AK-74 Budget Magazine Shootout: Who Does It Best?
AK-74 magazines have become increasingly expensive over the last few years. These days, surplus Bulgarian mags often retail for more than $50. Thankfully, the commercial market is stepping up to the plate with new options. This article is an examination of three of those magazines to see which is the best value.
More AK-47 and AK-74 @ TFB:
Background
There are not any disclosures for this review because no one is sponsoring or facilitating this review. I purchased the three magazines through retail channels. They were used in my AK-105 reviews with the ammo that I purchased. I don’t have any relationship with the companies that make or sell these mags, except that I’m a frequent shopper at both RTG Parts and GunMag Warehouse. With all that out of the way, let’s take a look at the competitors.
Magpul PMAG
Magpul’s PMAG 30 AK74 MOE is definitely the most common option. It is the only AK74 mag you can find at big box shops. It generally retails right around $16. Many US-market AK74s include this magazine in the box.
AC Unity
AC Unity makes magazines, furniture, and gun parts in Bosnia. They are relatively new on the US-domestic market, and RTG Parts is the main importer. This particular magazine is the windowed model. The list price is $13.95, but they do go on sale for $9.95. AC Unity also makes an AK-12 style magazine, one made of clear plastic, and a 45-round version.
GunMag Warehouse Bulgarian
GunMag Warehouse imports a few AK-74 magazine options from Bulgaria. This particular model is the “ Bulgarian AK-74 5.45x39mm 30-Round Reinforced Steel Lug Polymer Magazine.” I’ll just call it the Bulgarian or the Bulgy mag. As stated in its name, this magazine has steel reinforcements in the lugs and feed lips. The list price is $19.99 but they are normally around $13.
Drop Testing
All three of the competitors have predominantly plastic construction. Modern polymers are extremely robust, but some of the plastic mags of the past simply did not hold up. A series of drops and throws seemed like a good way to see if these three were tough or not.
I loaded 30 rounds of Tula 60-grain FMJ into each magazine and dropped them in various ways. All drops were from shoulder height (about 5’ 3” for me) onto a concrete floor covered in terrible, thin industrial carpet.
1) Drop onto magazine floor plate – The magazines landed on the floor plates. All three mags allowed the top round to slide forward slightly. AC Unity slid the most, about 0.25” past the front edge. No rounds were lost.
2) Drop onto the feed lips – Each magazine landed on the feel lips, floor plate up. The Bulgy and PMAG each released one round, AC Unity passed without issue.
3) Drop onto the spine – All passed, no issues.
4) Drop onto the front edge – Bulgy lost 1 round, AC Unity and PMAG passed.
5) Drop flat onto the side – All passed.
6) Random spinning toss – I tossed all three up with a wild spin. AC Unity and PMAG passed, but the Bulgy partially remained three rounds which stuck out wildly as shown in this picture.
7) Fumbled pass -This was an underhand toss about 20 feet, as in the case of throwing a mag to a friend who fails to catch it. AC Unity and PMAG passed, and the Bulgy lost one round and one halfway out.
Final inspection – The only damage noted was a crack in the feed lip of the Blugy. No damage was noted on the other mags.
Function Testing
I ran all three magazines in a Century Tantal (one that has the correct barrel in it…) and two PSA AK-105s. One of the AK-105s was a pistol, and it was very picky with magazines. The Bulgy did not feed well in that gun, but out of my whole pile of surplus and commercial mags, only the Magpul and AC Unity worked consistently in that gun. The second AK-105 (which replaced the first when it developed major issues) worked well with all three.
The AC Unity mag is equipped with a steel insert on the follower that is billed as a bolt hold open. This feature worked consistently with my Tantal but not at all in the AK-105. However, my 45-round AC Unity magazine locks the AK-105 open every time. This is a nice feature, but don’t count on it working 100% in every gun. A bolt hold open also helps cool the gun when it is hot from mag dumping into trash.
I ran the magazines in the guns again after all of the abuse. All three worked in both guns despite the rowdy handling. Of note, the damage to the Bulgy mag has not yet impacted its performance once it is inside the gun. This includes being used in burndown testing on the new AK-105.
One other minor note relates to the PMAG. I flubbed a reload while trying to go fast and I locked the rear lug in place without first securing the front lug. Instead of “rock and lock” I just did the lock, then smashed the part that should have rocked into the underside of the receiver. I had to smash the magazine toward the muzzle to get it to release. This resulted in some gouging in the plastic, but it seems to be cosmetic and functionality remains unchanged.
Summary
| TYPE | COUNTRY | CAPACITY | WEIGHT | FEED LIPS | LOCKING LUGS | WINDOW | FLOORPLATE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AC Unity | Bosnia | 30 | 6.9 oz | Steel | Steel | Yes | Plastic |
| Bulgarian | Bulgaria | 30 | 6.4 oz | Steel | Steel | No | Steel |
| Magpul | USA | 30 | 6.0 oz | Plastic | Plastic | No | Plastic |
I weighed a few other magazines to provide context. Those weights are:
- Circle 10 & 21 – 7.0 oz
- Tapco – 6.3 oz
- Romanian Steel – 11.0 oz
Everything except the steel Romanian mag weighs between six and seven ounces, so weight is not much of a differentiating factor.
Conclusion
Surplus magazines are still the gold standard and would be my first choice if money was no object. But money does matter quite a lot and $50 per magazine (or more) adds up fast. Based on my testing, all three were great. However, I think AC Unity is the best option among the types tested. It combines metal reinforcements with a competitive price point and solid performance. All three were good, but I think you get the most for your money with the AC Unity mags.
AKA @fromtheguncounter on Instagram. Gun nerd, reloader, attorney, and mediocre hunter. Daniel can still be found on occasion behind the counter at a local gun store. When he is not shooting, he enjoys hiking, camping, and rappelling around Utah.
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Mags are good, it’s nice we have some options. That said we really need ammo… hoping AAC will start making steel cased.
Back before they went tits-up, the Tapco “ItraFuse” 5.45 mags were surprisingly good. I bought a few of their “Fakelite” mags expecting them to be garbage, but surprisingly they worked very well and were quite durable. One of the few products Tapco made that was actually worth buying.
Thankfully I bought most of my 5.45 mags back around 2002-2009 when CDNN was practically giving them away. East German Bakelite’s were $3.99. Later they had Bulgy surplus mags between $7.99-$13.99, and minty Russian plums for $15.99. I bought about 30 of these mags (that I still have) and felt guilty about it, thinking I was wasting too much money. LOL! If only I had known, I would have emptied out their inventory!