Magpul Invents New Quad-Stack Magazine for ARs
Here’s an item that should interest 3-Gun and Multi-Gun competitors using AR rifles. Magpul Industries has filed for a patent on a new “quad-stack” magazine that may hold as many as 60 rounds, yet feed through a normal AR15 mag well. (In Multi-Gun matches, ultra-high-capacity magazines can provide a competitive edge in high-round-count stages.) While Magpul is renowned for its innovative engineering, we wonder if this new mag design was inspired, at least in part, by the Russians. Earlier this year, the Izhmash OJSC factory in Russia revealed a quad-stack 60-round magazine for the new AK-200 rifle, successor to the AK-47.
An explanation of how Magpul’s new quad-stack AR magazine works is found on The Firearm Blog, which reports: “The design is quite straight forward. A central partition separates two dual staggered round stacks. Two springs are used, a lower stronger spring and a weaker top spring[.]”
In the frame below, click-drag on the right-side scroll bar to view numerous technical illustrations included in Magpul’s 12-page patent application. You can also navigate by clicking the page arrows (at bottom of frame) or by clicking “tile mode”. Use the plus/minus controls to zoom in or out.
I suspect their inspiration is quite a bit older than that: Finland’s 50-round quad-stack submachine gun magazine of the 1930s.