223 AK mags....what's the story?

[Roger Nuss]

Just acquired a Poly in 223, would like any info about what will work in this rifle. Promag? Bulgie? etc.
thanks

 

[100 bullets]

I have some 223 metal mags thrown into a trade. He had them 20 years ago when his 223 ak and 7.62 ak were stolen. I cant find much on them either.

 

[copper]

Norinco metal .223 mags like the one shown in this link should be your first choice. I believe Bulgarian .223 plastic mags can be made to work also with some trimming.
http://picturearchive.auctionarms.com/700171138/9542799/dscn6499-1.jpg_thumbnail1.jpg

 

[jaybird]

Norinco .223 mags and Polytech .223 mags do not interchange. Each rifle is mag specific. Poly .223 mags are more rare and bring $100-125 each. Norinco .223 mags are more common and bring $25-35 each. As to fitting other mags, I am not sure.

 

[Surly]

If you want your rifle to function like a complete piece of shit, I recommend using Promags. :thumbs_up

 

[Glockdude1]

Would AK-74 mags work?

Arsenal, Tapco, steel AK-74 mags maybe?

:surfing

 

[Surly]

Would AK-74 mags work?

Arsenal, Tapco, steel AK-74 mags maybe?

:surfing

Not for 5.56. Even though it's an AK, it's going to be very particular about magazines feeding it.

I'll reiterate that using Promag garbage will result in disappointment.

 

[Glockdude1]

The OAL of the 5.45x39 is 57 mm, 2.24 inches.

The OAL of .223 is 57 mm, 2.26 inches.

I think it would work. S&W uses the same AR lower for both .223 and 5.45.

If I had a .223 AK, I would try it myself, but all my AK's are 7.62x39.

:surfing

 

[Surly]

They will physically fit inside of the magazine, but they won't feed properly. If the '74 mag would work for 5.56 rifles, don't you think the bowl haircuts and other manufacturers would have just used them instead of making a new mag? Century tried to convert '74 mags to feed the 5.56 with minimal success. You can try it out of curiosity, but buy only one mag to test. :thumbs_up

 

[insider]

Try the Yugo 556 mags, they are very similar to the Polytech mags.

 

[randeak47]

you can use Bulgy .223 mags , but your bolt carrier will make them a tight fit, you can get ak ..3 bolt carrier and should be good , but keep in mind norinco .223 use ak-47 patter bolt carriers, hope that heelps!!

 

[borax56]

I have 3 30 round norinco (marked made in china) 223 mags and 1 15 round that is unmarked I don't need. $100.00 shipped via priority mail. paypal only

 

[Roger Nuss]

Norinco .223 mags and Polytech .223 mags do not interchange. Each rifle is mag specific. Poly .223 mags are more rare and bring $100-125 each. Norinco .223 mags are more common and bring $25-35 each. As to fitting other mags, I am not sure.

Are they just mutually exclusive, or , like FALs (metric work in inch, but not the other way), will one work in the other and not the reverse? Did that come out right.........?

 

[jaybird]

Your question came out right. I assure you that the rifle/mags are weapon specific. A Norinco .223 mag will not run in a Polytech, nor the reverse. Interestingly, Kengs, back in the day converted Poly .223 rifles to 7.62x39 caliber rifles by doing a bolt and barrel change. When first imported, the .223 was not selling well, and the Polytech .223 mags were not in abundance. Oddly, the Poly .223 magazine well readily accepted and ran standard Chinese 7.62x39 mags flawlessly and made the conversion very easy. F.J. Vollmer utilized this fact and produced transferable NFA Chinese AK weapons using Poly .223 rifles converted to 7.62x39.

 

[jaybird]

See Tommy guns comments in the following thread.

http://www.uzitalk.com/forums/showthread.php?60032-Full-auto-Norinco-84s-1

 

[jaybird]

Interestingly enough, here is an ad I pulled off Sturmgewehr this morning with one of the conversions for sell.

I have a very nice Polytech AKS Underfolder in 7.62x39 done by S.W.D. Inc. in stock ready to transfer. This gun originally was a .223 and was professionally converted to 7.62x39 The gun is in super nice condition and doesn't appear to have been fired much. The price is $13,500 shipped

http://www.sturmgewehr.com/webBBS/nfa4sale.cgi?read=139542

 

[Roger Nuss]

jaybird, you're rubbing salt in the wound..........I live in Illinois. lol Seriously, thanks for the info, I just may give a few promags a try- and perhaps use em as a pattern for conversion of any steel reinforced 223 mags I might find. Assuming they fit & function in the Poly. Any other thoughts on, say, Galil mags as candidates for conversion?

 

[Roger Nuss]

or, as insider suggested, Weiger mags?

 

[jaybird]

Roger, hoped all this helped, and a apologize for going overboard. I am recovering post surgery for 4 weeks and have too much time on my hands. LOL..ouch. Fortunely, I get plenty of computer time. No thoughts to Galil mags, as I only have a .308 Galil. insider may be on to something w/Weiger mags. When you do the conversions, let us know how they work out. Best of luck to you.

 

[insider]

or, as insider suggested, Weiger mags?

I retracted that and changed it to Yugo mags. I tried the Weigers, they won't lock in, neither will the Bulgarian circle 10. The Yugo's look identical to the Polytech mags.