Category: Atlantic Firearms

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Apex Gun Parts Atlantic Firearms BHO bolt hold open Bulgarian Croatian Gun Mag Warehouse KCI polymer Tapco

Do You Need AK mags?

I bought my AK mags from the following places.  I mention this because I see folks with new AKs always asking where to buy mags.

Atlantic Firearms

Apex Gun Parts

Gun Mag Warehouse

Each of those sites have reasonably priced magazines.  They also offer a variety of types (polymer, steel, new, or surplus) from different countries.

Check those sites often, as much of their stock tends to be sold out due to the pandemic.

Keep in mind that cheap doesn’t always mean good.  KCI mags tend to have reliability issues and are flimsy in build quality.  Croatian mags tend to be hit or miss when it comes to latching in place (see here for my experience with the Croatian mags).  The reason I wanted Croatian mags was for their bolt-hold-open (BHO) capability.  Croatian mags are also not surplus…they are new.

Good mags that are usually cheap are Bulgarian surplus mags.  I have not reviewed the Bulgarian mags I have but they just work and do not feel flimsy.

I also have 6 x Tapco polymer mags.  Folks LOVE to hate on those.  I didn’t buy them.  They came with the first AK I bought (the AMD-63).  They work, which is something the Croatian mags wouldn’t initially do.  They will also fit in every AK I have, which is, again, something the Croatian mags wouldn’t do.  They’re perfectly fine for range use and have yet to fail on me.

UPDATE (1/10/21):  PSA has a sale on Croatian mags right now, marked down from $19.99 to $12.99.  Also, if you order 10+, shipping is free (per the product page).  As well, Mrgunsngear stated that they’ve changed the mag tab (probably narrowed it slightly) so that there’s less of an issue with latching.

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AK-47 Apex Gun Parts Atlantic Firearms Croatia magazine

Received Four New Croatian 30-round Magazines Today

As an update to the prior post, I received the 4 x Croatian 30-round steel mags from Apex Gun Parts today.

They all fit in my Arsenal SAM7UF.  None fit in my AKM-63.  Well, they fit but they won’t latch.  The tab that enables latching oddly ramped so that the mag release won’t engage the mag.  I can file them a bit to enable them to fit or just use them exclusively in the SAM7UF.  I will probably fit them for both AKs.

The mags look clean.  They are new.  They’ve re-enforcement around the mag well area, which appears out of place.  Maybe re-enforcement is a bad word.  Let me rephrase:  it appears that they added material to mitigate a prior issue with fitment.  As long as it works.  Now, they need to adjust that tab a bit to offer better fitment across the AK platform.  Note, that I firmly believe that mags can be loosely fit, as long as the looseness doesn’t drop the mag and doesn’t cause feed issues.  They are snug in the SAM7.  I can’t tell if they’d be snug in the AKM since they don’t stay in place.

Otherwise, they look awesome.  They don’t feel as durable as the batch I got from Atlantic Firearms (they feel lighter, but I don’t think they’ll break at first drop), but I don’t need them to be bullet-proof.

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AK 63 Arsenal Atlantic Firearms magazines SAM7UF

Steel Mags From Atlantic Firearms

I bought a 4-pack of 30-round steel mags from Atlantic Firearms a few days ago.  They arrived today.  They were filthy but thoroughly protected from rust and corrosion.

I cleaned them.  I actually took them apart and soaked them in dish soap (Dawn) and hot water, then scrubbed them, then let them air dry.  I then gave them a coat of oil and put them back together.

All four fit in my SAM7 (they fit very snug but not as tight as the PMAG it came with).  All four also fit in my AK63, although loosely (I don’t mind — as long as they don’t come out). 

I still have to test them at the range, though.

I’ve the other set of Croatian mags arriving tomorrow.  I’ll have to scrub them down as well, but I may save that for this weekend.  I’ll test fit them to the SAM7 tomorrow, though.  I hear these mags can be problematic when it comes to fitment.  We’ll see.  If they are, I’ll just file them a bit.