Was at Triggrcon (yes, spelled that way) in Bellevue WA yesterday. Think mini-SHOT show concentrating on tacticool weapons and parts. There was a guy from a company called XTECH TACTICAL LLC who was selling very new magazines for the AK-47.
As I noticed the strong resemblance to US Palm mags, he 'fessed up that his company had bought the magazine making equipment from US Palm. Then they starting improving the design. They call the magazine “MAG47” and show price was $20 each so I came home with two. Me who needed to sell magazines to avoid tripping over them bought more, as they seemed like quality products.
The result is pretty much all the same as US Palm at the top, with the same molded-in steel parts and the same follower full of holes. But now the holes are not needed (for washing the inside) since the new design has a removable bottom panel like just about every other mag in the world. The front and back edges have the same grasping groves as the US Palm. The rep said the spring was improved and is stainless steel, and the actual polymer is some newer and better polymer invented in Great Britain. They only had black on display.
And that brings me to the negative, sorry XTECH, just being truthful. These things stink. As in, open them outside and leave them outside in the wind and maybe even rain. They just reek with a strong chemical smell. I’m not saying it is hazardous and will cause nose warts and shrunken balls, but they stink so bad even the packaging smells bad once it is opened.
I don’t know if they have a website but if you are interested, I’ve given you company and product names right off the packaging. Search away.
The pictures above show two different products. One is a magazine with a built-in slider for loading like a .22 pistol magazine, and slots in the body making it the Mark II Dumb Idea Magazine. I didn’t mention it to this forum as I do not see it as anything worth mentioning.
But the other is a good AK mag, at least once the plastic stops off-gassing bad smells. The top end is steel reinforced exactly as the US Palm, so that both of the locking lugs and the feed lips have steel for strength.
The $20 was “show pricing” and I think he mentioned that MSRP would be $28.
The original tango down AK mags needed better metal reinforcements… if these are the same (can’t tell from the pictures, but may be the same) then these will also suck. The removable base plate is a good idea, if executed well, and the price point is better. I wish them well.
If they wanted to copy something from US Palm that people are actually still trying to buy they should have started making the grips. I don’t have an issue using the PTS licensed ones but some people won’t because airsoft.
Not if they are made the same way as the original TD mags. Original commie mags had a solid metal locking lug. TD mags had a thin band of metal covering plastic. They were failure prone.