SKS to AK-47 Magazine conversion.

[stchman]

Hello all.

I recently purchased a Yugo SKS rifle. I have heard that you can purchase a conversion kit so the SKS can accept AK magazines.

Where do you get these?

Thanks.

 

[tju1973]

you won't be out much money, but my personal advice is to not convert. Try the stripper clip route, and you will find that you can reload almost as fast with better reliability. The Chinese SKS-es that were factory built this way seem to be ok, but I have seen too many Bubba-ed and "authentic Norinco Paratrooper" whatevers that were crap to venture into it--

Just my advice, and good luck if you attempt it...

 

[Quiet]

Never seen a conversion kit.

The Chinese SKS that used AK magazines were made specifically to do so.
If it doesn't say Norinco SKS-M or Norinco SKS-D on the side of the reciever than it's not a factory made Chinese SKS that accepts AK magazines.

 

[rocinante]

This is the site you need to research.

http://www.sksboards.com/smf/index.php

Bottom line it can be done by someone who has the machining capacity but when you can buy WASRs again now sub 400 dollars the question would be why?

I know where you are coming from because I have an SKS too and the stripper clips bugged me. Got a bunch of tapco ducktail magazines and they are clumbersome. Really if you get the hang of it strippers are not that slow.

 

[nalioth]

Really if you get the hang of it strippers are not that slow.

If you get the hang of it, strippers provide a faster reload than a magazine.

 

[mljdeckard]

Do what I did. I don't want an AK now. Not exactly cheap, but now There is nothing a civilian AK type can do that I can't. I'm probably more accurate then most of them. Last step will be a new Tapco bolt with a sprung firing pin that lets you drop a loaded magazine with the bolt forward and a round chambered. (As it is now, you can't, because it wasn't really designed for detachable mags.) THIS IS THE ONLY DETACHABLE CONVERSION THAT WORKS FOR YUGOS.

If this isn't your thing, or you don't think it's worth the expense, get an AK.

http://thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=453341

 

[JHansenAK47]

If you get the hang of it, strippers provide a faster reload than a magazine.

A good example of that would be the m1 garand against the M14. Doing the aimed shots per minute test the m1 garand beats the M14 even while reloading 2.5 times as much.
Though I will say I hate those crappy painted stripper clips. I prefer the parkerized stripper clips hands down. If you put a little lube on the base of your bullets the painted stripper clips work just fine. I always have trouble getting the painted ones to strip the rounds off if it isn't lubed up.

 

[Hammerhead6814]

stchman,

First of all congratulations on your Yugo purchase! A lot of guys give them a hard time for not being chrome-lined, but many more will attest to the accuracy of a Yugo-SKS. Do a quick search, many are surprised by it's accuracy.

On the AK conversion:

First off the SKS itself cannot hold AK magazines, not do to the system itself, but due to the fact that an AK magazine is actually wider than the receiver of a traditional SKS. The SKS-D and SKS-M were modified at factory to be wider and therefor be able to accept the AK magazine.

The only way to make your Yugo capable of accepting the AKM magazine would be to cut-out a section of your receiver, then weld on new sections to widen the body to the point of accepting AKM magazines. Then you will have to cutout the forward portion of your magazine well and weld on a replacement with a notch in it to give the lip of the AKM magazine something to grab onto. Then your going to need an AKM style magazine catch, and weld or jury-rig it to the portion of the trigger group where your SKS magazine catch was (that's right, it has to go to).

But your still not done! Now you have to file off a portion of your bolt. Instructions on how to do this can be found in a sticky thread on www.sksboards.com. It's in the "General" section.


This will not be an easy project. It's going to take a lot of cutting, welding, and filing before your close. You'll have to be thinking about how the magazine will sit every second of the build, because once your done, if the magazine sits off just ever so slighty, your rifle will not be able to chamber a round and you'll have to cut it up and start all over again!

If that sounds a little over your head, out of budget or just to time-consuming, please check into the Tapco 20 round SKS duckbill magazines. They're the only SKS duckbill magazines that are rated as "fairly priced" and "working" amongst SKS owners. There are higher-cost alternatives, like the HITECH detachable magazine system. But when I say HITECH is higher cost, I mean they charged $95.00 for one magazine and adapter. Ordering an extra magazine they only knock off ten bucks.

I hope you be safe and have fun!

 

[Quiet]

Also, keep in mind when converting a SKS over to detachable magazines, you will have to comply with the Federal 922r parts requirements.

So, you will need to change out some of the Yugo parts with US made parts, in order to legally be able to use detachable magazines.

 

[mljdeckard]

^^He hit it exactly. You can't just switch out the mag. The Tapco Compliance kit is about the easiest and cheapest way to do it.

It's unnerving, because there are a variety of places that sell the mags a la carte, targeted to people to just use on any SKS, but they don't say a word about 922r compliance. If you just put on a Tapco mag with no other mods, you are in violation of the law.

 

[leadcounsel]

Do a search.

Don't convert. It doesn't work, as many here have tried and learned.

If you want an AK, buy an AK.

 

[stchman]

Ok, I was told by someone at the range that a kit is made for it. I guess they were wrong.

I figured if it was an inexpensive ok.

As far as AK-47, compared to an SKS they are inaccurate and cost over twice as much.

 

[bullturkey]

I beg to differ on the accuracy part of an AK. Ammo has a lot to do with it. GIGO.