using Russian surplus and the factory Bulgarian mag, I don't have any other mags to test, but they're in the mail

Unless I grab the mag and tilt the back up it will jam every other round. It catches side of the case and jams. It should be catching the back where the primer is.

also the thing shoots a foot left and low, apparently they don't test them like they say they do, or this mag is the problem

Those aren't cheap rifles, for what they cost I would be calling the seller for an exchange.  Those are both excellent mags, shouldn't be having a problem with them.  From what you are saying it sounds like the magazine is sitting too low, makes me think the mag catch is too low.  As far as shooting low and left, what range were you at?  Were you able to adjust the front sight enough to take care of this?  If it is too far to adjust sounds like the front sight is canted.  The feeding problem is the bigger problem, canted sights can be fixed.

I forgot the adjustment tool, I just assumed since they brag about all of their rifles getting range time that it would be zero'd, all of my surplus rifles have shot straight, my vz58 did too. I'm sure there's enough adjustment to fix that problem.

I sent them an email but I doubt they will get back to me until Monday.

The magazine looks like it has been "fitted" some of the plastic has been ground off. It has about an 1/10th of an inch of rock up and down and a lot of side to side play. This is my first ak so I really don't know what's normal, I know that they aren't known for being tight. I really don't like sending things back. I'm definitely going to wait until some more mags get here before sending it back to them.

Hopefully the new mags will work better, but I'm betting it will have the same problem.  Russian plums and Bulgarian Circle 10/21/25 are the best mags there are for 74s, they should work perfect.   You're right in that the bolt should be hitting the back of the round instead of the side, so the mags are sitting too low.  Good luck!

man I'm really disappointed in this thing, thought I was getting a somewhat premium ak74

look how far I had to adjust the windage to get it to shoot straight:

http://imgur.com/FpzQIuG

It's either your selector stop plate, magazine catch, or a combo of both. I would definitely send it back after you've tested some other mags in it.

1)Open the top cover, remove bolt and carrier.  Insert magazine.
The ejector should be touching the left mag lip.  If not, then the mag release lever is too low.



2) Have you tried to adjust the front sight.  Also, you may search for RPK rear adjustable sight.

Or the selector stop plate is too thick.  Mag sould contact the selector stop plate at the same time it contacts the underside of the rail.  THEN the mag catch is fitted to work smoothly.  Scribe a line on mag at mag well with a sharp pencil and the mag pushed up.  Then again with mag pulled down.  Space no greater than 0.5mm.  7.62 can get away with more slop due to larger case rim, but 5.45 and 5.56 cannot have slop.

I'm glad I found this thread.  Unfortunately, I found it before I recently bought a JRA AK-74.

I went shoot it straight out of the box on Labor Day.  Used 60 rounds of Wolf Military Classic 60 grain.  I counted 15 FTFs out of the 60.

I used the Bulgarian polymer mag that came with it as well as a TAPCO mag. Same issue.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-60fls2EaYks/VAT0Z9FlHfI/AAAAAAAABP4/Cs4NnGtbEa0/w399-h709-no/20140901_143707.jpg

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-QAqK-_q2hQ8/VAT1IvLptiI/AAAAAAAABME/b_V9U4C1tU8/w399-h709-no/20140901_145437.jpg

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-6GE4etbSCMA/VAT0q8G3x-I/AAAAAAAABKM/WZ5kCS9J2eU/w399-h709-no/20140901_143901.jpg

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-uZF4larLLHY/VAT1vByt5ZI/AAAAAAAABPI/fAPuMpmpUdE/w399-h709-no/20140901_152406.jpg

These were just two of the many FTFs I took photos of.  Sometimes when I pulled the charging handle back and let it go to chamber a round, the BCG would slide forward without catching the round at all.

Also, when the gun got hot, I noticed the front sight started drifting towards the middle. I had pushed it to the left and rotated the front sight post counter-clockwise since I was also zeroing it in right before this happened.