I put this together for people new to Chinese drum magazines.
Enjoy!

You will need a drum and ammo to start


Next you must open the drum by unlatching the two side tabs.


Once open, press the button in the middle to release the spring.


Next, while holding the button, rotate the center of the drum clockwise until the follower can no longer turn.  The follower will move along a spiral pattern until it reaches the end.


Now you are ready to load the magazine.  Place the cartridges in every available space as shown, bullet down.


Now just close the drum back up and twist the tab on the back 3-4 times when ready to shoot.  The Chinese drum can remain fully loaded, with no tension on the spring, until the drum is ready for use.  A few quick turns and it is ready to go.


Here is a video of how the drum feeds the cartridges throughout the magazine.

Very good how to but you left out the most important part of the second step .....

"****WARNING**** Make sure to keep fingers clear of the internal parts of the drum as they will spin at high speed when the spring prssure is released. The internal parts will spin with enough force to cause severe cuts to the skin with profuse bleeding."

Originally Posted By JA545: Very good how to but you left out the most important part of the second step ..... "****WARNING**** Make sure to keep fingers clear of the internal parts of the drum as they will spin at high speed when the spring prssure is released. The internal parts will spin with enough force to cause severe cuts to the skin with profuse bleeding."

Mine does not move.  It just makes a loud noise.  

The average guy is going to try to load and wind up the new drum he just bought. Of course if the follower is not spun around to the correct posistion before loading the drum is not going to work or only feed part of the ammo it contains. Then he is going to go looking for info on how to get his drum to work.
Or a guy buys a drum at a gun show and everyone else that has looked at the drum has opened it up turned the spider or wound the drum a couple of clicks to see how hard it is to wind up.
In either of the above examples the spring has been wound way more than your drum is when you load it. In either example when the button is  pressed to release the spring pressure the spider will spin big time.
Try it out with you drum empty wind it up two full turns then open the back and release the spring pressure.

Originally Posted By JA545: The average guy is going to try to load and wind up the new drum he just bought. Of course if the follower is not spun around to the correct posistion before loading the drum is not going to work or only feed part of the ammo it contains. Then he is going to go looking for info on how to get his drum to work. Or a guy buys a drum at a gun show and everyone else that has looked at the drum has opened it up turned the spider or wound the drum a couple of clicks to see how hard it is to wind up. In either of the above examples the spring has been wound way more than your drum is when you load it. In either example when the button is  pressed to release the spring pressure the spider will spin big time. Try it out with you drum empty wind it up two full turns then open the back and release the spring pressure.

Oh I understand what you are saying.  I have not seen that yet.

Very nice and informative!

Originally Posted By -GuNuT-: I put this together for people new to Chinese drum magazines. Enjoy!

Nice FAQ, thank you!

I'm glad this is here.

My dad rode with me over to Weatherford to pick up a MAK90 that came with a few extra mags and a drum.

We were riding back home in my car trying to figure out how the damn thing worked and I just kept saying "The freakin' Communist made it, it can't be that complicated."

We got home and I started to mess with it and didn't know at that time that the spring needed to be released.  I wound the spider thinking it had some kind of latch or something...................................and when I let go it slit my finger wide open

So then I was like hey we got this nifty interweb thing here maybe I should look it up  Good thing I found it after that it wasn't so complicated.  I guess I'm dumber than a commie LOL

Thank you for the helpful, instructional post. I put it to good use with my 75 and 100 round Chinese drums

Ok, so I bought a chinese 75 round drum and I followed your directions when loading it.

My problem is I am looking at your pictures before you load the ammo after the wheel has been spun with the button pushed down to the right till it stops. When it comes to a complete stop my follower is not in the same position as your pictures before and after loading the ammo.

I was wondering where the step is that tells you how to get the first four rounds to the top of the mag and at what point do you get to this? I found this out by spinnng the wheel backwards to get those round to go up, but is this right?

I am only getting 72 rounds to load up because the last three areas to place the ammo are on spots that won't allow the rounds to seat properly.

So I am looking to you guys for some advice here. I can post pics if needed.

I think you should consider a few of the first steps here in these instructions I found. It further clarifies a few steps I did not see included in your instructions.

TO LOAD MAGAZINE

   * Unlatch and open the rear cover. Depress the spring loaded button in the center of the drum and turn the spindle clockwise until the magazine follower is returned to the beginning of the spiral track.
   * Insert five (5) rounds into the slots located nearest the top (column) section of the magazine.
   * With five rounds loaded, hold the spindle firmly in place with one hand. With the other hand, wind the spring tensioning key (located under the spring loaded button) CLOCKWISE three (3) clicks.

     CAUTION: Hold the spindle securely while applying tension in order to prevent it from slipping and catching your fingers.
   * With the spring tensioned, quickly release the spindle. The five rounds loaded previously will be pushed to the top of the magazine, and the last round will hold the spindle in place.

   *
     At this point you have the option as to how to load the magazine. If cartridges are dropped in the remaining slots, the total magazine capacity will be seventy three (73) rounds. Alternately, if the procedure described as follows is used, the total capacity will be seventy five (75) rounds.

     A.) Tilt the column portion of the drum at a slight downward angle and turn the spindle clockwise just slightly. Remove the last two rounds.

     B.) Keep the drum tilted downwards, and rotate the spindle so that the follower is returned to the beginning of the spiral track (as in step 1).

     C.) Insert two rounds in the top section and release the spindle. Complete loading the magazine by dropping cartridges into the remaining slots.

     WARNING: THE ABOVE PROCEDURES SHOULD ONLY BE USED WHEN LOADING THE MAGAZINE TO ITS FULL CAPACITY OF 73 OR 75 ROUNDS. IF THE USER INTENDS TO LOAD ONLY A PARTIAL MAGAZINE, THEN THE MAGAZINE FOLLOWER MUST BE DIRECTLY BEHIND THE LAST CARTRIDGE. IF THERE IS A GAP BETWEEN THE LAST CARTRIDGE AND THE MAGAZINE FOLLOWER, THE DRUM MAY BE DAMAGED DURING FIRING.
   *
     With the drum fully loaded, close the rear cover and secure with both latches. Wind the mainspring with the key located on the rear cover. Wind the key seven (7) revolutions (360 degrees). If the magazine is loaded to only thirty (30) rounds, then the tension should be reduced to five (5) revolutions. DO NOT EXCEED THE RECOMMENDED NUMBER OF REVOLUTIONS AS THIS WILL CAUSE UNDUE WEAR OR BREAKAGE TO THE MAINSPRING.
   * With step six completed, the magazine is ready to use.

Does any one have pics of disassembly instructions? I think some one took apart my drum before I got it because it will not work at all .

what is your problem? or better yet what will your drum not do???

Will not feed more than five rounds .

It looks like part of the mainspring was broken inside .
Is it possable to get a replacment anywhere?

Man i have searched and searched for replacement parts. These mags are preferred over the romanian style, which doesnt help you out at all. but i couldnt find any rebuild kits anywhere, but  here is the website to the cheapest new 75 rd drums....http://www.hkparts.net/shop/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=963&idcategory=
It doesnt really make sense that places can sell the shit out of these things but noone sells springs or followers. Sorry i couldnt be much help man

Great info Gunut

I've seen stated everywhere from 3 or 4 rev.s, (including another thread on this web site) saw 6 revs on another web site the other day and 7 revs here today.

Ammo cost to much to do my own R&D at the moment. Anyone got any hands on results on the subject?

Some one over rotated my mainspring and it broke. Can I get another mainspring somewhere or do I just chuck the drum?

 

I have used my drum at least a dozen times since my last post. Each time I have the same results, wind the key 4 (360 degree) revolutions. There is simply no way it wants to turn any more after this.

Here's the deal. It's easier for the Chinese factories to make "New Ones" than to do "warranty work" or supply replacement parts. My suggestion is to find a machinist/machine shop/gear head and take him your broken parts (All of the parts and pieces) and see if he can fabricate you a "Custom New One" may be Cheaper than you think. Especially if you take him to the range and let him rip through 75 rounds in the drum once it's fixed