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People over on the AKFiles have been all aflutter over these things so I thought I'd buy a batch to see what the hubbub was about.
These are steel, heavy duty, and feel substantial in the hand. As someone who is more familiar and used to AK mags, this feels on par with surplus kalash mags, and not light and delicate like commercial aluminum mags.
Finish is great- it seems like paint over park, and these come sealed in plastic bags, heavily oiled.
Floor plates are more AK than AR. Takes some muscle to slide them off. Entire inside of mag body is dripping with oil.
Follower is close to the old green style from the top, but are again, more like and AK follower once you take it out and look at it. It rides in one of the grooves of the mag body and should keep it from tilting.
All in all, very impressed with construction. Mag exhibits no flex when squeezed in the hand, locks in tight on the two rifles I tried it on and activates bolt hold open. It will be a while before I can try them out, but I'll update when I do.
If you have an account over on the files, you can see what people are saying over there:
http://www.akfiles.com/forums/showthread.php?t=386433
Same guy posting on Arfcom:
https://www.ar15.com/forums/ar-15/Bulgarian-Steel-AR15-Mags/17-742628/
Clearview Investments seems to be the best source for them at the moment.
http://www.clearviewinvest.com/ar1522330rdmagazinesbulgariannewinplasticwrap.aspx
$9.24 a piece. Numrich wants $16.
Supposedly, the Bulgarian factory told Clearview that these were part of an Israeli order, but that can't be confirmed. One member on the 'Files did find this pic from the Ukraine:
Does appear to be the same magazine.
Possibly related, the Ukrainians are producing a licensed version of the Tavor. Maybe the Israelis threw in some mags or they were just bought from Bulgaria. Could be both. Arms trading around Eastern Europe is a convoluted mess.
These are steel, heavy duty, and feel substantial in the hand. As someone who is more familiar and used to AK mags, this feels on par with surplus kalash mags, and not light and delicate like commercial aluminum mags.
Finish is great- it seems like paint over park, and these come sealed in plastic bags, heavily oiled.
Floor plates are more AK than AR. Takes some muscle to slide them off. Entire inside of mag body is dripping with oil.
Follower is close to the old green style from the top, but are again, more like and AK follower once you take it out and look at it. It rides in one of the grooves of the mag body and should keep it from tilting.
All in all, very impressed with construction. Mag exhibits no flex when squeezed in the hand, locks in tight on the two rifles I tried it on and activates bolt hold open. It will be a while before I can try them out, but I'll update when I do.
If you have an account over on the files, you can see what people are saying over there:
http://www.akfiles.com/forums/showthread.php?t=386433
Same guy posting on Arfcom:
https://www.ar15.com/forums/ar-15/Bulgarian-Steel-AR15-Mags/17-742628/
Clearview Investments seems to be the best source for them at the moment.
http://www.clearviewinvest.com/ar1522330rdmagazinesbulgariannewinplasticwrap.aspx
$9.24 a piece. Numrich wants $16.
Supposedly, the Bulgarian factory told Clearview that these were part of an Israeli order, but that can't be confirmed. One member on the 'Files did find this pic from the Ukraine:
Does appear to be the same magazine.
Possibly related, the Ukrainians are producing a licensed version of the Tavor. Maybe the Israelis threw in some mags or they were just bought from Bulgaria. Could be both. Arms trading around Eastern Europe is a convoluted mess.