Metal magazines that fit WASR 10?

[Pavel_J]

When I first got the WASR 10 rifle I tried a metal Zastava 30 round magazine and a metal PW Arms Croatian Surplus 30 round magazine that I already had. Neither of them would fit the WASR. There is some sort of interference inside the WASR mag well that prevents the metal mags from fully seating. Of course the Palm polymer 30 rounder that came with the WASR fits. So do all the Magpul polymer mags I have.

I refuse to do any grinding on the WASR and I do not want to grind on the metal mags I already have because they fit my Zastava M70 ZPAP perfectly as they already are. Why butcher them up?

Any WASR owners have recommendations for metal mags that fit WASRs without modifying the rifle or the metal mag?     

[LESchwartz]

That seems very odd.  How much material are we talking about here?  A few thousandths would indicate a fitment issue during the conversion.  Much more and I would question if your WASR is still limited to using the 10 round mags.  Most WASRs had the mag well enlarged, but yours might still need that work. 

Larry

[Hodgie]

My WASR’s run with Romanian, Yugo BHo mag’s, Chinese Surplus, and Russian Bakelite with no issues. New production mags like the Croatians can be a tight fit. Sometimes some small grinding in the mag in some places works. I personally prefer old stock surplus mags.

[Pavel_J]

I just got the rifle on 09/30 and did my first test fire today using a polymer mag. It worked flawlessly. Besides just trying to unsuccessfully insert the metal mags I already have, I haven't really dug too deep to find the exact cause of the problem. The best course of action is to remove the bolt cover and bolt before trying to insert a metal mag again. Then I have a better view of what is going on inside the mag well looking straight down from the top. Before I was looking through the ejection port with the rifle fully assembled and couldn't see much at that angle.

Thanks for any recommendations of metal mags that work in everyone elses' WASRs.

[PAX]

I have 10 round mags that I was told was for a WASR10. PAX

[Adrianople]

I had some of the "Croatian military contact mags" that if I recall would fit a Romanian build, but in order to fit an AMD65 needed the top back parts filed off. And filed to lock in. And after that they were still too low to strip rounds in the AMD and malfunctioned.

WASR should be good with Eastern European surplus... and probably Magpul and Circle 10 etc.

[Pavel_J]

The best course of action is to remove the bolt cover and bolt before trying to insert a metal mag again. Then I have a better view of what is going on inside the mag well looking straight down from the top. Before I was looking through the ejection port with the rifle fully assembled and couldn't see much at that angle.

I disassembled the WASR this morning and tried to insert a Croatian metal mag with the bolt and bolt cover removed. It does give a better idea of where the metal mag is hung up. It looks like the top of the metal mag is too wide to pass between the flat metal bars that hold the sides of the mag in place. On my Zastava M70 ZPAP there are dimples stamped into the receiver for that purpose. On the WASR it is sheet metal pieces spot welded on either side of the receiver. Those pieces are a fixed width and determine the width of the mags they will accept.

I got a very fine three cornered file and lightly smoothed the edges on the Croatian metal mag to see if it would help. It didn't and the mag still wouldn't fit.I stopped right there. I'm not going to butcher the mag because it fits and functions just fine in my Zastava M70. I'll just accept the fact that my Serb/Croation metal mags can't be used in my WASR.

My plan is to keep shooting the rifle with the polymer mags I have that work with the WASR. My problem with the Serb/Croation metal mags doesn't prevent me from shooting the rifle.

I plan to try different types of metal AK-47 mags to see if I can find one type that works in my WASR. Thanks for any suggestions about what mags to try out.

[Hodgie]

WASR’s come into the country as single stack receivers that fit 10 round mags. The chimps at century (the importer) open up the magwell and then weld in those metal plates in order for double stack mags to fit. The problem is they don’t always do a great job or check which mags do and don’t work. I would order one Romanian surplus mag and see if it fits if it doesn’t and it’s binding up on those welded supports then I would remove some material equally from both sides until it seats and functions as it should. Is this a brand new rifle or an older model built from a surplus AKM kit?

[Pavel_J]

WASR’s come into the country as single stack receivers that fit 10 round mags. The chimps at century (the importer) open up the magwell and then weld in those metal plates in order for double stack mags to fit. The problem is they don’t always do a great job or check which mags do and don’t work. I would order one Romanian surplus mag and see if it fits if it doesn’t and it’s binding up on those welded supports then I would remove some material equally from both sides until it seats and functions as it should. Is this a brand new rifle or an older model built from a surplus AKM kit?

It is a brand new rifle. It is Century Arms' latest version they designate as WASR 10 v2. I have no clue how it differs from earlier versions to bestowed it with a v2 designation. It has polymer furniture, does not come with a cleaning rod, and doesn't have a bayonet lug. Out of those three items only the poly stock and hanguards bug me. Eventually I will buy wood furniture for it.

Some of the reviews I read about the version 2 stated that Century tightened up the width of the welded supports in the mag well due to complaints about mags wobbling side to side on older versions. I have no personal experience with older versions to verify that. On my rifle you can definitely see that the welded tabs and the mag well are neatly machined and not done sloppily with a hand grinder. Everything is straight and looks good. Unfortunately it is too tight for the Serb/Croatian mags I have for my Zastava M70.

I'll try a Romanian surplus mag if I can find one and see what happens.

[LESchwartz]

fitment issue during the conversion.

This.

Larry