Desert Tech Quattro-15: She’s Thicc (And We Like It)

Yeah, she’s thicc. By she, I mean the Desert Tech Quadmag-53 magazine and the Quattro-15 AR lower receiver. Desert Tech introduced this new lower receiver and magazine combination at SHOT Show 2022. They took a traditional AR mag and turned it into a quad stack magazine. Quad magazines have been done before, but not like this.

The Desert Tech Quattro 15 from Desert Tech takes quad mags in a proprietary lower receiver.
The Desert Tech Quattro 15 from Desert Tech takes quad mags in a proprietary lower receiver. ..but they do provide an adapter!

This magazine is a quad stack from the ground up.

It’s thick, but slightly shorter than a 30 round P-MAG.

Quattro-15 – Don’t Be Afraid of Thiccness

The Quadmag-53 doesn’t taper up into a single stack magazine. It’s a quad stack from the ground up, and that ensures it’s short, at least relatively short. It packs 53 rounds in a space that’s shorter than a normal P-MAG. To accommodate the Quadmag-53, Desert Tech opened up the magazine well of the Quattro-15.

A proprietary lower was created to house the proprietary magazine

At I first I had some doubts. A proprietary lower receiver? Ugh, that’s a tough sell. However, Desert Tech includes a magazine adapter to allow the user to shoot normal AR magazines as well. The main benefit of the Quadmag-53 is more rounds with fewer magazines. You can carry a standard military loadout with four magazines instead of seven. According to Desert Tech, this results in an 8% lighter loadout.

The receiver can use an insert to use standard magazines

Plus, I’m a big fan of more ammo on than less, though. The receiver looks nice, and it has big features and nice ambi controls. The big problem is that the receiver will cost $299 stripped, and the mags will cost $74.99 each. That’s a tough sell in a world where P-MAGs cost less than 20 bucks. Also, I asked about 300 Blackout and these magazines and got a resounding no on that answer. Stick to the .223 and 5.56 options.

you can accomplish in 4 mags what it would take 7 PMAGs

Still, the Quattro-15 and Quadmag-53 are elegant solutions to a complicated problem. Quad stack magazines have historically had their problems, but maybe Desert Tech has figured it out?

Learn more in the…

Desert Tech Quattro-15 Video

Quattro-15 Lower Receiver
The Quattro-15 lower receiver accepts the Quadmag-53, Desert Tech’s 53 round magazine and standard AR pattern mags. The Quattro-15 lower receiver is drop in capable will all standard AR-15 upper receivers.

Quattro-15-Lower-Receiver-and-Quad-Magazine-Desert-Tech

Travis Pike is a former Marine Machine Gunner and a lifelong firearms enthusiast. Now that his days of working a 240B like Charlie Parker on the sax are over he's a regular guy who likes to shoot, write, and find ways to combine the two. He holds an NRA certification as a Basic Pistol Instructor and is probably most likely the world's Okayest firearm instructor. He is a simplicisist when it comes to talking about himself in the 3rd person and a self-professed tactical hipster. Hit him up on Instagram, @travis.l.pike, with story ideas.

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