Magpul keeps up the excellence with the PMag 30 AK74 MOE

Ever since I picked up a pair of Arsenal’s Legion Izhevsk Saiga 5.45’s, I’ve quite enjoyed the 5.45×39 AK74 platform.  I’ve found my particular examples to be soft-shooting and accurate to boot.  The value-priced (at the time I bought it) 5.4×39 ammunition aids matters as well, as I don’t mind dumping mag after mag of steel-cased ammo.  Though I’ve got some Russian and Bulgarian AK74 magazines, I did not have a large quantity of them.  A few years ago, when I saw Magpul was putting out an AK74 version of their extremely popular and prolific PMAGs, I was enthused to give them a try.

Pmag AK74 Specs

The PMAG AK74 has an all-polymer body and does not have steel reinforced locking surfaces like the PMAG AK47 Gen3.  It does have an “anti-tilt, self-lubricating follower”, flared floorplate and dot matrix.  For  US compliance purposes, the PMAG AK74 counts as three 922r parts.  MSRP is an extremely reasonable $13.95.

Fit and Feeding

I have tested a quantity of Magpul PMAG AK74 magazines in both Russian and Bulgarian AK74 pattern receivers.  All of the magazines fit and fed fine in these rifles and SBRs.  In fact, I’ve not had one magazine-related malfunction with a PMAG in 5.45×39 over thousands of rounds fed from these magazines over a period of two years.

I’ve found the PMAG AK74 magazines easy to load, and ones left loaded over a long period of time have not displayed any deformation to the feed lip area.  I’ve not had any issues with fit of any 5.45×39 ammunition that I’ve had over the years, either.

I did, however, notice a few little issues.  At least as far as the Legion Izhevsk Saiga receivers were concerned, the PMAG AK74 magazines displayed a bit of lateral movement.  Not a ton, to be sure, but more than my other magazines have displayed.  I wouldn’t want to perform lots of pushups on rifles with these magazines inserted or rely on an inserted magazine as a stabilizing surface.  In addition, the exterior of the PMAG magazine body can become gouged when using a fresh mag to knock the magazine catch and sweep away the spent magazine.  Small issues, to be sure, but things to be aware of.

Overall Impression

Magpul is one of those companies that more often than not put out quality products at a reasonable price.  The PMAG 30 AK47 MOE is no exception.  They are 100% reliable magazines that be had for extremely good prices when on sale, with the 922r compliance boost another small advantage for US-based AK74 owners.  Are they the coolest, most collectible, or most bomb-proof AK74 mag?  Likely not.  Are they a well-made mag that won’t have you cursing instead of pulling the trigger on the next round?  Yes, indeed they are. If you have a 5.45, give them a try.

For more information, please visit Magpul.

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