Magpul Glock PMAGs: Aftermarket doesn’t look bad

Glock original manufacturer magazines are excellent, they are well made and function great. But they are expensive in my opinion; that doesn’t mean I think they suck, I just wish they were slightly more affordable. Thankfully, Magpul Industries now produces PMAGs, a brand of polymer weapon magazine, for the various models of Glock pistols available on the market. I have always been a huge proponent of PMAGs and many of the other Magpul products from the get go. Recently they won a contract to outfit the entire Marine Corps with their product. So given my affinity for them and their recent successes, I had to check out their Glock PMAGs.

First off, these magazines are cheap; I purchased three PMAG 15 GL9s for 30 dollars total at Quantico Tactical and that’s a fairly standard price for them. They are incredibly simple in design, almost entirely made of Magpul’s famous polymer, save for the spring. The design is robust as well, the magazine’s components are thick and can handle a beating from hard use. I personally gave mine a good thrashing from some range time and they held up fine. The base-plate slips off with a quick press of a button held in place by mainspring tension, much like the original, but somewhat more user-friendly. It being propitious to take-down needs means it makes for an incredibly easy process of routine cleaning and maintenance. They do stick out the bottom a bit more than the original magazines but not in an exaggerated manner that would detract from the pistol’s performance; in fact they give the end-user a bit more material to purchase when performing tasks that require magazine manipulation.

Overall the PMAG 15 GL9 is a well thought out product that meets and exceeds the required qualifications for an acceptable magazine; especially since it’s an aftermarket model. Many of the knockoff magazine manufacturers like KCI (a Korean manufacturer) or ProMag fall far short of passable standards; it’s nice to see that Magpul does not. If you shoot Glocks then I would definitely recommend you check these out.