Scottsdale Gun Club uploaded a video that shows the features of the upcoming US Palm Gryphon EDC backpack. Check it out.
Tag Archives | US Palm
Review: US PALM AK30 Rebuild Kit
The internal components that US PALM uses in their AK30 Magazines are excellent. Their AK30 Rebuild Kit makes it possible to install those same internal components in any magazine body that you choose. These kits allow you to revitalize old worn out magazines or even to upgrade your working magazines. I have mentioned these on the blog in the past and now I have had a chance to spend some quality time with them.
Components
The AK30 Rebuild Kits are made up of 3 components: a skeletonized polymer follower, a stainless steel magazine spring, and a parkerized steel floor plate latch. These are premium components. The followers are of the same distinctive design used on the AK30. It is ventilated to allow debris to be easily flushed out. It also seems to be very low friction (more on that later).
The US PALM AK30 follower is very distinctive.
When I have a choice I prefer a quality stainless spring. Modern stainless springs offer increased corrosion resistance while still providing set free reliability for many thousands of compressions. These springs will likely outlast the magazine body in which they are housed. I have had AK magazines fail due to rusty springs, but that becomes much less likely with the use of a stainless spring.
There isn’t much to say about the floor plate latches other than they locked into every magazine that I tried. Its only real purpose is to retain the floor plate and it does that well.
The floor plate latch is nicely finished and works well to retain the floor plate.
In Use
I had 4 kits that I installed in 4 different magazines: a polymer Polish magazine, a Chinese “no rib” steel magazine, a Hungarian 20 round “tanker” magazine, and a Bulgarian Circle 10 polymer magazine.
Left to right: Hungarian Tanker, Chinese "No Rib", Bulgarian Circle 10
The Polish magazine is the earlier military type that has steel reinforcement in the feedlips, not the later commercial types with no steel. This was the magazine that I was most looking forward to testing the kit with since its original follower was very sticky in the magazine body to the point that it would cause an occasional stoppage. The AK30 Rebuild kit immediately and completely cured the feeding issues. I have put over 300 trouble free rounds through this magazine with the kit installed. I can’t tell you how thrilled I am about this because this is a great magazine body and it was a real shame that it wasn’t running well.
The Chinese “no rib” magazine accepted the kit and ran perfectly. However, the follower is a little bit narrow for this type of magazine and will only engage one of the follower retaining dimples at a time. These dimples are in place to prevent the follower from riding up too high in the magazine. By not engaging on both, the follower was allowed to wobble a bit more than usual. My concern would be that the follower might wear out sooner or develop more too much tilt over time. However, it functioned without issue through 180 rounds.
Hungarian 20 round “tanker” magazines utilize the same springs and followers as 30 round magazines. The AK30 Rebuild Kits fit the magazines perfectly. Loading the last few rounds is somewhat difficult but they functioned very well. There were no malfunctions through 150 rounds.
The follower required some fitting to work with the Bulgarian Circle 10 magazine. The follower would catch on the metal feedlip inserts. The fix was simple. I used a sharp knife to chamfer the top corners of the follower. The AK30 guts in the Circle 10 magazine body made for a very nice combination – the ultra rugged Circle 10 magazine body paired with the great follower and stainless spring of the AK30. It functioned perfectly through 300 rounds.
Top to bottom: Hungarian Tanker, Chinese "No Rib", Bulgarian Circle 10
Will They Work for You?
Given the somewhat wide variances in AK magazines, US PALM has done a very good job of making a kit that fits a broad range of magazine bodies. However, there can be some fit issues as evidenced by the examples I mentioned above. There are also some magazines that common sense dictates you wouldn’t want to use these kits.
If you are interested in trying the AK30 Rebuild Kits, I recommend buying one kit and trying it in the magazines that you intend to use it in before you buy several kits. Check the fit in as many magazines as you can. Determine if you will need to do any fitting (which is extremely easy to do). Then, once you have determined that they will work with your favorite magazine body, buy all that you need.
If you have “bolt hold open” mags like those from Yugoslavia, these kits are not for you. The follower has a taper at the back that will not work well to hold the bolt open. The plastic will also likely not hold up very well to being battered by the bolt and bolt carrier.
Conclusion
I like these kits. I was able to successfully use one to rejuvenate a magazine that would have been difficult and expensive to replace. I also like that there is finally a stainless steel spring option for AK magazines. This kit makes maintaining your magazines much more simple and makes them more resistant to a lack of maintenance. It will be up to you to determine if they work with your magazines and whether you need the functionality of the improved follower and stainless spring.
You can check out the AK30 Rebuild Kits on the US PALM website.
Disclosure: These kits were provided to me for review, free of charge, by US PALM.
Review: US PALM AK Battle Grip (AKBG)
I have tried a lot of grips for the AK series of rifles and I am just going to say this up front… The US PALM AK Battle Grip (AKBG) is easily the best grip for the AK that I have ever tried. You could probably stop reading right there and know everything that you need to know for this review, but if you want to know why it is the best, read on.
The US PALM AKBG works well and looks good on this Saiga conversion.
Overview
The AKBG is a grip for the AK series of rifles (AK-47, AK-74, etc.). It is made from a heavy duty polymer that comes in an assortment of colors. The colors include your typical black and Flat Dark Earth offerings as well as a very cool red bakelite color that is very appropriate for some AKs. It comes with all of the hardware that is necessary to mount it to your AK.
Why is it the Best?
The typical polymer grip that comes on most AKs leaves a lot of Western (as in hemisphere) shooters scratching their heads. It is narrow from front to back and side to side. It is basically straight with no swells or flairs except for at the top of the grip which is the worst place to have a swell. It doesn’t fill the hand very well at all. The AKBG on the other hand corrects all of those shortcomings. It has gentle palm swells and a sloping backstrap that really fills the hand. It is shaped to drive the hand higher on the grip for better control. It is just about as perfect a grip as you will find in terms of filling the hand without a lot of extra contours, ledges, or finger grooves.
The texture provides excellent grip.
The texture on a typical AK grip isn’t necessarily bad, it is just that the grip is so small that the texture barely seems to do anything. The AKBG has a very nice sort of stippled texture in large patches on both sides of the grip. It does a good job of providing grip without being too aggressive. While it might be nice if the texture was applied to the front strap or even the whole grip, the grip works very well as is.
This one of the better executed storage compartments on any grip, AK or otherwise.
The AKBG has one of the best storage compartments on any grip, not just AK grips. If you are familiar with the Tango Down Battle Grip’s storage compartment, the AKBG’s compartment will seem familiar since it uses the same excellent plug design to close the compartment. The compartment is basically wide open on the inside with plenty of space to store ear plugs or a small bottle of oil. The flexible rubber plug is captive at one end and has a pull tab at the other. The end with the pull tab can be locked tightly into place in the grip and it forms a water resistant seal. It is easy to open, easy to close, and I have never had one open unless I was actively trying to open it. It is very secure.
Looks aren't especially important but...
It is nice when a grip looks like it belongs on a rifle.
You will rarely see me mention this as a factor in a review, but I am going to mention it here. The AKBG looks good. So many aftermarket grips for the AK look like toy space gun parts or seem like an afterthought. The US PALM AKBG looks right on an AK. Obviously, some care was taken to make sure that this was the case.
In Use
The thing that strikes you when you use this grip is just how well it works with your hand and even improves the handling of the AK. It fills the hand well and promotes good trigger finger placement. It drives the hand very high on the grip. In fact, you will likely find that your hand it wedges up against the receiver which is perfect. This sort of placement really helps you drive the gun.
It works well with bare hands and gloves. I almost always wear gloves when I shoot, especially with AKs, so it is important that there is enough texture to lock the grip into my hand even when I have gloves on. The AKBG has enough but might benefit from having the stippled texture on more surface area, like the front strap. This is really a nitpick since it works so well as is.
The fit at the rear of the trigger guard is perfect.
This is a small thing but I noticed it on all three AKBGs that I own. They fit the trigger guard very well. AK grips are notched at the front so that they interface with the back of the trigger guard to prevent the grip from spinning. Many other grips that I have tried either don’t have enough material to lock the grip in place positively or have so much that there are edges. All 3 AKBGs that I own fit perfectly.
Conclusion
I think the best endorsement that I can give the AKBG is to say that I liked the one that I was sent by US PALM for evaluation so much, that I bought 2 more. All of my AKs wear US PALM AKBGs and I think yours should too.
Check out the AK Battle Grip on the US PALM website and at Brownells.
Disclosure: US PALM provided an AKBG for this review, free of charge. However, I did buy two more on my own.
I'm not just the spokesperson, I am also a client. Note the bakelite red color grip with the Russian red furniture.
US PALM AK45QS
It is official! US PALM released a photo of their new quad stack 45 round capacity AK-47 magazine – the AK45QS.
This magazine offers 45 rounds without a reload and it manages to pack all 45 rounds into a package that is shorter overall than a 30 round magazine. It does this by utilizing a quad stack design meaning that the magazine contains the cartridges in 4 stacks rather than 2 like a typical magazine.
Details are still sparse at this time but we should know more after the SHOT Show. Keep an eye on the US PALM website and their Facebook page for details.
Review: US PALM AK30 Magazine
The AK-47 has long lived in the shadow of the AR-15 in the minds of most American shooters. Much of what we think of the AK is clouded with myth, misinformation, and exaggeration. That is all beginning to change. There are a number of high quality AKs available on the market right now that are really beginning to challenge what people think they know about the rifle, and there are a number of American manufacturers who have stepped in to fill the void of American made accessories for this foreign rifle. One such manufacturer is US PALM and they have released no more controversial product than their AK30 Magazine for the AK-47.
I have tried to keep track of all of the conflicting reports on the AK30 since its introduction because I have been very supportive of US PALM’s efforts as an American company that is innovating the AK. Some very serious users have reported good things about the magazine. Some have reported short comings. We have really arrived at the point where it is difficult to sort out the real story so when US PALM offered me a chance to check out the latest version of the AK30, I jumped at it.
This review will cover my initial impressions of the magazines. I have 390 rounds through 3 different magazines at this point (210 through one, 90 through one, and 90 through the last) which is admittedly not enough to get the full picture. I have also put them through countless dry fire cycles. My plan is to share some initial thoughts on these magazines and share what I have learned so far. Then, I hope to be able to share updates as the round counts grow.
Price and Short Sightedness
There is one thing that I would like to address right up front. As a policy, I generally do not talk about what an item costs on Jerking the Trigger. I prefer to let you, the reader, decide what something is worth instead of telling you what I think is expensive or inexpensive. In the case of these magazines, I feel the need to address cost because so many people dismiss the AK30 magazines without trying them due to their cost of around $30 a piece (though they are often on sale at various places for less).
The main argument is that 2-3 steel magazines can be purchased for the cost of 1 AK30. I think that this is extremely short sighted and AK users should know better. How many times have AK users had to buy all of a certain kind of magazine, ammo, or small part before importation ceased or the surplus ran dry. It happens all the time. US PALM AK30 Magazines are made here in the US. When they run out, they make more.
When you buy a surplus AK mag and you take it home only to find that a magazine spring is rusted to the point that is breaks when you load the magazine (yes, it has happened to me), you are stuck. If you are lucky, the place that you bought it from will replace it. The same thing is true when you get a magazine that has been subtly misshapen enough that the follower binds (yes, it has happened to me). The same thing is true when you get a magazine that just doesn’t work (yes, it has happened to me). If that happens with an AK30, US PALM falls all over themselves to make it right.
That is the advantage of dealing with a US company. It costs more, but in some senses it is an investment in the future of the product that you are buying. That may not be enough for some users, but that is not the only thing that the AK30 Magazines have going for them.
Honestly, I think much of the hubris around these magazines stems from people who are slow to accept plastics as a replacement for metal. The reality is that plastics are not just a cheap replacement for metal but are actually better for some applications. Plastic doesn’t dent and deform like metal, it doesn’t rust, it can be colored, and it weighs less. Plastic is here to stay and I, for one, am glad.
Weight
Holding an AK30 magazine for the first time is kind of surprising. They look like they would be heavy but they are surprisingly light weight. I think that may be one of the better compliments that you can pay this magazine. It is obvious that work went into making this magazine durable, but at the same time, weight is kept to a minimum.
I weighed 4 additional types of magazines that I own in order to compare the weight of the AK30. The heaviest was a Chinese all steel magazine at 11.35 ounces, followed by an all steel Hungarian 20 round magazine at 10.05 ounces, a Bulgarian Circle 10 at 8.70, and then the AK30 at 7.50 ounce. The only magazine I have that is lighter than the AK30 is the plastic Polish Radom magazines at 7.05 ounces. There is a 3.85 ounce difference between the AK30 and a comparable steel magazine. That really adds up if you are carrying 4 or 5 magazines! I should also point out that these Chinese magazines are a bit lighter than most Eastern European steel magazines because they lack the large spine on the backstrap of the magazine.
Shape
I am really impressed with the handling characteristics of the AK30. It is obvious that a lot off care went into making the AK30 easy to manipulate. The sides of the magazine are covered with a deep grid pattern like a waffle. The front and back straps of the magazine are covered with large parallel ridges. This makes the AK30 very easy to hold and manipulate, even with winter gloves on.
The magazines also have a very flat, broad bottom that makes them a very stable shooting aid when used as a mono-pod. The AK30 lacks a traditional floor plate (more on this later) so there is no fear of forcing debris into the magazine or damaging the floor plate when using the magazine mono-pod technique.
I am also extremely impressed with how these magazines fit the magazine wells of my 2 AKs. The can be be inserted and removed smoothly and they exhibit very little wobble. US PALM has sized these magazines very well and the result is that they fit properly sized magazine wells very positively. Some users may find that the fit is tight with certain AKs, especially those that are imported in single stack configuration and opened up once they are in country (like WASRs). That is due to out of spec magazine wells, not the fault of the AK30.
These magazines were designed not only to feed cartridges into the chamber but also to be handled in a quick, positive fashion by their user. I really like that type of attention to detail.
Baseplate and Follower
The AK30’s baseplate gets a lot of negative attention. It can not be removed by the user since it is glued on during manufacturing. This means that there is no way to remove the magazine spring and follower for service or cleaning, which has rubbed some AK users the wrong way.
Most shooters will never wear out a magazine spring so there is little need to replace one. Even if there was, the market is not exactly flooded with replacement springs. Premium quality, modern stainless steel springs like those found in the AK30 don’t take a set and are good for 100,000+ compression cycles. Think about that for a minute. That is 100,000+ loading and unloading cycles. You will probably wear out the magazine body before you ruin the spring.
Cleaning is also pretty much a non-issue. If you drop a steel surplus magazine in the mud you have to open it up to remove the spring and follower, clean out the gunk, oil the spring and inside of the metal magazine body to prevent rust, and then reassemble. US PALM designed the AK30 magazine to need less maintenance. It is made from plastic and stainless steel so rust is less of an issue. If debris does get into the magazine, the AK30 can simply be submerged in water and shaken clean. The follower has several holes in it to allow this method of cleaning. I had occasion to test this since the magazines have been dumped on wet ground during reloads. It works fine and the magazine continued to function.
Some of the earlier generations of the AK30 had some very public struggles with keeping their baseplates intact. It seems that some AK30 Magazines made it out of the factory without sufficient glue to hold the baseplate during rough use. US PALM has responded the way that all great companies do, they redesigned the magazine to prevent that from happening. Now all AK30 Magazines have locking tabs that retain the baseplate even if the glue gives out. However, this shouldn’t happen since the glue that is used essentially bonds the two plastic pieces (mag body and baseplate) into one piece together much like PVC primer and cement.
Metal Reinforcement
Metal reinforcement or the lack there of is another point of contention for many users and it is probably the most valid. There are three key areas that other successful plastic magazines have metal reinforcement: the front lip, the back locking tab, and the feedlips. The AK30 has metal reinforcement on the front lip and the back locking tab but it lacks any metal in the feedlips. US PALM has chosen to make the feedlips very thick and they have made them thicker since the initial introduction of the AK30. These thicker feedlips have greatly reduced the reports of broken AK30 feedlips.
I have been using the AK30 magazine for some time now and I have a friend who uses them extensively. We do not take it easy on these magazines and they have not let us down yet. I have experienced no breakage of any kind. One of the biggest tests for any AK magazine are certain types of speed reloads that the shooter executes by sweeping the empty magazine out of the magazine well using the fresh magazine. This tends to send the spent magazine flipping end over end where it can land on the feedlips or any other part of the magazine. I have done this on concrete, grass, dirt, and gravel with no ill effects.
In Use
There were no surprises. So far, all I can say is that these magazines work. I have 390 rounds through them, 210 of which are through the same magazine, without hiccup.
I have purposely been running most of the rounds through one magazine so that I can see the effects of a higher round count. I plan to continue this treatment of that particular magazine and to continue using the 3 provided AK30 magazines exclusively when I shoot my AKs so that I can report back on their longer term durability.
The only real issue that I found in use that their thickness can cause issues with some pouches. They fit in all the single magazine pouches that I own but they were a tight fit in some double AK magazine pouches.
Overall Impressions
I am really impressed with these magazines so far. They work as advertised and they have handled everything that I have thrown at them so far. They have been dropped on a variety of surfaces with no breakage. They have been used while wet and dirty without issue. I greatly prefer the way that they handle versus a typical steel magazine. They are grippy and easy to manipulate without the sharp edges of a typical steel magazine. I have also been impressed with US PALM as a company. They have taken steps to address many of the perceived short comings with the AK30 and they have taken excellent care of their customers. Time will tell the whole story, but right now, I really like what I see.
Check out the AK30 Magazines on the US PALM website and stay tuned for full reviews of the US PALM AK Battle Grip and AK30 Rebuild Kits.
Disclosure: These magazines were provided to me for review, free of charge, by US PALM.