A cone staging apparatus for production of smoking articles includes (a) a frame, and (b) a cone pallet releasably supported by the frame. The cone pallet includes a plurality of cavities. Each cavity has an open upper end for receiving a cone therein. The apparatus further includes (c) a cone magazine adjacent the frame for holding a supply of cones. The cone magazine includes at least one escapement alignable over the open upper end of a respective cavity of the cone pallet to facilitate transferring a single cone from the supply of cones to the respective cavity.