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Tula steel mags are relatively rare as they were only made for a few years before production was switched to the new AG4 plastic type. Tula’s factory mark is a five pointed star that, when found, is always on the spine. These mags are of the Second European Ribbed Type, and will usually have a fair number of inspector stamps on both the spine and its lower sides. All Tula rifles, and steel mags, were finished with a baked-on black enamel finish. In 1960, the Soviet’s Tula arsenal started production of the AKM. Collectors generally refer to them as a “Late Izhmash Spine Stamped Mag.” This type of mag body was also made by many other countries, and I will refer to it in the future as the “Second European Ribbed Type”.Īs would be expected these mags will be found with the Izhmash mark stamped on the spine, and with a baked-on black enamel finish. This rib resembles an upside down and backward “L”. The inward facing rib at the back of the mag now stopped short of the lip reinforcement plates, and turned at a 90 degree angle toward the rear of the mag. The hole’s purpose seems to have been the prevention of a stuck follower from suction in a heavily greased mag, but this had apparently been deemed unnecessary.Īt some point the dies used by Izhmash to stamp mag bodies were redesigned. The hole through the front left side of the earlier follower’s bulge was also eliminated. This bulge does not extend to the rear of the follower.Įventually, the Izhmash factory mark was moved to the spine, and this version is generally referred to as the “Early Izhmash Spine-Stamped Mag.” This was followed by a new follower with a longer thinner bulge on it that extends to the back of the follower. The followers on these early Izhmash ribbed mags will have a large pill shaped bulge with a hole through its front left side.
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Izhmash reportedly switched to a baked-on enamel finish on its AKs shortly before production of the AKM model began in 1959. At first, these mags were blued, but this was eventually changed to a baked-on black enamel finish. The earliest Soviet ribbed mag, the “Izhmash Back-Stamped Ribbed Mag”, has the Ishmash factory mark stamped on the bottom-back of the mag like the Russian Slab-Side mag. This type of mag was produced by many other countries, and I will refer to it in the future as the “First European Ribbed Type.” The first ribbed mags had the inward facing rib at the rear of the mag’s body going strait up and under the plates that reinforce the feed lips. Three of these horizontal ribs are noticeably short, and basically just wrap around the bottom rear of the mag. The body features three outward and one inward facing longitudinal ribs, as well as five outward facing horizontal ribs along the bottom of the magazine.
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The body, as with the earlier Slab-Side version, was formed from two stamped metal halves that are spot welded together along the front and along the rear flanges (referred to as the mag spine). Stamped from thinner steel (.75 mm) this design featured ribs in the body for added strength. They originally had a blued finish, but many appear to have been later refinished with a black enamel coating.Ībout the time that the Type III AK-47 was adopted in 1954, a new lighter 30-round steel magazine was introduced. Made from thick 1 mm steel, it is without doubt extremely durable, but heavy. The Russian Slab-Side magazines are generally covered in inspector stamps, but the Izhmash factory mark (feathered arrow in triangle) will be found stamped low on the back of the mag’s body. They are relatively rare as the design was replaced before AK production was started at another factory. When the Soviet Union started production of the AK-47 in late 1948 at the Izhevsk Machine Plant, also known as Izhmash, it came with a 30-round magazine that has come to be called the “Russian Slab-Side.” It gets its name from its smooth stamped sides and was produced only by the Izhmash factory. Even with this seemingly narrow scope the project proved dauntingly large, and continued to grow as new variations showed up. As such, this effort is limited to 7.62x39mm magazines with a capacity of 30 rounds or less, and which don’t need to be modified to work in a standard AK-47. Identifying all magazines, for all AK variants, would be of such a large magnitude that it would be completely impractical to attempt. Identifying and Collecting the 7.62x39mm AK-47/AKM Magazine