Russian SKS Magazine options

Wis3guy

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Just picked up a Russian SKS, and as cool as stripper clips are, I do love the idea of a magazine. Wondering which magazines work best with the wood stock, as some reading I have done it seems certain mags work better than others, but also dependent on whether its the original wood stock or aftermarket tacticool.
 
Tapco gets a lot of criticism generally from "purists" who have never owned them or have made little to no effort trying to fit them correctly to the gun. I personally only run Tapco magazines in my SKS and have yet to have one fail me in like 10 years.
 
Tapco gets a lot of criticism generally from "purists" who have never owned them or have made little to no effort trying to fit them correctly to the gun. I personally only run Tapco magazines in my SKS and have yet to have one fail me in like 10 years.

Is your SKS using a factory wood style stock? From what I have seen, it seems Tapco is preferred over pro mag, but tapco is no longer available? I don't know, I read a lot of conflicting info, hence my question
 
Is your SKS using a factory wood style stock? From what I have seen, it seems Tapco is preferred over pro mag, but tapco is no longer available? I don't know, I read a lot of conflicting info, hence my question

Pro mag is another great brand, their most popular and well reviewed mags are the ones that have the paddle release built into them... i dont run these because i dont like the look, and i already have a aftermarket AK paddle release. Ive mainly ran polymer stocks over the years like the ATi strikeforce... and later the Archangel. Now my SKS wears a custom SVD wood stock. Sometimes the stock needs modification, and other times its the mag that needs modification to fit.
 
Pro mag is another great brand, their most popular and well reviewed mags are the ones that have the paddle release built into them... i dont run these because i dont like the look, and i already have a aftermarket AK paddle release. Ive mainly ran polymer stocks over the years like the ATi strikeforce... and later the Archangel. Now my SKS wears a custom SVD wood stock. Sometimes the stock needs modification, and other times its the mag that needs modification to fit.

So the paddle release is either on the mag or added to the actual gun itself?
 
The pro mags have it on the mag.

And aftermarket companies like Spectre Ballistics sell a AK paddle release that bolts to the gun.
 
I've only ever used promags in mine. Factory wood and a tapco stock, they work like a charm. I also picked up a spare bolt and modded it to be able to insert/remove mag on closed bolt. I also modded the back of the promags to better utilize stripper clips.
 
If you check sponsors there may be a few left, I got a couple last Summer - forget who. And my LGS - DoctorDeals .ca has 35 of the 5-round Promag ones. You can check local LGS for Tapco on their 'back shelves', too. Runs about $40-5- last ones I saw.
 
Tapco gets a lot of criticism generally from "purists" who have never owned them or have made little to no effort trying to fit them correctly to the gun. I personally only run Tapco magazines in my SKS and have yet to have one fail me in like 10 years.

Nah... it's just a meaningless modification (in Canada). Aesthetics? Extra capacity? (still pinned to 5) Is it actually any faster to reload?

It's not about being a "purest", its about modifying it for the sake of modifying it... which is fine. Your stuff.

Time and money is better spent shimming-up the stock for a tight fit and doing some mild trigger sear work. I've done it all full circle... a stock SKS with stripper clips is redundant to "improve" upon.
 
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I would get a custom magwell that allows for xcr mags, if I didn't like stripper clips. Also have the added bonus of 10rds..
 
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Nah... it's just a meaningless modification (in Canada). Aesthetics? Extra capacity? (still pinned to 5) Is it actually any faster to reload?

It's not about being a "purest", its about modifying it for the sake of modifying it... which is fine. Your stuff.

Time and money is better spent shimming-up the stock for a tight fit and doing some mild trigger sear work. I've done it all full circle... a stock SKS with stripper clips is redundant to "improve" upon.

More pros then cons IMO

-Allows for better optics to be equipped
-Allows for quick loading and unloading while keeping ammo contained
-Quicker, more reliable reloads (cus lets face it there are so may ways to fumble a stripper clip load, especially when in a rush)
-Excellent monopod for shooting off the knee... and prone.

Some modifying is for the sake of modifying, others are how the individual chooses to improve how effective the system works for them. My Modified SKS is a blend of both, and sure as hell is more effective at engaging targets then a stock sks dare I say haha
 

Someone on this board has also managed to modify his sks to run type 81 mags.

Thats pretty sweet!

Have you checked ####### and townpost? There's some on there when I looked couple days ago.


I have not, I am not familiar with those websites, I will have to check them out.

Its a custom magazine well that fits your SKS allowing the use of "ar15 style, pistol" magazines, in 762x39.

Thanks for the knowledge!
 
More pros then cons IMO

-Allows for better optics to be equipped
-Allows for quick loading and unloading while keeping ammo contained
-Quicker, more reliable reloads (cus lets face it there are so may ways to fumble a stripper clip load, especially when in a rush)
-Excellent monopod for shooting off the knee... and prone.

Some modifying is for the sake of modifying, others are how the individual chooses to improve how effective the system works for them. My Modified SKS is a blend of both, and sure as hell is more effective at engaging targets then a stock sks dare I say haha

Yeah, forgot about the optics.

Quicker and more reliable reloads is debatable with duck-bill mags. I’d say the XCR mag well is the better option.
 
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