The Making Of An AK-47 Magazine

*Gasp* it’s… it’s beautiful:

Yea I love manufacturing videos!  They could definitely automate a good portion of the start of all that and reduce waste, workplace accidents, and even the number of employees.  Sadly the world is going towards heartless / characterless polymer magazines.  I sure see why though, wow these steel ones are a ton of work.

AK-47-Kool-AidI would not want to by any of those guys sticking my fingers and hands inside those presses.

Matra is the Bosnian company which makes these magazines, and looks like they are still going strong in 2014.  They were even at the NRA annual meeting last week.

Thoughts?


Comments

17 responses to “The Making Of An AK-47 Magazine”

  1. Nice !

    Do we know if these mags feed better than “automated” magazines?

    1. lolinski Avatar
      lolinski

      They are built with love and hard work. So, sure they will feed better. It is an AK mag, you can’t mess that up.

      Obligatory patriotic comment:

      Wooo! Bosnia!

  2. Could never run like that in the US. OSHA would have that place shut down.

  3. AAGH!! Not a pair of safety glasses in the whole shop? And the only thing the humans are doing is feeding the machines one piece at a time, just like we did in factories here in the 1920’s. Every one of those jobs could be easily replaced by other machines.

  4. Scott Avatar

    In Bosnia, you work everyday. No days off.

  5. derpmaster Avatar
    derpmaster

    This seems prohibitively labor intensive, given that the body of a modern polymer magazine can be shot in a ~$10000 injection mold in half a second. They must not pay these guys much at all.

    1. lolinski Avatar
      lolinski

      Standard of living is similar to the US from what I have experienced.

  6. Todd S Avatar

    4 hours without a serious injury!

  7. Sledgecrowbar Avatar
    Sledgecrowbar

    To the folks who think this is dangerous and cruel, this is what American craftsmanship looks like, too. They may have omitted the safety glasses to make the people look more appealing. I seriously doubt there are that many middle-aged men working the shop floor there, those are probably all foremen who know the work and can make it look good in less takes than the actual (most likely high school-aged) employees do, and they look more authentic as well, reminding us of the films of wartime production when thin, slick-haired men in overalls pushed sheet through presses for ‘Murica. If you’ve ever seen or worked in a real machine factory, you’d know that this one was cleaned beyond belief for the video. It’s a great promotional imho, and the product ratcheted up a few notches of quality in my opinion because of it.

    1. CR Pyro Avatar
      CR Pyro

      Besides the fact that it makes absolutely no sense, in my limited experience, to pay someone to gather the swarf by hand when a bin can do it far cheaper and almost as well.

      1. Keep in mind that this may well be one of the few actual employers in that area, and as such, some people are given “make work” jobs just so they can feed their families.

        It’s also almost certainly a case of what we’d call a private company, so it’s a case of “can we afford to pay these guys and still make a few bucks for ourselves”, rather than “how can we cut costs and increase our stockholder dividends this year?”

        And third, it’s Bosnia. They might have a somewhat higher standard of living than a backwater Chinese farming community, but probably not by a lot. The scrap-folder might be getting paid the equivalent of less than $50 a week.

        1. Sledgecrowbar Avatar
          Sledgecrowbar

          Bosnia isn’t actually that poor, but some folks just don’t read comments too well. This isn’t a video of how bad life is in Bosnia, this is a video of how warmly authentic this factory is (presented to the camera for promotion). For some reason, people keep glazing over the fact that America looks exactly like this in the same type of factories, where small companies churn out product with manual machines and labor because they haven’t gathered the capital to invest in automation yet. This video isn’t what it looks like to be poor, it’s what it looks like to be growing. My parallel earlier to the rampant production in America during World War Two is a perfect example of how we view our own humble beginnings through rose-colored glasses, but when it’s someone else, they should be pitied.

          1. lolinski Avatar
            lolinski

            Yeah I tried to tell them, they didn’t read it. I also dislike how heartless factories have become. kinda funny that people complain about being out of work while machines are replacing them, yet they call it progress. For me factories have always been a blend of organic and mechanic, nowadays they are just mechanic. I find it sad.

            American and Bosnian standard of living is pretty similar, at least for the average household (as in what you have and can get). Though the standard could be much better if it wasn’t for a political situation (+ corrupt politicans) that can mildly be described as fucked.

  8. I have heartless / characterless polymer ones, albeit Circle 10 mags… this video makes me want to purchase some steel ones!

  9. That Creepy Guy Avatar
    That Creepy Guy

    Hugo Schmeisser… …nuf said

  10. Awesome, the serious job by the manufacturer well done. A well systematic way of making automatic magazines. Thank u

  11. dgdimick Avatar
    dgdimick

    Not sure if anyone noticed, however, they must have gone to lunch after a bout 2 mins of filming. All the new gloves where gone and these guys looked like they normally do when working; dirty hands and cloths.

    I’d like to see a “real” video of them working at full speed, not slowed down.