Every SKS sold in Canada has a fixed SKS magazine built for 10 rounds and pinned to five. You load it from the top with stripper clips and empty it by swinging the floorplate open. A detachable magazine swaps that for a box you can change in a second. Both are legal as long as they hold five. Here is what each option involves, which ones we carry, and what fitting a detachable takes.
The SKS magazine you already have
The factory magazine is part of the rifle. To load it, lock the bolt back, set a stripper clip in the guide on the bolt carrier and push the rounds down. The clip holds 10, so with a pinned magazine you push in five and the rest stay on the clip. To unload, press the latch at the back of the magazine, just ahead of the trigger guard, and the floorplate swings open and drops the rounds out.
It works and it is reliable, which is why plenty of owners never change it. If you stay with it, original SKS stripper clips are $34.88 for 25.
Detachable SKS magazine options
A detachable SKS magazine replaces the fixed one, so the fixed magazine has to come out first. After that you load, unload and swap magazines like any box-fed rifle.
ProMag 5/30 blue steel, $58.99
The ProMag blue steel 5/30 is a 30-round body pinned to five for Canada. It is heat-treated steel with a black oxide finish, an injection-moulded follower and a chrome silicon spring, made in the USA. It is the one most of our SKS customers buy.
🛒 Buy the ProMag 5/30 blue steel, $58.99
Triple K 5-round detachable, $46.99
The Triple K detachable magazine is a 5-round steel detachable (Triple K item 835M) and the cheaper of the two.
🛒 Buy the Triple K 5-round detachable, $46.99
Is a detachable SKS magazine legal in Canada?
Yes, if it holds five rounds or fewer. The SKS is a semi-automatic rifle, and Canadian law makes any magazine designed for a semi-automatic long gun that can hold more than five cartridges a prohibited device. A larger magazine is legal only if it has been permanently altered, for example pinned, riveted or welded, so the change can’t easily be undone. Taking the pin out turns it back into a prohibited device. The rule is in Part 4 of the prohibited weapons regulations.
Fitting a detachable SKS magazine doesn’t change the rifle’s classification. The SKS is still non-restricted; our post on whether the SKS is banned follows where that stands.
Fitting a detachable magazine
- Unload and check the chamber.
- Take the trigger group out. With the safety on, push the trigger guard latch and lift the group out.
- Lift the barrelled action out of the stock. The fixed magazine comes free.
- Reassemble without it and try the new magazine. It should lock in at the front and catch at the back.
Many fit straight away. Some need a little fitting where the magazine meets the rifle, and ProMag notes its magazine may need work around the stock or magazine well. If it won’t seat, take it to a gunsmith rather than filing parts of the rifle. Keep the fixed magazine in case you ever want to go back.
Ammo that feeds well
A new SKS magazine should be tested with the ammo you shoot before you trust it on a hunt. Steel-case and brass-case 7.62×39 both run fine in most rifles. In stock now:
- Norinco 7.62×39 FMJ, 20 rounds, $14.50
- RUAG 7.62×39 124 grain FMJ, 20 rounds, $20.48
- PMC 7.62×39 123 grain FMJ, 20 rounds, $22.45
- Sellier & Bellot 7.62×39 124 grain FMJ, 50 rounds, $61.99
For hunting, switch to a soft point and read our SKS for hunting guide first.
Other SKS add-ons
An original SKS sling is $29.88. If your rifle came in cosmoline, our cosmoline removal guide gets it clean, and the Yugoslavian SKS review covers the Yugo 59/66.
Prices current as of November 2026. A plain-language summary, not legal advice.