I was looking around for some Kydex AK47 mag pouches and couldn't find any and the ones that were available were not offered at a price point that I liked so I decided to make my own.
The magazine pouch I designed is very simple and functional.
I bought a piece of 12"x12" 1/8" thick Kydex. Traced an "L" shaped piece 7" x 12". the short leg is 2" wide the long leg is 12" wide.
I cut a piece of paper of the same dimensions for a template to get the right wrap and to practice how I was going to make the mag pouch. One thing great about Kydex is you can reheat it as much as you like and keep forming the pouch until you get it to your satisfaction.
I heated up the oven to 320 degrees. Put the kydex in the oven to soften it up.
Once soft I took it out and cut the "L" shape out of the Kydex with scissors. Scissors worked great for me. I didn't see anyone else using scissors but since the Kydex feels like leather when soft I thought scissors would do the job just fine. The resulting cut isn't too bad and can me filed later.
If the Kydex cools just reheat between cutting with the scissors.
Wear some gloves when manipulating the hot Kydex. I double up on some Mechanix gloves.
Once cut I wrapped the Kydex around my TAPCO magazines. I hand press the areas where I want a nice form fit around the specific parts of the magazine like the magazine retention tabs on either end.
I used one Chicago screw to hold the inside part of the mag holder to the belt loop otherwise there is a lot of flexing and it won't really work to well. The Chicago screw is the easiest way to hold the two pieces together.
The retention is great and the design is compact and easy to make.
Total cost for two mag pouches was $15.00.
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| Mag Pouch Paper template |
Single piece of Kydex magazine pouch. How simple is that?
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| Test fitting template to make sure of dimensions. |
Folding the template around the magazine to get a feel for where to place the Kydex once it's hot and pliable.
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| Paper template to see how it's going to fit. |
Long leg of the "L" folds up and over ending up behind the magazine. This is the belt loop and the bottom of the mag pouch.
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| Measure out piece to cut |
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| Put the Kydex in the oven and wait to soften up. |
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| Cutting the Kydex with scissors |
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| Cutting the long leg of the "L" |
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| Forming Kydex around the magazine. |
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| Kydex piece cut out of sheet with scissors when heated |
A bought the 12"x12" piece of Kydex from McMaster-Carr. This shows my template inserted where I cut the Kydex piece out after heating in the oven. I used scissors to cut the Kydex when it was hot.
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| One piece of Kydex hand wrapped around magazine. |
A great one piece magazine pouch that is easy to make. No special tools required.
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| Great retention the Kydex hooks on the mag latch catch. |
Low profile magazine pouch means it's easy to attach two or even three to the belt at once without any trouble.
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| Compact design |
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| Solid retention. Kydex hooks onto magazine |
The 1/8" Kydex is flexible and rigid to allow solid retention of the magazine but when ready to use it a quick twist spreads the Kydex wall allowing the magazine to be quickly removed. The Kydex then goes back to it's original form.
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| Quick twist splays the Kydex allowing mag removal |
Splaying the Kydex to allow the magazine to be removed is quick and easy. The Kydex does not loose its shape so snaps back ready to accept another magazine.
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| Removing magazine is quick and easy. |
There is no formal belt loop for this magazine pouch. It's simply the Kydex bent around to allow a belt to be slipped between the Kydex flap. I found this is very good and doesn't move at all. If there is a problem with it it can be easily modified to suite particular needs.
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| Replacing magazine is same as removing except in reverse. |
Demo of the magazine pouch in action.
