to 200 rounds with me but only fired 49 due to magazine issues (mentioned above in the range notes).  Plus, I only had an hour to work with and the range was crowded tonight.  Will try again tomorrow (and not use the Croatian mags when I do).

Some pics of the rifle’s internals:

I’ve an BG-AK lower handgrip coming (these are back in stock as of now).  This was on my wish list.  I also have a Zhukov stock on my list, as well as a rail that would fit where the rear sight resides (for the SAM7UF).

I also have 1000 rounds of Red Army Standard FMJBT on the way (lead core).

I’ll post again after my next range visit (which may be tomorrow).

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AK-47 AK-63DS AMD-63 Arsenal magazines Magpul SAM7UF SAM7UF-85 Tapco

I’m Attempting to Expand My Knowledge of the Arsenal SAM 7-UF

So, I’ve been not only looking at SAM7UF reviews online, but doing things such as swapping mags between my AK-63DS and SAM7UF.

I’ve 6 Tapco mags that came with the AK-63DS.  The Arsenal came with one Magpul (Gen 1, I think).  The SAM7UF will not take the Tapcos.  The AK-63DS will take the Magpul without issue.

Most people talk crap about the Tapcos, mainly because of issues like this, but this really isn’t an issue with Tapcos.  It’s an issue with the Arsenal.  Why is the mag well that tight?  My ratty-assed AK-63DS will take both without issue, so it’s NOT the mags, and in the AK-63DS’s case, it isn’t the gun.

If I want to take the Arsenal to the range, I’ll only have that one mag, unless I go to Cabelas and pick up a few Magpul mags.  I solved the problem by ordering 3 metal Polish mags from Atlantic Firearms and 4 metal Croatian mags from Apex Gun Parts (both groups being 30-round mags).

I also added 550 cord to both arms of the spars of the collapsible stock.

Eventually, I’ll also find some bakelites, but they’re really scarce.  In fact, it was moderately difficult to find even European metal mags.

The plan is to continue to take my AK-63DS to the range and practice with it.  I’ll use my experience with that particular gun as an AK-47 baseline of knowledge.

I also have to order more ammo, but I’ve enough for a decent start.