Seems I picked up a PSA Spiker which is modeled off of the Chinese Type 56, however when I got it the gun felt selective on what mags would fit. The 40 round bulgarian polymer mags and 30 round steel bulgarian mags fit, while the 30 round bulgarian polymer mags and 30 round KCI steel mags didn’t. In the case with the mags that did fit, they seems to be awful wobbly. Is this supposed to be the case with the orginal Type 56?
Its an issue with all AKs. AK mags may need to be fitted, and because of that will fit tight in some guns and loose in others.
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Should I get a new mag catch for it?
Field strip you AK. See that rivet that goes across the receiver in front of the hammer? Mags that don’t “fit” usually don’t have enough clearance of that rivet. That is a known feature of U.S. inch stamped receivers.
You need a little bit of clearence on that rivet. Mags that fit will wobble until the back wedge hits the rivet or the top of the mag hits the ejector tab on the left side of the receiver.
Use a flat file to trim the back wedge of the magazine until it fits smoothly. You can get the file at Home Depot for 8 dollars.
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I’m thinking about killing two birds with one stone by getting a M+M MRL mag catch kit. I figured it’d make the magazine catch more compatible? What are your thoughts?
It reduces the wobble by having a flatter surface, but depending on the length f the mag release you are replacing you still have the interference problem with the receiver reinforcement pin and may still have to fit the back wedge. Once the mag is loaded, the wobble is reduced because the cartridges will be pushing up against the bolt carrier.
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Excellent explanation and instructions there @Marcel_01 thanks for sharing it like you did. its bound to be a big help to many people.
I take it the M+M MRL lever being installed would help with most mags, but won’t be a universal solution.
Thanks for the advice. I finally got around to filing down that rivet. Most mags fit ok now, but Pmags are an exception. Despite the M+M MRL mag release it’s one of the few mags that requires me to manually push the release lever backwards. Also, with regards to the rivet, I wanted to know if I should add cerakote paint on where I filed on the rivet. Don’t want it getting dirty.
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Wait, you filed the rivet itself?
The advice was to file the tab on the rear of the magazines to ensure a better fit around the rivet, because there tends to be a lot of variance in mag fit with AKs in general and it’s easier to fit an individual mag to a gun than to try to make the gun fit every single type of mag.
My PSA GF3 wouldn’t fit polymer PMAGs at first but a couple minutes with a flat file on all of them and I managed to get a perfect fit with all of them without touching the receiver or the rivet.
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Whoops on my part. I hope that doesn’t cause problems down the road. I guess I better cerakote that rivet. As for the mag release that was installed could that be why the Pmags don’t fit?
Can’t speak to the mag release, but try filing down the tab on the PMAGS, I bet you’ll be able to get them to squeeze in there just fine.
Don’t think you need to go nuts with cerakoting the rivet, maybe just hit it with a small coat of paint if you’re worried about rust prevention.
I bought some cerakote, but it says to bake it after applying it. Can I just apply it and leave it at that?
You can. Baking it hardens it further.
I want a Type 56 with a pig sticker bayonnet and underfolding stock. I would love to try it out in my woods versus an M4 with bayonnet. All you need is a file to custom fit your magazines.
In purgatory (CT), in late August when the temperatures started to drop, the spiders would go crazy doing webs across every opening, often just a couple feet apart. I was also charged by bear and moose busting out of the underbrush at fairly close range a few times. I carried a Garand loaded and ready for a sudden surprise. I didn’t want to pick up a stick for the webs, so I fixed the bayonet to deal with the webs.
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welcome to the forums. glad to have you.
excellent choice to carry, and that bayonet man, great plan. i hope you didnt and dont have to use it other than for the spider control.
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Folks would wonder what kind of spiders I was dealing with to fix a bayonet. BTW, a Garand was the most effective military type rifle I was allowed to own and use in CT. Guess they had visions of Shelob from “Lord of the Rings”.
i just watched that movie yesterday.
yeah you must be fighting some big ol spiders with having to use the Garand with bayonet on them too funny.
yea, its a shame these states who fought so hard for liberty and freedom back when the country was founded, no have so many suffocating laws … smh… our founders are truly rolling in their graves now.