Basic magazine pouches for the S-12 aren't all that difficult to come by; anything that will fit a 20 round .308 mag is about the right size. But I wanted an all in one type of bag that I could carry hiking, and leave next to my shotgun, that could also serve as a dump pouch, and maybe carry some extra items. I ordered a TIB from OST, figuring that even if it didn't work out, I could still use it as a general purpose grab and go rifle bag for my AK like it is intended to be.
Upon its arrival, I was pleased to discover that it has four internal pouches that are just about the right size for a Saiga mag. I think they'd actually be perfect as-is for an 8 round Izzy mag, but I only have 5 rounders, which drop too far down into the pouches for easy access. To remedy this, I made some foam spacers out of 4 layers of a surplus GI sleeping pad, glued together with contact cement. If I ever get some 8 rounders, I can just remove them since they aren't glued in or anything
The biggest issue I had with the bag, as originally made, is the 3 rifle magazine pouches that are inside the main compartment. They get in the way of quickly dumping a spent mag inside the pouch, so I cut them out entirely. The second issue was the supplied shoulder pad slides along the length of the shoulder strap, and therefore the bag slips around more than it needs to when you are carrying it. I thought about removing the pad entirely, but instead I stitched it to the strap at its center and end loops, which I think was the best way to go.
The other change I made was to remove the velcro from the main flap, because I just don't like the looks of that. If I want a patch on my bag, I will sew it on there. This turned out to be a mistake, because the seam that holds the velcro on, also holds on the nylon loop for the plastic clasp that ties down the flap. It's extremely difficult to get a hand needle through this nylon loop to sew it back on, I ended up heating a needle over a candle and burning through both layers of the loop so that I could sew it back on. It ended up kind of ugly and I'll probably end up sewing a patch back over it just to cover it up. But, that's a cosmetic issue that doesn't detract from the bag's utility in any way.
A couple pictures of the bag that I took during a break from hiking:
Overall I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, and as the TIB comes, I think it's a pretty good bag for the money, and thanks to whoever came up with the idea for the S-12 mag sized internal pouches, no matter what they were originally intended to be.
