At SHOT Show Range Day jobbing journos shoot the latest and greatest firearms from mainstream manufacturers and ballistic bit players. Tucked away to the side is a tented bazaar where companies hawk everything from tactical socks to gun lube to portable refrigerator/freezers. The belle of the ball? The MAG-PUMP MP-AR-15 magazine loader.

First, the bad news: the MAG-PUMP is not something you can dump in your range bag. And it ain’t cheap. The MP-AR15 Ultralight is a Washington under $200. The sturdier, bench-mountable MP-AR15 Elite runs a hair under four Benjamins.

Now the good news: everything else.

As you can see in the video above, you simply shove your mag in the side slot, pop your .223/.300 Blackout/5.56 rounds in the hopper — facing either way! — pump the handle and Bob’s your uncle (as the Brits are wont to say).

Not to put too fine a point on it: this is how we do it. Just ask IWI’s mensch men [sic], who used a MAG-PUMP to load thousands of rifle rounds with nary a fatigued finger. Coming soon: AK47 and GLOCK 9mm loaders.

As far as I’m concerned, the MAG-PUMP is the best new thing at SHOT so far.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

17 COMMENTS

    • Or an enormous value add for those that shoot high volumes.

      Typically when my employer tests new products, they’ll have 5 people shooting, and 10 people loading mags.
      This would represent and enormous cost savings in man power.

        • And in the case of (at least) the Glock version, it will be a great benefit to those with limited dexterity/missing fingers/even a missing hand for the sake of allowing them to continue carrying/practicing with their self-defense weapon. It’s a product that needed to be made, and I hope MagPump makes a lot of money on it.

  2. For my personal level of AR shooting, my LULA is just fine. BUT, that said, I definitely see where this thing would be very welcome. A carbine/rifle course, especially anything like the CQB style training I did in SF. Anyplace where there’s a bunch of dudes & dudettes going though a couple hundred rounds each every day – that thing means more time shooting, less time not.

  3. Seems pricey, but a business owner like an indoor range could probably offer this as an added feature. I spend as much time reloading as I do shooting at pay per minute indoor ranges.

    Consequently, I normally go with a partner or 2. That way, one can always be reloading, while the other (or 2) can keep shooting.

    My Uplula is perfect for this, and only about $30 for a loader that handles 380 to 45, and NON-Manufacture specific. That’s definitely a great deal.

    This one seems to be caliber specific, 223 & 556 only for now. Supposedly, a 9mm Glock style mag loader is on the drawing board.

    However, I do, in fact agree with the 1st post, that if you’re plinkin’ off the back porch of your private back yard shooting lane, it’s probably overpriced for that situation.

  6. Thats cool but of all the mags i load ar’s are by far the fastest and easiest by hand. Id ove it for my ar 9 or glocks…..

  7. working for a living must have kept my money countin’ lily whites from getting too terribly tender.

  9. The day I am too lazy to push straight down 30 times onto the top of a pmag is the day someone should just distract me with a cheeseburger or bikini model and blow my brains out.

  10. Hand loading 20-30 rounds in an AR magazine is no big deal… UNTIL you find yourself loading more magazines. After a while, the digits show the effort. Try hand loading 50 or 100.

    A range, shooting club, etc, gets a break with tax deductions or tax exempt status.

    I am happy with my loaders, including using the old stripper clip system since I have not had to load that many magazines at one time since my military days. Every so often (quarterly or semi-annually), we had to empty all our magazines, check the ammo for damage, and then reload, making sure to check for the correct tracer spacing.

  12. “As far as I’m concerned, the MAG-PUMP is the best new thing at SHOT so far.”

    I have to agree on this one. This thing may be a bit Rube Goldberg but it serves a real purpose. I’ve noticed that new shooters, including grown men with decent hand strength who have never shot before, have more problems just simply loading an auto pistol magazine than they have shooting the piece and manipulating the safety, etc.! I guess it is a fine motor skill when you come down to it.

    If they make one of these gizmos for AK mags, that would be great. The old all-metal AK mags can have some sharp feed lips, enough to slice a finger for sure. GI surplus metal AK mags were all we had Back When It Was Hard, before the wimpy all-plastic American mags that are available now.

    Thumbs up on this gizmo! If you take a weekend course, this thing could save some finger shredding.

Comments are closed.