The Akdal Mka 1919 is a wild shotgun with massive magazines unlike anything I’ve ever shot before. Carrying them can be something of a challenge, as they’re much wider and much longer than your standard AR-15 magazine.
Take a look at the side by side photos. From left to right you’ve got a LAR-15 10 round pistol magazine, a 30-round Magpul M3 Pmag, a 40-rounder Pmag, then the massive 10-round Mka 1919 magazine, and lastly the standard 5-round Mka 1919 magazine.
The 5 rounders fit beautifully into my Tasmanian Tiger single-mag shingles. These soft pouches are made for AR-15 magazines, but I’ve fit all kinds of off-size magazines in there before including Vz58 .223 magazines and now the fat Mka 1919s.
The 10 rounders present a different problem though. Even HGSGI Tacos, the Holy Grail of mag carriers, struggle in the face of a full-size Mka 1919 magazine.
But I’m kind of guy who’s got an overflowing gear closet, and the determination to make something work. My solution?
The Tasmanian Tiger Communication pouches I originally bought for my Garmin Rhino GPS set can be retrofit to take the Mka 1919 mags. Tasmanian Tiger designed these to be as adjustable as possible to fit a wide range of radios .
These are quite cleverly made: essentially two strips of material with hook-and-loop panels control the depth and width of the pouch, while a double bungie-snap reaches over, and can be adjusted by length to go over or around different antennas.
After some strategic sizing, and stretching the included bungie retainer to its max, I’ve got a pouch that can keep a Mka 1919 ten rounder in place. I used an extra malice clip in addition to the integral molle mount to make sure nothing is flopping about, and so far things seem good.
This setup has survived stairs, sprints, and burpees, but we will have to see if it continues to hold firm through range trips and the competition itself.
The big 10 rounders I bought actually required a bit of gunsmithing before they’d even lock into the gun properly. So they’ve certainly been an unusual experience. But they’re a huge part of what makes the Mka 1919 such a fun solution.
Astonishingly, some custom shops in the US make 23 round magazines. I can imagine that going prone with one of those behemoth isn’t an easy transition.
Next I have to figure out how I want to tape, label, and separate my magazines into slug and target loads. Stay tuned!