Author Topic: Flapped/Coverable MOLLE Mag Pouch for Polycarbonate CSA Vz. 58 Magazines  (Read 3295 times)

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Offline AR-Tenner

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Hi Folks,

I know the general question about mag pouches has been asked before, but I have discovered the clear polycarbonate magazines from CSA, and I love them.  However, they are bulkier even than the AC-Unity mags, and much larger in dimensions than the aluminum surplus.  I had already had a difficult time finding magazine pouches that would work for Vz. 58 magazines, and even the military surplus camo ones that RTG sells - which I don't like much, but at least they work decently well for the aluminum mags - won't fit the CSA polycarbonate units. 

I have never considered open-top pouches, like those with bungee retention, to be suitable, and want something that can cover the mags with a flap.  Universal AR/AK, and even FAL/M14 pouches and chest rigs I have do not suffice for the Vz. 58 mags, especially the polycarbonate ones, as the heavy curve causes part of the top to be uncovered by the flap, and that is just begging to get smashed on something.

I aim to carry four 30rd magazines on the right side of a MOLLE War Belt (the USMC kind with a Y-Harness), feed lips at top (mags upright) and cartridges pointing forward for the proper Czechoslovak manual of arms.  I am hoping someone can recommend a double mag pouch that I could install one in front of the other (or better yet a 4-cell pouch) that corresponds both to the curve of the 7.62x39 mags and the larger dimensions of the Vz. 58 polycarbonate mags, and has flat closure, either with velcro, snap, or some other positive means of staying closed.

Thanks in advance!  :)
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Offline RSR

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Re: Flapped/Coverable MOLLE Mag Pouch for Polycarbonate CSA Vz. 58 Magazines
« Reply #1 on: September 06, 2023, 02:12:11 AM »
Pretty sure there are old posts that cover this, including from me.  Go to google and type "site:czfirearms.us vz58 mag pouch" and "site:czfirearms.us vz58 battle belt", no quotes

Either AR or AK double mag pouches should fit at least one of your poly mags fine...  For tighter fit, I'd probably go w/ AR -- question is how much flap you want covering the velcro and how much slop you can live w/ regarding your mags.  For AR pouches, you might need to cut out dividing fabric between sections in the pouch if it's present...  And should be able to find pouches w/o the fabric divider.

If you want to keep it VZ -- go with either the cold war quilted paratroop nylon or czech woodland pouches but both are 2x mag double flaps.  Latter is much stiffer fabric and heavier.

My Vz58 plate carrier uses Strike Hard Gear and Grey Ghost Gear open top bungee pouches w/ relatively tall fabric, but I think both have been discontinued since circa 2014/2015/nearly a decade ago when I put that setup together.    One's 3 mag and one is 2 mag -- forget which is which, but believe both were AK advertised.  Somewhat similar Czech surplus molle offerings w/ bungee can also be found, but not in multicam AFAIK and I think they also might only be 2x mags and not the 3 mag shingle -- molle Czech either weren't available or were unobtanium at time I built out that setup, and not the case now.

HSGI Tacos can also be adjusted to fit most mags, but honestly haven't tried a VZ mag in mine... 
And actually, I'm looking into another iteration of my AK/Vz58 battle belt and considering the Tacos, and the only thing giving me pause is their shortnesss -- both a feature and a concern.   I'm at a point or age where if I need to have max rounds of ammo for people threats and carry it around on my person, I'm going 5.56, not 7.62x39.  TBD if galil or AR though...

*Also, be sure to check out Czech retailers and what they're selling as aftermarket options -- you'll almost always see more selection of product from Eastern European retailers for this weapon system and since not firearms parts can usually be acquired even if you need to pay a local to drop-ship. 

Me personally, I prefer my battle belt ready access and view my plate carrier more as second-line, and have minimized my battle belt to the extent possible (heavier than duty belt but lighter than battle belt) as has Max of Max Velocity Tactical who turned me onto heavy British battle belt setup in the first place and has also significantly lightened his setup over the past decade+.

To the point -- me personally, I'd error towards ready access on the belt and more secure retention elsewhere to top up the belt...  And some flap pouches also have velcro to keep them open, and that at a minimum would be a requirement for me for a battle belt...  And I've spent a few benjamins and lessons learned going in the opposite direction...  Take that for what it's worth, and YMMV.

Lastly, I *think* the whole flap pouch thing came about b/c of the need to account for every issued mag by grunt soldiers w/ respect to their armory, and not what's best in actual life-and-death use scenarios.  Using your google-fu, I'm sure you'll find MANY instances of completely inoperable and inserviceable mags being kept in circulation by various US dot mil armories b/c of bureaucracy and beancounters for DECADES past when they should have been retired.

EDIT: sorry -- I have none of the CSA poly mags to comment on those specifically.  Also have none of the FAB, just the disappointing AC Unity...
« Last Edit: September 06, 2023, 02:53:59 AM by RSR »

Offline AR-Tenner

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Re: Flapped/Coverable MOLLE Mag Pouch for Polycarbonate CSA Vz. 58 Magazines
« Reply #2 on: September 06, 2023, 11:05:48 AM »
Thanks for the advice, partner!  It is interesting to hear your experiences with flap-closure vs. bungee-retention pouches.  I actually developed my aversion to open-top pouches from experience as well, having pouches get packed with dirt and debris, as well as leaves and pine needles.  I am especially concerned with keeping the magazines undented and free from dirt, given that I carry Vz. 58 mags (just as I do with any rifles meant to be reloaded and charged with the right/firing hand) rounds-up. 

I have indeed searched on this forum and found great info on pouches for Vz mags, but the Polycarbonate (very strong and well-made, quickly becoming my favorites) has a thick-enough base and wide-enough walls that it is a different animal entirely, when trying to fit into mag pouches.  The Czech camo pouches that retain even the AC-Unity mags well, and out of which the aluminum surplus slide right out, can neither fully hold nor fully close with the polycarbonate mags.

I will keep looking for a fully MOLLE-compatible pouch that is curved for 7.62x39, and maybe has some extra height.  Perhaps taking a couple polycarbonate mags to the gun show and trying them in person will be helpful.

I also am of the opinion that I am not trying to carry maximum amounts of ammo when loading out with 7.62x39.  I consider the Vz. 58 to be ideal as a backwoods survival rifle, and that is the capacity in which I would load it out.  While I would be very comfortable defending family and liberty using it, I prefer another platform for that.  The Vz is light, short, handy, and is powerful/penetrative enough for any game/dangerous animal I might encounter in the high Appalachians (I trust it much more than the 5.56 in the survival role), which is where my wife and I have a ranch and a bunch of land, and is our chosen stomping ground/homesteading environment.  It can also be loaded from the top with stripper clips, and is easy to service and clear of debris or jams.  Given this role, I only plan to carry four mags on my belt, whereas with my ARs, I am set up to carry 6-8, not counting the chest rig, extra mags in the backpack, etc.

If I know I am going into a defensive situation against two-legged predators, I am almost certainly grabbing one of my ArmaLite AR-10s with 6-8 20- or 25-round magazines on the belt, and perhaps a chest rig with another four.  If I were going to be defending the homestead in tandem as a team with my wife (tall, petite Asian woman who is a bit overpowered by an AR-10, but is in her element with an AR-15, Kalashnikov, or Vz), I would roll out with one of my 20" AR-15s and 8 mags on the belt, with 8 more in the chest pouch, so that I could share ammo/mags with my wife using her ultralight 16" midlength.

Finally, I am curious as to your low opinion of the AC-Unity mags.  When I first got into the platform, I researched various polymer mags, and decided that the consensus on the FAB-Defense was that it was not worth my time, but that the AC-Unity likely was, as well as the Polycarbonate.  I have put a few AC-Unity through their paces, and have actually been quite impressed.  There are two complaints I have about the AC-Unity, but those do not detract from its utility as a reliable ammunition feeding device.  My first, and less-serious, gripe is that the follower puts the last round in the mag on the left (the opposite of the surplus and polycarbonate), which makes it harder to load for a right-hander (much like loading a Garand clip with the top round on the left instead of the right).  My bigger issue is that the feed lips on the AC-Unity mag lacks the cutouts for the stripper clip that allow the rifle to be loaded/topped off easily with the bolt locked open and the magazine in the action.  This does not detract from the ability of the magazine to be used like a traditional AR or AK magazine, but negates the extra functionality the Vz. 58 gives the user by allowing stripper clip reloads.  As far as reliability, however, the AC-Unity units have performed flawlessly for me with a decently-high round count, and have always locked the bolt back after the last round.
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Offline RSR

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Re: Flapped/Coverable MOLLE Mag Pouch for Polycarbonate CSA Vz. 58 Magazines
« Reply #3 on: September 06, 2023, 07:07:34 PM »
FWIW and if you can find them -- Tapco AK mag dust covers fit my aluminum mags and poly should be similar dimension there, since you carry rounds up and want to try open top carry.  I carry rounds down, so less of a concern from a dirt/grit/grime perspective, but get it -- have largely transitioned to chest carry of a handgun on our acreage, especially when clearing brush b/c of such concerns.
Have seen some ATI AK dust covers floating around too, but no experience w/ them, and think they've been discontinued too.
Might come across one or the other at a gun show since TAPCO at least's inventory was likely clearanced out to bargain resellers as part of the Freedom Group liquidation.

Re: flaps some pouches also have removable/adjustable flaps as well, which might be a good compromise...  Most of the tighter fit AR double mag pouches fit one Vz58 mag relatively well.  And forgot to mention that most Galil Israeli/South African chest rigs/mag pouches also fit at least one Vz58 mag, are of good quality, and generally are taller and more curved in profile than AR mag pouches.

Yes, I agree the Vz58 is a superior carbine and serves the role of a ranch rifle extremely well, especially if you're concerned about things like wild hogs or bears...  Excellent balance and naturally points extremely well...  Backwoods/backpacking/living-off-the-land/etc. with limited resupply, I'd personally prefer a 5.56 AR or .22lr 10/22 or charger instead -- 9mm weighs about the same as 5.56 per round but is more compact/less volume, and probably also worth considering...
And discussed recently on a separate thread on here, but I'm considering transitioning my wife's indoor HD gun to Ruger's 5.7 carbine or charger from an AR15 -- and transitioning that to her personal varmint rifle, instead of needing to adjust mine.

My personal opinion is that 7.62x39, at least in the typically superior accuracy (for the caliber) Vz58 does everything w/in 250-300 yards that a .308 can do -- and does it more efficiently.  The extra energy for self-defense and barrier penetration between 7.62x39 and .308 just isn't worth the weight, recoil, and reduced round count -- especially considering higher rate of accurate fire I can maintain w/ a Vz58 vs. a .308 rifle means conceptually greater effect, including likely less of ballistic capacity being lost due to over-penetration.  Longer ranges and also if you're a reloader -- .308 absolutely wins.

My AC unity mags do not lock back the LRBHO and also have extremely weak springs relative to Vz58 mags -- something like 50% less coils.  They're just replicating their AK mag w/ different feed lips.  They weight about the same as the aluminum mags as well (FAB 30s weigh more as do I believe your OE clear poly), and only real benefit for me is ability to easily confirm round count through the window...  Even bought cheap, cost to replace springs makes them similar to solid surplus mags.

FAB mags make sense for their base pad star coupler for capacity restricted states, but otherwise, I don't see much benefit there.  CitizenPete did a torture test of those a few years back -- and they cost more than excellent grade surplus mags too, at least at the time.

Yeah, the stripper clip function is cool, and does allow for more rounds in a given volume -- but good combloc stripper clips are expensive and harder to find, and I also don't think there's much weight delta between 3 steel stripper clips and one aluminum magazine, but would need to put them on a scale to confirm.

What I'd really like to see is a 20 round polymer Vz58 mag, and don't care who makes it.

Offline gyr

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Re: Flapped/Coverable MOLLE Mag Pouch for Polycarbonate CSA Vz. 58 Magazines
« Reply #4 on: September 07, 2023, 05:39:43 PM »
FWIW, the British VPK chest rig has three mag pouches.  Each of which holds two VZ-58 aluminum mags with plenty of room to spare. With their greatly adjustable top covers, I believe they would hold two of any of the polycarbonate mags now on the market.  Additionally, there is a large administrative. pouch at either side of the mag pouched which could probably hold another 2-3 mags each, if desired.  They may still be available from milsurp dealers like RTG.

Just a thought.

Offline RSR

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Re: Flapped/Coverable MOLLE Mag Pouch for Polycarbonate CSA Vz. 58 Magazines
« Reply #5 on: September 07, 2023, 07:00:05 PM »
FWIW, the British VPK chest rig has three mag pouches.  Each of which holds two VZ-58 aluminum mags with plenty of room to spare. With their greatly adjustable top covers, I believe they would hold two of any of the polycarbonate mags now on the market.  Additionally, there is a large administrative. pouch at either side of the mag pouched which could probably hold another 2-3 mags each, if desired.  They may still be available from milsurp dealers like RTG.

Just a thought.

Yeah, I have always found British surplus to be of good quality and fairly well designed, and DPM should perform well in the OP's location. 

To be clear, are you referencing the newer SA80 or older and harder to find FAL version of their chest rig?

Offline AR-Tenner

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Re: Flapped/Coverable MOLLE Mag Pouch for Polycarbonate CSA Vz. 58 Magazines
« Reply #6 on: September 12, 2023, 11:40:39 AM »
This is all great info, thanks!  As for the 20rd magazine, it appears that CSA now has us covered, both in aluminum cut-downs, and in the Polycarbonate clear mags, of which I am now a big fan: https://www.vz58usa.com/product/vz58-magazine-20-rd/
https://www.vz58usa.com/product/vz58-magazine-csa-20-rd/
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Offline gyr

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Re: Flapped/Coverable MOLLE Mag Pouch for Polycarbonate CSA Vz. 58 Magazines
« Reply #7 on: September 12, 2023, 06:06:02 PM »
FWIW, the British VPK chest rig has three mag pouches.  Each of which holds two VZ-58 aluminum mags with plenty of room to spare. With their greatly adjustable top covers, I believe they would hold two of any of the polycarbonate mags now on the market.  Additionally, there is a large administrative. pouch at either side of the mag pouched which could probably hold another 2-3 mags each, if desired.  They may still be available from milsurp dealers like RTG.

Just a thought.

Yeah, I have always found British surplus to be of good quality and fairly well designed, and DPM should perform well in the OP's location. 

To be clear, are you referencing the newer SA80 or older and harder to find FAL version of their chest rig?
Most probably the FAL version.

Offline RSR

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Re: Flapped/Coverable MOLLE Mag Pouch for Polycarbonate CSA Vz. 58 Magazines
« Reply #8 on: September 14, 2023, 07:02:06 AM »
This is all great info, thanks!  As for the 20rd magazine, it appears that CSA now has us covered, both in aluminum cut-downs, and in the Polycarbonate clear mags, of which I am now a big fan: https://www.vz58usa.com/product/vz58-magazine-20-rd/
https://www.vz58usa.com/product/vz58-magazine-csa-20-rd/

Aluminum discontinued and aftermarket modification of original military 30 rounders -- aluminum doesn't take as kindly to bending as does steel... 
Haven't seen those poly mags in some in 20 rounds, so good to see, but I was hoping for something ~half that $45 price...

Also, apparently ATS now makes AK mags with bungee tensioners and adjustable velcro flaps:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vT-mDak0tk

I've always been impressed with their items but haven't been on their site in awhile now.  Definitely an item worth considering whether you're looking to run 1 or 2 mags in them.  Should you acquire, lest us know how they peform.