I picked up a used Arsenal SA M-7A1R a few months back, and it came with three different types of magazines… circle 10s, what I believe to be Polish slab sides, and a few steel mags of which I have no clue as to type. My question is about the follower in the steel mags. The bolt locks back on them when empty, including on the last shot, and when I drop the mag, the bolt closes. Was wondering if these were typically good to go, or if there were known problems with them? Also, if they are good to go, where can I get more? I’m loving these so far, just curious about them.
Yugoslavia made magazines use a follower that locks the bolt open until you release the magazines.
There are surplus Yugo mags to be had, but bear in mind that a lot of them will show evidence of the Balkan Wars of the early/mid 90’s.
They’re good to go as far as reliability goes, I personally don’t see a lot of advantage to the bolt locking open but closing when you take the mag out, but if you have them and like them, run them.
DavePAL84 put a lot of work into this excellent mag primer.
Dang, Templar beat me to it. Those are Yugo mags. I have a few, and like them. They don’t hold the bolt open during mag changes, but at least they let you know you’re out of ammo before you get a ‘click’.
I also have a Chinese stamped 20-round magazine with a similar follower design. It’s a pretty slick magazine, I use it in my Polish underfolder.
Thanks fellas for the info, and Templar, that link is exactly what I needed. I agree there isn’t much of an advantage to them, but it is kinda nice being able to hear and feel that I’m out. Still catch myself taking a quick glance at times to see if it’s the mag follower doin the job or if there’s a problem. Been collecting Circle 10s whenever I can find em so before too long I’ll have a plenty of em and these will turn into my “play mags”. Think I might also see about some Chinese smooth-backs.
I got a gang of these Yugo BHO mags awhile back. I used a few of them at the Vickers AK class this past May. They worked fine, but one of the things that was an initial, “weird out,” to me was that you don’t get the, “click,” of the empty chamber hammer fall at the end of the mag. Instead, you get a dead trigger, since the bolt is rearward.
Not the end of the world, just something that takes a minute to wrap your head around. I fell for it!
I got these mags at a steal ($3.00 each) and they were in cosmoline, so I figured that at that price, I couldn’t turn them down. Got twenty of them for $60.
I agree…for an AK set up for serious use, roll one way or the other. The thing that, “clicked,” for me was (pun intended) that those mags give you a dead trigger, and hence the feeling is different than falling on the empty chamber. For a battlefield pickup weapon (or ghetto pickup, in my case) that could be an important que to pick up on.
As far as function, they ARE harder to smack out of the gun, with the thumb or with another mag, because of the spring tension behind the bolt pressing on the mag follower.
