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Tx Dogblaster
05-19-2011, 11:56 PM
What are they realistically selling for? I've seen a couple at gun shows for $500-$600. Are people REALLY paying that much? If so, WTF? Seriously, I don't think so. I think it's probably the same couple of drums being swapped around amongst vendors...

romak10/63UF
05-20-2011, 12:12 AM
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=231126823

back in 2003 i saw them going for 199.99.... hear is one on gunbroker.com going for 250. plus shipping....

Tx Dogblaster
05-20-2011, 12:45 AM
OK now that's more believable. I've seen 100 rnd AK drums sell for that just a few years ago. I was just making sure that I wasn't "missing" something. Now the next question is how reliable are they? Do they feed OK?

romak10/63UF
05-20-2011, 01:16 AM
If they are built in china all the chinese drums i found run 100% as long as you wound them up to the correct turns... I guess if you dont wind up the drum enough it can FTF fail to feed a round due to not enough spring pressure... Out of the 25 times i have run my chinese 100 round drum in 7.62x39 i only had one FTF due to me not winding it up enough...

Schuetzenman
05-20-2011, 06:31 AM
Chinese AR15 120 round drums ... can be a problem. I have one, it does work and as mentioned it needs to be wound up tight to feed all rounds. However even with but 5 or 6 windings on it ( not much compared to full wind up) it will easily feed over 50 rounds. I like them because they can be stored with minimal or no spring pressure so no spring fatigue. Yet they can be made ready in but seconds by winding.

Now as to why they can be a problem. Some of them will not really lock into the mag well on an AR15. I found that out the hard way by a fully loaded, (minus 1 round just fired) mag falling out of the rifle and hitting me on the foot. @#! I used some calipers to compare the mag tower on the drum to a normal GI 30 round mag.

What I found was the mag tower was a bit thicker than a normal magazine. This prevented the lug on the mag catch from seating in the square hole to retain it fully. So I took a square file and filed a groove in the side of the mag aligned with the square hole in the mag tower. Once I got this deep enough the mag catch could seat properly and it never fell out again.

Is this how it is for ALL 120 round drums from China that fit the AR15, I would say no it is not. I have a buddy that has a 120 round drum and he never had that issue with it. However I had 6 of those 120 round drums as I was a dealer and every one of them would not lock in to my HBAR Colt rifle when I checked them.

One last point, the year was 1995, the drums cost me $45 bucks each as a dealer. I retailed them for $65. Hind sight being what it is I wish I hand't sold any of them. The firepower they represent is just awesome. Your finger will get tired before the drum is empty.

imanaknut
05-20-2011, 12:03 PM
Before the appearance of the other back loading drums not too long ago, the Chinese 100 round was going over $200 and the 75 over $150. With the new drums on the market I have noticed the 100s for $150 to $200 and the 75 rounders going for between $100 and $150.

As stated elsewhere, how you wind the drum is very important, and I have been known to underwind my AK drums just because I didn't want to over wind them. Sounds silly, yes, but since I pay for my stuff, I prefer to care for it a little more.

As for the M16 drums, I have one that I used on a constitutionally approved M16 and under full auto fire, (not a full mag dump for reasons of keeping the M16 operational) I was able to empty it completely with no hangups or issues other than trying to keep the operating temp of the M16 reasonable. :D Yes I did wind this one enough, but only this once and only because of what it was attached to.

The only Chinese drum that will approach the higher end of the "you gaddabe kidding" range is the fairly rare Poly Tech .223 drum, which has been known to sell for $400 with the buyer very happy with his purchased.

Tx Dogblaster
05-21-2011, 09:08 PM
...The only Chinese drum that will approach the higher end of the "you gaddabe kidding" range is the fairly rare Poly Tech .223 drum, which has been known to sell for $400 with the buyer very happy with his purchased.

May be a stupid question but how do you tell if one's a Polytech or not? Does it specifically say "Polytech" on it somewhere?

imanaknut
05-21-2011, 09:35 PM
Many but not all Chinese drums have a factory stamp on them. Most were made by Norinco.

The .223 Poly Tech drum will not fit into a Norinco 84S which is unfortunate. There are standards for the 7.62x39 mags and drums, but none for the .223.

The Norinco 75 round AK drums have three scrolls for ammo, the 100 rounder has four making it easy to tell them apart in a picture if you don't have anything for size comparison. I call it a scroll when the ammo as loaded makes one complete circle of the inside of the mag.

The Poly Tech .223 has two scrolls for ammo. That is how those are told from the standard drums.

The drum for the M16/AR15 has a taller feed tower, which is it's distinguishing characteristic.

Oh, there are some people that like to say that Norinco was only an export company, but I have papers that show the product was "Manufactured in China by Norinco".

As for Poly Tech, I believe that David Keng of Keng's Specialty Imports dealt with the company known as Poly Technologies, but I never formally asked him if they were truly the manufacturers of his rifles or the 'middle-man".

The only way you know the drum is Poly Tech is because the .223 only fits the Poly Tech AKS-223.

s15v8
11-21-2013, 02:34 PM
I know this is a old thread but I need to know, how many times do you wind up on a 100rnd Chinese drum? Also not sure if its a poly or norinco. I'll have to look at it again.

El Laton Caliente
11-21-2013, 03:05 PM
I don't do it as a number of turns, but force. Once you get a "feel" for it, you will find a steady increase in spring pressure, then it will get tight fast. Stop there. My reason for this process is that I will put one to two winds on a loaded drum until needed. And again as others, the only FTF I've had using this method is when I forgot to wind the drum...

As to the question about Poly Drums I think most/all Poly drums have the spring loaded (anti flop) winder key while the Norinco drums do not.

s15v8
11-21-2013, 03:37 PM
Thanks for the information, the problem i was having with it was FTF, first shot or two, the tension disappears, I bump the key a little and the tension comes back for one shot or two again and loses it again, is that the problem not winding it enough?

El Laton Caliente
11-21-2013, 03:50 PM
Could be... Is it emptying the drum with no more winding?

It could also be something internal hanging up. BE VERY CAREFUL HERE, you can screw up the drum. Make sure the spring is completely unloaded or you can damage your hand too; ask me. Look for signs of the blueing wearing off which could be a burr or something binding.

Also make sure you are loading it properly, there were vids on you tube...

imanaknut
11-21-2013, 04:12 PM
First a warning for those who have never pressed the button to relieve the spring pressure - when you push the button, it will make a loud BANG - this is normal. Be careful when you push the button as there is a finger shredder right under it. I use a long screw driver to release spring pressure.

s15v8, after releasing the spring pressure, hold the release button down and rotate the spider back and forth looking for drag. It sounds like something is dragging, either because of a dent in the case or a bend in the spider. Check the feed tower for dents or damage that would cause feed issues.

The Chinese drums are very reliable when wound properly, and also if you don't wind them enough they still function until the spring is unwound enough not to feed. I have done this many times just to slow down the rate of fun to prevent overheating my toys.

As for winding the drum, pretty much as ELC said, I wind mine until the key is tight. Since replacement Chinese parts are more expensive than gold, I try not to break parts and err on the side of money.

s15v8
11-21-2013, 09:46 PM
I put the drum on the floor and rotated the feeder and it hangs up on the second to last line of rail but when I sit it upright, the feeder moves fine


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imanaknut
11-21-2013, 11:06 PM
If the front or rear of the drum is slightly dented, it is possible it drags on the rounds themselves which could be a problem. Check where it hangs up when you have it on the floor, and try to see if there is a dent in the drum itself.

Aggressive Perfector
11-22-2013, 05:01 AM
Chinese make wind up drums for AR's? Thought they only made them for AK's... I'd just buy the Beta mag for the AR.

s15v8
11-22-2013, 11:08 AM
Chinese make wind up drums for AR's? Thought they only made them for AK's... I'd just buy the Beta mag for the AR.

Yeah I did a search for wind up Chinese drums and posted a question not realizing it was in the black gun forum

I checked the drum and didn't find any dents it might be the feeder itself, I'm not sure at this moment.

Update: Have a video posted.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v630/s1003/th_IMG_0513_zps0bdcca3b.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v630/s1003/IMG_0513_zps0bdcca3b.mp4)

As you can see on the video, it looks like the follower is getting stuck on the ramp, and when its upright it looks like its dragging slightly on the feed ramp I don't know if the ramp is bent slightly or the follower is jacked up a little, I really don't want to damage this drum, so I'm going to dig up some more information.

s15v8
11-22-2013, 10:42 PM
Update:

I tried loading the full 100 and it didn't work correctly again, I opened it up and found a row of rounds bending the feed ramp, I carefully took all the rounds out and bent the ramp back in place, now it's all smooth even on the floor. I'll try reloading the drum tomorrow


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El Laton Caliente
11-23-2013, 08:46 AM
Sounds like you found the problem...