New US PALM 30 & 45 round AK Magazines

If you’ve spent any time around Haus of Guns at all, you’ve learned we are very fond of the AK-47 platform rifle. Sure, it was born out of communism, but what a tremendous gift of a battle rifle it is. If you HAVEN’T spent much time around Haus of Guns, we’re big fans of the AK-47 platform rifle. Since August I’ve been doing a whole “build” (more of a customization) series on the rifle through various tactics and product reviews from items that are readily available for the good old Kalashnikov. Before you jump on the AK vs. AR bandwagon, just remember there’s nearly 10x as many AKs in the world as there are ARs, and they’re roughly the same age. The AK-47 is more reliable, cheaper to build, a little less accurate maybe, but more readily available as well (as is the ammo). Enough said.

The AK30 Double, AK30 original, and AK45 Double shown with a US PALM tricked out AK.

At SHOT Show 2012 this year, we made our way over to the US PALM booth at the end of the first day to check out the all new rumored double stack magazines they had developed for the AK-47 platform. US PALM makes an outstanding polymer/composite magazine called the AK30 Mag and has a reputation for innovation and reliability when it comes to all products AK. Before we left for SHOT Show 2012, my buddy Owen over at ALLAK47.com told me I HAD to stop by their booth and check out this new doublestack magazine they were basing on the AK30 mag design. We made it, but they had a surprise up their sleeves…

Turns out, US PALM wasn’t just coming up with a double stack 30 round magazine design, but they came up with a 45 round double stack magazine as well. Here’s the twist though, the new 30 round double stacker is the same length as a traditional 20 round staggered magazine and the new 45 round double stacker is the same overall length as a traditional 30 round AK magazine. Of course, it’s twice as thick, but traditionally if you’ve wanted a 40 round magazine for your AK-47 you had to deal with a super long banana shaped mag that is semi-reliable at best.

Left to right: 30 Double, AK30, 45 Double

The new AK30 doublestack and AK45 doublestack mags we got to see at SHOT Show 2012 were just prototypes, and the engineers at US PALM refused to open it up to let us get pictures of the innards to see how they work. But we understand, there’s plenty of copycats out there and one of the worst feelings in the world is finding out another company hacked your design and is claiming it as their own. The AK30 Double and AK45 Double should be available sometime this spring, AND we’re still waiting on a price point for these bad boys. Methinks they’re gonna roll in somewhere around the $50 dollar range, and if they prove reliable they’ll definitely be worth it.