[tribrothers]

I have seen these advertised shipped for $285.00. I assume they load the PKM belts that I use in my Maxim 08/15, and I also assume they load the belts with 7.62x54R. These are advertised as near unissued.

How effective are these in loading the belts versus to loading the belts by hand? Thanks for any help on this subject.

Tribrothers

 

[maximvikers]

These loaders work great. They make short work of loading the belts for a shoot. Prices have gone way up as I bought one out of Poland for $90 + shipping.

 

[amafrank]

There are PKM loaders and PKM loaders....the russian, hungarian and bulgarian PKM loaders are works of art and excellent loaders. The polish loaders are good but many have problems due either to burrs and sharp edges or little details in the feedway. The Poles fixed problems in the loader that didn't exist as far as I can see and while the loaders do work they frequently require some fiddling, finesse and swearing to get them working properly. A lot of lube is helpful too. I don't want to give the impression that the polish loaders are bad, they aren't. They just aren't up to snuff compared to the other 3 types. This is the reason they are priced accordingly too. I sold a russian loader at the fall Knob creek shoot for $450 last year. The loader was well used but the buyer was overjoyed to get it at that price. I've seen them (and hungarian loaders as well) sell for $600 in nice shape with a box. The polish loaders on the other hand can still be had for under $250 shipped from poland. That is new in the can pricing.....
There are also the Finn Maxim belt loaders that will load either the russian type maxim belts which are used in the 1910 Maxim, SG43, SGM,PK and PKM, as well as the finnish maxim belts that are wider and stiffer than the previous. The finn belts are great because they never double feed. PKM loaders will not handle the Finn belts. I'm not sure if the 08/15 will work with them though so not much help there.

I have used both the finn and the PKM loaders and they are both much much better than loading the belts by hand. If you managed to get your 08/15 running ( and I've seen pics so I know you did) than you can handle fiddling with the polish pkm loader to get it working.
The price you quoted is actually pretty good considering. I paid twice that for my first PKM loader some years back and loaded untold thousands of rounds with it.

Hope that answers the question.

Frank

 

[dwmmg08]

Got one

I really like loading the PK Type belts with mine, it makes it a lot faster. I've got one of the Polish ones, and I paid about that for it recently, so you're probably looking at the same guy. Mine came in great shape, covered in a brick of cosmoline, with accessories, and works fine. I've never seen or tried the Russian, or other PK loaders, but it's possible there's better ones out there, but I'm pretty happy with this one- compared to my German WWI Loaders, it's a snap!

I've also got the Finnish type belts and loader, I like that a lot. I haven't tried them in the Maxim yet, but I plan to this weekend! :-D

 

[REME245]

I have had a problem recently with the guy in Poland who advertises on e-bay Russian and Polish Loaders.

My Loader failed to turn up and he now tells me that the Parcel has been returned to him because the address label could not be read. He informs me that he will be putting it in the post again and at this stage I have no reason to doubt him. When hopefully it turns up I will send anyone who is interested his address.

 

[amafrank]

The polish guy has dealt with a lot of folks here in the states and has been very good about sending stuff. I think you'll end up ok.....

Frank

 

[Firearms]

Yep, I got one from him few years ago. It took a while but it finally arrived. I load PKM belt for my Chinese T24 and it works fine.