.223 Romanian

[Aye Kay]

  Can you use a Gail mag in these?

[Mancat]

No. Weiger or Bulgarian "Waffle" mags. AK-74 mags are supposed to fit but probably won't feed well because of incorrect taper on .223 vs 5.45x39. Pro Mags are supposed to work well.

I thought about buying one of these a while back, did my research on it, but reliability and parts availability is just too hit and miss. It's a shame, I wish I could have a .223 SKS and AK.

[Aye Kay]

   Norinco made a very nice .223 AK,  but the magazines are high dollar. 

[lonewolf]

No. Weiger or Bulgarian "Waffle" mags. AK-74 mags are supposed to fit but probably won't feed well because of incorrect taper on .223 vs 5.45x39. Pro Mags are supposed to work well.

I thought about buying one of these a while back, did my research on it, but reliability and parts availability is just too hit and miss. It's a shame, I wish I could have a .223 SKS and AK.

Ak 74 surplus mags work, just can't load them to full capacity...

Everthing I've read and heard on ak Pro mags are they are junk...

[Big Boss]

I think buying a Surefire .223 Saiga magazine would work if you used a file to remove the integrated feed ramp on the magazine.

[AKBLUE]

   Norinco made a very nice .223 AK,  but the magazines are high dollar. 

Type 84 Chinese steel AK mags at Numerich for $35.  Not cheap but OK for steel Chinese originals.

[Frisco Pete]

...I wish I could have a .223 SKS and AK.

You could have bought a Robinson Armament Vepr II or Vepr K and had a great one at one time. 

Built on a Russian AK (actually thicker sheet metal RPK) from Molot, their .223 version was of excellent quality and worked flawlessly.  Robinson Armament used a AK74 mag with modified feed lips and a special follower.
I was lucky enough to be asked to do some of the reliability testing of the pre-production Vepr II and those modified mags.  It was fun burning up a lot of somebody else ammo in an AK.  By the time I was involved things ran flawlessly - and I bought one as soon as they came out (even getting a hand-picked serial #).
Pricier than Romanians etc (about the same as a Mini-14), but worth every dime more - I did my part to spread the word.  Now they have been long since discontinued, but if you are serious about wanting a .223 AK, I would keep your eyes open on the used market.

Back to the original question about .223 mags - I wonder if they still have some of their followers and a template for the feed lips to modify AK74 because that might be the best bet for a Romanian.

Vepr II .223

[dussandr]

I know this is awful but....
I have a .223 Saiga/AK I converted and I use Tapco .223 AK mags in it and they work perfectly. I know Tapco isn't 'cool' but it does work....buying a $30.00 Surefire mag and filing it would be expensive. Midway and others carry the .223 AK Tapcos for around $15 or so.

[Onepoint]

Its not awful if it works.  I have several mags for my Saiga conversions,  the best one without a doubt are the Wiegers, and I snagged them before they went sky high, I probably wouldn't consider them an option now for cost.  Best deal is still AK74 mags with Robarm followers if you want mil spec mags.