The CH bond activation of small alkanes by the gaseous MgO+. cation is probed by mass spectrometric means. In addition to H‐atom abstraction from methane, the MgO+. cation reacts with ethane, propane, n‐ and iso‐butane through several pathways, which can all be assigned to the occurrence of initial CH bond activations. Specifically, the formal CC bond cleavages observed are assigned to CH bond activation as the first step, followed by cleavage of a β‐CC bond concomitant with release of the corresponding alkyl radical. Kinetic modeling of the observed product distributions reveals a high preference of MgO+. for the attack of primary CH bonds. This feature represents a notable distinction of the main‐group metal oxide MgO+. from various transition‐metal oxide cations, which show a clear preference for the attack of secondary CH bonds. The results of complementary theoretical calculations indicate that the CH bond activation of larger alkanes by the MgO+. cation is subject to pronounced kinetic control.