Back on January 13, 2013 I mentioned the availability of steel AR-15/M16-compatible Tavor magazines, made in Israel, being sold by a company in the U.S. called The Mako Group. These were priced at $18.70 each. I personally ordered more than 100 of them on January 11th. My order just arrived on March 7th.
I was very pleased with the fit and finish of the magazines. Mine came with white followers. Their finish was glossy black and quite slick feeling. They have gave reinforced magazine retainer tabs. The E-Lander company maintains stringent military specifications and they have ISO certified and NQA certified (TS16949) processes.
I test fit several 30 round E-Lander magazines (both loaded and unloaded) in the magazine wells of six ARs here at the Rawles Ranch. I should mention that their lower receivers on these ARs came from four different makers. The magazines went into all six lowers with no difficulty whatsoever, and they dropped free with a touch of the magazine release. I also test fired one full magazine, and it fed wonderfully. Since they are steel, these magazines should give a lifetime of reliable service.
So the good news is that they ARE shipping, but they are obviously deluged with orders and that is causing long delays. Be patient, folks! We can safely assume that Mako Group is shipping orders sequentially from the date that orders are placed. So anyone who ordered their magazines from Mako during the week of January 13th should be seeing the Big Brown Truck of Joy fairly soon. And for anyone who orders any henceforth, you can expect at least a two month delay.
One odd thing that I noticed was that the magazines that I received were all marked “M.D. 02.13” So with a February manufacture date, these would have had to have been shipped to New York via air freight. This leaves me convinced that The Mako Group is doing their best to fill orders in a timely manner. But they obviously have a LOT of orders, and have developed a two month+ backlog.
Delayed orders are just part of life in the era of BHO, Dianne Feinstein, and Piers Morgan. Get used it. There will be continuing shortages, delays, and deep back-orders. I expect this situation to continue for at least a year. It will take that long for the manufacturers and importers to catch up. BTW, America’s gun hating television talking heads all deserve awards for boosting gun, ammunition, and magazine sales to all-time highs. Because of those oh-so-vocal gun grabbers there will be an extra two million AR-15s produced in the U.S. this year, and untold millions of full capacity magazines made or imported. That just warms my heart.
To their credit, The Mako Group did not raise their prices after the Sandy Hook massacre. They could have easily cashed in on the crisis and doubled their prices, but they left them right at $18.70 each. That tells me a lot of about the company’s management. Bottom line: The E-Lander magazines are worth the long wait. – J.W.R.