As the doors to the NRA Annual Meeting opened this morning, I made a bee line for the Magpul booth to check out their new gear. And for the first time in a couple years, there is actually some exciting new stuff to talk about in the world of plastic fantastic gun parts. First up, their new AK magazine.
As I said when it was first announced, this is the first magazine they have produced that isn’t an AR-15 STANAG derivative, and it feels almost exactly like a new Gen 3 PMAG. The grippyness and the ridges feel the same, and really help when rocking the magazine into place in the gun. This magazine is a straight plastic job, but Magpul says that they’re working on a version with embedded metal strengthening gubbins like the newer Russian magazines.
Also new this year are the metal sights, and they actually look and feel pretty good. They aren’t spring loaded like the polymer sights, which means they lie flatter on the rail. In fact, they seem to be extremely low profile. Great if you want to mount an optic over the iron sights and that eye piece was getting in the way before.
The last thing on Magpul’s list of new tricks are 1911 grips. There’s a relief cut in the left hand grip that doesn’t quite match up with my thumb, then again not many things fit me.
In terms of the move, the word is that Magpul is about to finalize their decision on where to move Magpul HQ. They’re being understandably cagey about where their new manufacturing facilities are located, but according to the reps PMAG production has already moved out of Colorado.
