What’s the biggest time waster at the range? Re-filling those empty magazines. Wouldn’t it be nice if there were an automated way to save your thumbs and let you put more rounds down rage? Rejoice, range rats, because AFLoader is a robot that may just be the next must-have amenity at your local shooting range or home workbench.

In late June, AFA announced to the world their intention to bring to market the “first automated pistol “speed loader,'” the AFLoader.

Compatible with “double stack, single stack, and extended type magazines in 9mm, .40 and .45 calibers,” the AFLoader (v1, pictured above) utilizes a removable hopper to feed live rounds into the bot. Rifle caliber models are expected in future versions.

Touting varying capacities, a replaceable rechargeable battery, and a programmable OS, the system was designed to fit the needs of a variety of shooters. At its core, AFLoader’s basic design saves the user time and provides consistent loading. It will even eliminate fingerprints from casings, should that be a concern of yours.

Ammo hoppers for a variety of calibers work seamlessly with the loader.

Shooters with hand ailments (arthritis, joint pain, etc.) will also find relief with the AFLoader. And, of course, shooting ranges and their members could benefit from the system by making range trips more efficient.

A final version reveal was promised for July 7th via Indiegogo, however, after significant market feedback collected from internet forums, Facebook, Reddit, and other sources, AFLoader set their campaign aside and redesigned the magazine loader.

We got our first look at AFLoader Version 2 in late July with a 75-round hopper (above).

I connected with Dallas Jolley, CEO and Lead Designer at AFA, just in time to catch a new image of V2.

Version 2 (above) is more compact (6″ x 4.25″ x 8.5″ without hopper) and portable. The smaller footprint and simple controls are appealing, although, I wonder about the size of the small screen, which displays information like rounds remaining in hopper, any of the ten available programmable preset caliber/capacity pairings, and battery life. The smaller unit weighs in at 6.5 pounds sans hopper.

“The internals of this version were completely redesigned hence the flip of the hopper and mag insert location. The first version was built just to demonstrate the possibility of automatic loading. What we call version 2, is actually the 11th complete redesign of the machine and is as small as we could possibly imagine while still making it accurate and reliable,” offered Jolley when I inquired about the controls being moved from one side of the unit to the other.

The newly-posted video above shows the AFLoader spitting rounds past mag lips over twice as quickly as the test subject using a hand-held Maglula speed loading device. Faster is good here. And to be specific, the AFLoader feeds magazines at a rate of 1.7 rounds per second.

The unit takes up very little space on a flat surface like a range bench. The AFLoader can also be mounted to a wall or other surface.

After much anticipation, AFA has officially launched their AFLoader Indiegogo campaign, “AFLoader: Automated Pistol Magazine Loader,” to solicit backers. Their goal is to raise enough capital to purchase the equipment required to manufacture the units in-house.

Indiegogo Backer tiers start at $189 for a Standard System package. Each successive tier includes additional accessories such as batteries, hoppers, and mounting options.

The Standard AFLoader package comes with:

• AFLoader Unit

• (1) Battery (~500 rounds between charging)

• Battery Charger

• 3 Hoppers (Caliber/Capacity selected at time of purchase)

• Hopper Loading Tray

• User Manual

• Warranty Card (3-year Limited Warranty)

AFA has promised us a T&E model once they become available and I can’t wait to get my hands on it, even though I’ll probably just end up babysitting the machine while everyone at the range loads their mags. Stay tuned.

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44 COMMENTS

  1. Well yeah……but where is the machine to load the magazines that need to be loaded?

    I cant be expected to do that, now can i?

    Then i need a machine to shoot the gun for me……oh wait….the Ruskies have one. I’m set.

      • We push it all the way, that’s what Americans do. I wonder if this will work my 32 round snail drum, my 71 round Soumi stick mags and my 100 round Tommy gun drum?

      • Say what you will about how easy it is to load magazines- in fact, I agree with, and do it by hand because it’s faster than any magloader system I’ve tried- but, in a day of competition loading some 200-300 rounds into magazines in 10 round chunks, your thumbs start to ache.

        Not enough to make me willing to pay the $400 or whatever this thing costs, but I can see how some folks might.

        • $189 friend 🙂

          We realize this isn’t for everyone. Unfortunately, there are many of our fellow firearm enthusiasts who no longer have the ability to load by hand or cannot do so without pain. A small market is still a market!

          …and we do have something coming that will load mags for you. It’s more to facilitate quick one handed loading, but it is coming lol

          • At $190, it isn’t for me, but it is pretty cool. If I had the money to feed my habit to the extent that I needed this product (which would probably mean enough money to not work), $190 would be well worth it.

        • I agree with TX_lawyer; not for me, but definitely a great idea for people with arthritis or whatever. Or even for people who just shoot handgun a whole lot at a square range; stick a mag in to load while you shoot the other, then swap (like in the video); then you can get loads of practice without having to stop every so many mags to reload them.

          And just under $200, while pricing it out of the “it is a neat trick and a minor convenience” crowd (like myself), is still quite affordable as far as shooting accessories go.

  2. It’s a cool idea, but the problem is that I already have a ton of stuff to lug to the range. I could see myself using it at home, but the speed loader is lots smaller and easily carried.

    • And if the shooting range you go to had these installed in the lanes?

      I could see most of their purchasers being shooting ranges, instructors, manufacturers, and other “institutional/enterprise” customers rather than individual hobbyists.

        • I think you mean HK or Walther. Glock mags became the cheapest this year with all the new (actually decent) aftermarket options.

    • Some people find loading therapeutic and a good way to prolong your range time ie. no family, work etc lol

      I’ve got stuff to do, products to test, and have two permanently injured thumbs. It is worth the convenience in my case.

      Aside from when you absolutely need more than two mags, you could potentially have only two mags for each pistol and never have to load one ever again.

  4. “It will even eliminate fingerprints from casings, should that be a concern of yours.”

    Fun fact. The heat from firing the round actually burns off any usable finger prints from spent shell casings. Lifting prints from shell casings is actually 100% TV myth. I worked with a forensics unit at a PD for awhile and specifically asked about this, when they were handling spent casings with bare hands. The lead forensics investigator told me the only and best prints they lifted off of a spent casing in her 20 years, was a “partial smudge”, which, means jack Shit in the court room.

  5. I find the biggest time waster at the range is the idiot who requests a cease-fire so he can set up / inspect / change / whatever his target, and THEN takes 20 minutes to get his stapler, tape, replacement target, etc. together and ready to go.

    That’s when I usually reload my magazines. While glaring. And muttering.

  6. I bought extra mags and showed my kids how to work the Uplula. Now the night before a match I just distribute ammo and reap the rewards of parenthood.

  8. Eliminate finger prints??????? So will rubber gloves! I get mine for free everytime I get to wait in a doctor’s exam room, I grab a pocketfull….just sayin

    • With the reports of broken loaders and misfeeds, I wouldn’t be so sure. That isn’t to say it isn’t very cool and functional. It needs tweaking and a better build, but a novel idea.

      This machine has loaded over 25k rounds without a hiccup

      You still need both hands, time away from focusing on the target, and from all the videos I’ve seen, some serious strength. We aren’t all so lucky!

  11. sigh, do people realize with automation like this and our phones, it is literally making us dumber and more useless??? why should bother remembering ANYTHING when i can just have my phone bark reminders at me for everything? why do ANYTHING myself when i can have a machine do it for me?
    next i guess we will have a machine chew for us.

  12. not interested. I can load my mags just fine with my fingers. Yes it’s a little slow, and the morning of a 3 gun match filling 4 pistol mags and 3-4 AR mags (for some reason I can’t bring myself to do it the night before the match), does take some time, but I can’t see spending $190 when I can’t even spend the $20-30 on a magula.

    I’m sure there are people this could really benefit; I’m just not one of them

  13. I wonder if there are any spectacular failure modes for this thing? It’s not dispensing Coca-Cola, it’s loading live rounds into a magazine. I would hope that it’s extensively over-engineered.

      • “Checkout” wasn’t working. It kept reverting to me just giving them a C note.
        Screw that. I want something for my money.

        • Don’t click the Back It button, that is for donations. You have to find the item on the side that you would like, hover over it and it will change to “Get This Perk”

          You will select the options for what you want included, and then it will lead you to checkout for whatever you are trying to purchase. You have right up until we ship to change your hopper selections

  16. I am wanting to see how the rounds are loaded into the loader. Seems that could be just as time consuming as simply loading them into the mag.

    • We have a video coming of loading procedure. Each hopper comes with a compatible loading tray. Slip it over exposed rounds of a 50rd box, lift them all out and slide into the hopper. Takes about 10 seconds from a closed box, to a loaded hopper ready to go.

  17. @AFLoader — Definitely interested, but concerned that only $693 has been raised by 3 people. What happens if you don’t get the money you need?

    • We have about two months to go and our marketing campaign, which includes sending out test models, won’t start for another twenty days.

      That said, we already have the means to bring this to market. The campaign is to allow us to buy an additional injection machine so that we can handle mass production in house and not have to farm out any of the process. If the campaign doesn’t go well, we can still fulfill orders and in a timely manner. Less orders, less need for an additional machine.

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