Mag Pump 9mm Magazine Loader, by Pat Cascio

Tired of loading magazines by hand? Today, we’re checking out the Mag Pump 9mm magazine loader.

I’m Getting On In Years

I sincerely hate admitting that I’m getting on in years, but I am. We all knew we’d grow old, but we didn’t know how fast it would happen. And, what comes with growing older is we tend to grow weaker in many respects. Body parts don’t work like they used to. I suffer from severe osteo-arthritis in my hands, especially my right hand, which is my shooting hand, and my trigger finger. Osteo-arthritis is caused by wear and tear, for the most part. I had to have my right hip replaced a little over a year ago because of this and a small birth defect on the head of the femur bone that accelerated the wear and tear. It has literally taken a full year to recover from the hip replacement.

I used to get a jump start on my articles, always starting them very early in the mornings, so I could clear the way to have the rest of the day to myself or for testing other products. These days, my hands don’t “wake-up” until about 10:00am. The ol’ fingers and hands just don’t work like they used to. So, I don’t do any articles until after 10:00am, most days.

Real Chore Loading Magazines

When it comes to loading magazines, especially double-stack 9mm mags that hold a lot of rounds, my fingers and thumbs just don’t work as well as they used to. It is a chore to load some mags. On the top of my list is the Glock 33-rd 9mm magazine, followed by some of the other mags that hold 17-20 rounds. It’s a real chore getting those last few rounds stuffed into those mags. Add in a couple hours of shooting, over a couple of days, my fingers and thumbs take a beating. It’s always nice when I have some volunteer shooters on-hand who are more than happy to load mags in exchange for shooting some new gun models with free ammo.

Many “As Seen On TV” Products Cheaply Made

I’m sure most of us have seen those “As Seen On TV” products for sale in our local big box stores. I’m sad to say that many, not all, of those products are cheaply made or simply don’t live up to the TV hype we’ve seen. Recently, I bought one of those “never needs sharpening” kitchen knives for the wife. Well, truth be told, it didn’t come close to being sharp out of the package. Oh, it cuts “okay” at best, but it will need sharpening over time. No surprise there. It is the same with many firearm products. You see them hyped at the SHOT Show or the NRA Show, or you get your e-mail swamped with e-advertisements hyping this product or that one. I’m slow to jump on some of these products, because I honestly don’t have the time, patience, or money to waste on something that may or may not work as advertised.

PR Friend Alerted Me to New Product on Market

Long time PR guy and friend, Jonathan Harling, alerted me to a new product on the market several months back, and asked if I wanted to test it for our readers. “Sure,” I said. Well, for whatever reason, this product took forever to arrive. It was literally several months after I was contacted. The company said they were sending it for testing, several times, but for whatever reasons, it just took a long, long time to arrive in my hands. Harling stayed after the company. After all, he was representing them in his role as a PR guy.

Mag Pump Magazine Loader Made of Polymer

The Mag Pump magazine loader was a bit of a disappointment, when I first opened the box. It is made out of polymer– you know that dreaded stuff– “plastic” that so many handguns are made out of. It’s that stuff that the “experts” said would never stand up to a lot of shooting. Well, those experts were wrong, and so was I.

Pleasantly Surprised, Mag Pump Very Well Made

I was more than pleasantly surprised as to how very well made the Mag Pump 9mm loader was constructed. And, right on the outside of the box, it says, “No questions asked, Lifetime Transferable Warranty”. What? Wait! Huh? Did I read that right? A no-questions-asked warrant that you could transfer to someone else? Man, this company has a lot of faith in their products! That’s all I can say.

Putting It Together Was Easy

When I opened the box the Mag Pump came in, I thought, “Oh great. It’s something I have to put together and looks complicated.” Well, it wasn’t, not in the least. After a quick read through the instructions and inside of a minute, I had the two main pieces assembled and a magazine adapter in the machine ready to go. No, that can’t be right. It can’t be put together so easy. I remember too many Christmases assembling toys for my girls, and it took hours and hours to get that stuff put together. And those saying “with no tools” always meant you needed tools, a whole tool box full. Not so with the Mag Pump. The two pieces went right together, and the only other parts included are six magazine adapters, which hold the most popular handgun magazines. They include one for the Glock double stack 9mm mags, Ruger, CZ, Springfield Armory, Sig Sauer and S&W – once again, these are for loading double stack mags.

Sig Sauer and CZ Mag Adapters

The Sig Sauer mag adapter loads the newer polymer handgun mags, while the CZ mag adapter will load the more traditional Sig mags, like the P226, P228, P229, et cetera. These magazine adapters slide right into the front part of the Mag Pump, and they lock tightly in place. To remove them, you simply pull them out until they stop, and then squeeze the two sides together. It takes about two seconds, and is easy!

Pre-Drilled Holes to Mount

Okay, so the Mag Pump is easy to assemble and comes with a lifetime transferable warranty. What else does it have to offer? Well, the base has pre-drilled holes, so you can mount it on a work bench or a piece of plywood, which is what I intend to do, so I can take it to the range to load mags. However, you do not have to mount it. You can use it on the tailgate of your pick-up or even resting on your thigh.

Does the Mag Pump Work?

So, does the Mag Pump actually work? Yes!!!

My wife wanted to test her brand-new Ruger PC9, 9mm carbine. Needless to say, she wanted to use 33-rd Glock mags in it. Did I mention those things are difficult to load? Yeah, I thought so. With the magazine locked in place, I dumped a 50-rd box of 9mm FMJ 115-gr ammo from Black Hills Ammunition www.black-hills.com into the hopper of the Mag Pump and primed it. It took a second to do all that. I then started to operate the pump handle, very similar to the way a pump handle operates on an old fashioned hand water pump, up and down. The last quarter inch (downward pressure) is the most critical part of the operation. It pushes the round towards the rear of the magazine, locking it in place. In less than half a minute, I had loaded 33-rds into the Glock magazine.

I’m still puzzled as to how the Mag Pump orients the ammo once it starts going through the machine so the rounds are loaded into the magazine in the right direction. I watched a video on the Mag Pump website that showed the operation on a clear Mag Pump, but I still didn’t quite understand how it works. However, work it does. Just use the correct magazine adapter, lock the magazine in place, dump the ammo into the hopper that holds 50ds, and start pumping. It is just “that” simple. I had zero problems loading the Glock 33-rd magazines.

Mag Loader Tried on Different Types of Ammo

We tried it on various ammo. My wife had several boxes of Blazer 9mm Aluminum-cased ammo, and she wanted to try the Mag Loader out. She can never fully load any double stack magazines, ever. She had several hang-ups with some of the aluminum-cased ammo, and I believe it is the ammo itself, because the cases are lighter in weight. When given some of the Black Hills Ammo brass-cased fodder, there were zero problems. The Mag Pump website says the Mag Pump works best with FMJ ammo. Well, I tried several different types of JHP ammo from Black Hills, and there were no problems at all.

Excited the Mag Pump Worked As Advertised

I was more than a little pleased. No, I take that back. I was excited that the Mag Pump worked as advertised. It lives up to the hype. I previously tested one that was on loan to me for an article I did on the CMMG BANSHEE 9mm AR pistol, but I didn’t give it a real test. This time around I did, and I’m thrilled to recommend this magazine loader. Be sure to check out their website. They have mag loaders for other types of firearms and calibers. Full retail on the Mag Pump is $149.99. If you do a lot of shooting, like champion shooter Doug Koenig does, then you simply have to get one of these loaders. The first time you use it, you’ll wonder, like I did, how did I get along without?

The nice folks at www.ustacticalsupply.com in Albany, OR sell the complete line of Mag Pump loaders. If you are in the area, stop in and check one out. Otherwise, you can order from the Map Pump company or any number of sporting good retailers.