Gear

Amend2 AICS Magazines and AMC Modular Chassis: Affordable Mags, One Stock for Many Actions (NRA 2024)

By SlavGuns 4 min read Watch the video
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Welcome, Squat Squad, to Slav Guns. At NRA 2024 I finally made it to a booth I’d wanted to visit at SHOT Show and never got to: Amend2. If you’ve been following the channel, you know I’ve been running their polymer 6.5 Grendel / 6mm ARC magazines in my precision ARs. They’re good, solid value, and almost nobody else makes polymer Grendel mags. This time Amend2 had two new things to show me. One was something I’d wanted for a long time. The other was a chassis idea I never would have thought of.

Quick note: this is an NRA 2024 booth first look, filmed in May 2024. It isn’t a range test, and I didn’t shoot either product for this video. Prices and availability below are what I heard at the show, so check Amend2 for what’s current.


TL;DR

  • AICS-pattern polymer magazines: 5-round and 12-round versions at launch, with a 10-rounder hopefully in the works. At the show they were quoted at about $22 to $25 depending on size.
  • Why it matters: AICS mags often run $60 to $70 each, so you can buy three or four of these for the price of one metal mag.
  • AMC (Amend2 Modular Chassis): a mini chassis bolts to your barreled action, and that mini chassis drops into different stocks. The goal is one stock that can take a Remington, a Savage, a Tikka, a Howa, and more.
  • Stocks shown: an all-around M-LOK stock with a vertical grip and a bit of a bag rider, a lighter hunting version, and a carbon fiber stock.
  • At the booth: it was starting with the Remington 700 footprint.

Finally: AICS mags that don’t cost a fortune

Affordable, easy-to-find, reliable AICS-pattern magazines have been on my wish list for a while. If you run a bolt gun with AICS-pattern bottom metal or a chassis, you know the pain. One good mag can cost $60 or $70, which left plenty of room for a good polymer option. Amend2 introduced their AICS-pattern polymer magazines not long before this show.

  • 5-round: for hunters, light target work, anyone who doesn’t need more, or anyone limited to lower capacity where they live.
  • 12-round: for PRS shooters and range days.
  • 10-round: not out yet at the show. Hopefully it’s coming soon.

They look awesome and feel great in the hand. The part I care about most is the price. At the show they were quoted between $22 and $25 depending on size. For the price of one metal mag you can get three or four of these, and that’s fantastic for anyone running a match or stocking up for hunting season. Amend2 lists them for short-action calibers like .308 Win and 6.5 Creedmoor, so check their page for your cartridge.

What I like about Amend2 is that they clearly listen to their customers. The Grendel mags filled a gap, and these AICS mags do the same thing for bolt guns. If you want to see their Grendel mags in use, I ran them in my PSA 6.5 Grendel upper review and my 6.5 Grendel “Other Firearm” build.

The AMC: think Sig P320 fire control unit, but for bolt guns

This is the part that got me. The pitch started with a question: “Have you heard of the Sig P320 fire control unit?” Sure, who hasn’t. But what does that have to do with bolt guns?

Here’s what. Competitors and PRS shooters end up with a bunch of different actions in different calibers for different jobs. Buying a separate chassis for each one gets stupid expensive, especially if you’ve got a Ruger, a Remington, a Savage, a Tikka, and a Howa in the safe. So what if the stock didn’t care which action you have?

That’s the AMC. You bolt a mini chassis onto your barreled action, and that mini chassis goes into whichever Amend2 stock or chassis you want. Swap stocks around the same barreled action, or put different rifles into one stock you really like. At the booth it was starting with the Remington 700 footprint.

The stocks at the booth

  • The all-arounder: M-LOK on the bottom and sides, a nice upright grip, and a little bit of a bag rider at the back.
  • A lighter hunting version for people who carry the rifle more than they shoot it off a barricade.
  • A carbon fiber stock that felt amazing in the hand.

Why I care: my own Heatseeker problem

As nice as those stocks are, the stock itself isn’t the main point. The point is that normally you buy a stock for one specific footprint. Look at my own safe. I love the Sharps Bros Heatseeker for non-PRS use, and I own one for a Remington 700, one for a Savage 110, one for the Ruger Precision Rimfire, and Heatseekers for both the Ruger American Gen 1 and Gen 2. (Here’s my Heatseeker on the Ruger American write-up.) What if I only needed to buy one?

That’s what the AMC is about. At NRA it was only for the Remington 700 footprint. Since it’s an open format, I expect more footprints to follow. The more actions this platform supports, the better it gets, because you’d be able to drop your Howa 1500, Savage 110, Ruger American, or Tikka into the same stock. That’s nuts, in a good way.

Bottom line

Amend2 came to NRA 2024 with two very practical ideas. The AICS mags take some of the sting out of running a modern bolt gun, and they’re cheap enough to buy a stack of. The AMC is a clever answer to the “one chassis per rifle” problem that a lot of us have. Remember this was a booth first look from May 2024, not a range test, so check Amend2 for current models, footprints, and pricing. The gear I actually run is in my Amazon picks.

Want more trade show first looks and precision rifle content? Join the channel.

Keep squatting.


Would you run one modular stock across all your bolt guns, or keep a dedicated chassis for each rifle? And would you trust polymer AICS mags in a match? Tell me in the comments.

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SlavGuns

Hands-on reviews, range time and budget picks on YouTube since 2019. Subscribe · About

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