Hi guys,
I'm new to this forum and thought I'd post the following based on my recent experiences with TAPCO mags. I recently bought a new Century Arms Centurion 39 Sporter AK direct from Century Arms. It came with two Tapco 30-rd mags. I also picked up 500 rds of Silver Bear ammo and four 10-rd Tapco mags from Cheaper than Dirt with the intent to shorten two of the mag to carry only 5 rds. I realize that Tapco sells 5-rd mags but they are the same size as their 10-rd mags and I wanted a couple of as-short-as-possible 5-rd mags. The ammo is very accurate in the rifle, easily grouping 2” at 75 yds with iron sights. The problem is the rifle had a major feeding problem. After doing some research I found this is likely a Tapco mag problem, which is no surprise to many of you. After closely inspecting the rifle and how the bolt face lower lug picks up the cartridge from the mag, the root cause of the problem became clear. The top flanges of the mag are too thick and do not allow the cartridge to ride sufficiently high for the bolt lug to reliably "pick up" the rim of the cartridge and push it out of the mag.
Realizing it would be a mistake to modify the mag locking lug or to modify the top of the flanges, I used a Dremel tool with a small flat thin abrasive wheel to remove some material from the inside surface of both flanges, effectively thinning the flange from the inside and allowing the top cartridge to rest higher in the mag on either side. The mags are now 100% reliable with zero feeding problems.
If you make the modification do not remove more than necessary from the inside surface of the flange. If a sufficiently small wheel is used the flange can be thinned without shortening the flange width to any degree. BTW, I compared the TAPCO mags to Magpul's 30 rd mags and the top lips are designed differently so that the cartridges ride higher in the Magpul versus an unmodified TAPCO, therefore no feeding problems with the Magpul's.
Wayne
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