All posts in Glock

Glock Factory Mags vs Magpul Glock PMAGs?

We recently started stocking some of the Magpul Glock PMAGS and are getting feedback from our customers.   I’m not sure if Glock is happy that Magpul is making mags for them because it looks like they are a winner with our customers.  I’m not an expert on the topic but we’ve seen several changes to PMAGS, AR15, AK, and Glock PMAGS and there have been some issues.  We are now up to 5 Generations of Glock handguns and there ALWAYS going to be variables.   Production variations in magwells, magazines, springs, ect have lead to issues in every firearm manufacturer.

There is a natural trend in our industry away from steel to polymer.   It’s all a technological and it’s the future, how many firearms are still sold with wood stocks? The savings of almost $10 or more per magazine is a big selling point and something I wish we would see with Sig Sauer.   Sig Mags tend to be in and around $40 per mag while Glock Factory Magazines are usually in and around $30 a mag.   The Glock PMAGS are about $15 a mag and from what we are seeing, they are getting good reviews from customers.   It’s always good to test magazines and ammunition out in your firearm before you rely on them but there are always variables and sometimes a need for a trip to a gunsmith.

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Vicker’s Tactical Glock Magazine base plates

Tango Down Vicker's Tactical Glock Magazine base platesOne thing I learned shooting IDPA was that there are lots of things you can do to your firearm or with your gear, or even your training that can give you a split second improvement to your proficiency.  In competition shooting, those half seconds add up and can mean winning or losing.  In self defense, it means living or dying.   We don’t need to make CCW guns into competition guns because from what I heard, that is something that can be used against you in court, but having a holster you can get your gun out of quickly and magazine pouches that  you can quickly access for reloading is important.   There are a lot of magazine base plates for 1911s from Wilson Combat that will great for competition because it will help you speed up magazine changes but can also cause snagging or hangups of clothing if you are using them for CCW.  There are options that not flush fitting but still give you a bit of a bite so it’s all a balancing act, but if you are using a Glock the Vicker’s Tactical Glock Magazine base plates are probable something you might want to upgrade to for less than $20 that are not too drastic.

One rule of thumb for magazines is that they should drop freely, but depending on the situation you are in, sometimes you can rip them out fast than gravity lets them fall out.  Tango Down Vicker’s Tactical Glock Magazine base plates come in several colors, Blue, Orange, Flat Dark Earth, Black and Tan, we also have them available for not just Glock Firearms, but Smith & Wesson M&P and Springfield XD.  You won’t need any major tools to be able to change the floor plates but if you are a Glock owner, having the Glock tool might make it easier to replace the Glock floor plates.   We also recently added the Glock 43 Tango Down

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Aftermarket magazines for Glocks, Should you deviate from Glock Factory Magazines?

Glock Factory MagazinesFor those of us that are old enough to remember the AWB and how expensive magazines for Glock were, we can appreciate the fact that trying to improve some aftermarket magazine to work in a CCW gun is long over as long as we have a Congress held by Republicans.  Glock magazines were going for close to $100 a mag if you wanted a Glock 17 or a Glock 19 mag.   I remember strolling the gun shows looking for used magazines for a Beretta 92FS and it was one of the few firearms where you could easily find used but in good condition mags.  Many 45acp guns became more popular because it was pretty rare to have a firearm that was chambered in 45acp that held more than 10rds.  I put myself in that same mentality and ended up getting a 1911 for just  that reason.

Many people seem to go overboard with the capacity issue and think they need higher capacity, but often high capacity means less reliability.  The majority of the people that order high capacity magazines need to replace the aftermarket magazine springs and followers to get what they want out of them.  In My opinion 15rds is pretty high for CCW and needing more than that in the gun means discomfort and weight.   Just carry a spare Glock Factory Magazine or leave it in your car as a place to retreat to if you are that concerned.  If you look at the statistics on self defense shootings, it’s rare that it’s more than single digits so why by the cheaper mags.  Rotate your magazines and use the aftermarket stuff as range mags and you’re fine.

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Do your gun magazines work in your firearms?

Gun MagazinesThere are plenty of people out there that stock piled various firearm magazines in the last 2 years, especially after the Connecticut shooting when everyone thought that President Obama would have the Political climate to ban the AR15.  I won’t ask all of you reading this, to raise your hands if you actually thought that would happen. I found it embarrassing to watch people panic.  I had a friend who recently picked up his first AR15 a Colt 6920 and got a pretty good deal but it looked like it was sitting around for awhile from a Y2K panic buy, apparently the seller had large quantities of magazines for sale and he asked if  it was a good deal.

I told him to buy whatever he wanted but if he was buying large quantities of them he better test them out before he thinks they are all going to work in his AR.   Gun magazines are like wine, they need to be store properly, and all are made on different dates.  There is truth to the fact that a Magpul Pmag will not be durable 30yrs from now just based on it’s material break down, and metal magazines won’t if stored properly, but how bad is your outlook on life if you have to worry about that?  If you got a good buy on bulk magazines take atleast a half dozen of them and test them on the range and make sure they drop free, rotate the magazines when you use them, and when they need to be tossed out, open up the packaged ones and test them out again.  Don’t expect the brand spankin newly wrapped magazines to work, I’ve one too many times seen people have issues with magazine dropp

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Magazines should drop free

Glock magazinesWe all start out at some point with our firearm training or learning experiences.   I started out at 10yrs of age with handguns and 22lr rifles and it was basically all a Father/Son environment where kids shot next to their parents and learned the basics.    You learn the basics at a 100yd range with a 22LR and the differences between bullet weights and velocity can mean several inches in bullet drop.   Iron sights are always the best starting point and optics should come later.   When you move away from bolt action rifles, things can become more complicated and reliability of firearms can dramatically diminish with second rate magazines.  I’ve had bad experience and witness tons of malfunctions with semi-auto 22LR rifles but there are things you can do to improve reliability.

Back in the 1990’s after the AWB there were a ton of people buying aftermarket magazines and some firearms just didn’t handle them very well.   Many Factory Glock Magazines where going for close to $100 and aftermarket mags could be had for under $30 but they didn’t drop free or sometimes just didn’t run right.   There are several manufacturers that make magazines for several different companies but just stamp different brand names on them.   Magazines like Mec-Gar and Promag do have magazines for Walthers and Browning that work well but I often tell people that if the magazine doesn’t drop free you are going to have problems with it and might want to stick with Factory magazines.   There are replacement parts you can buy like followers, Wolff gun springs and base plates that can fix things but there’s an awful lot of testing I would do before I used them as self defense mags.

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What’s up with Glock magazines?

Glock Factory magazinesWe just  noticed that some of our distributors have closeouts on many of the Glock Factory magazines which tells us something else is coming about.   We’ve had lots of people complain about the various Generations of Glock pistols being finicky with various gun holsters because there are slight differences with them but enough to cause holsters to not work, whether you have a Glock 19 or Glock 17.  There have been issues with some of the Fobus holsters and the Fobus E2 holsters are really the thing you need to get because there is some flexibility with their tension which accommodates different trigger guards.

Nobody buys after market magazines for Glocks unless you are using some funky watermelon killing 50rd magazine.   Reliability is going to be an issue unless you are using Glock Factory magazines and that’s really what we recommend.   Many guns are becoming more versatile with the back straps and with ambidextrous designs which makes outfitting a department that much easier.  If only someone would make an ambidextrous holster for Duty guns.  Glock really is king of the hill for Law Enforcement and I don’t see that going away anytime soon.  The Glock 21 seems to be really getting traction here in Pennsylvania among the Upper Darby Police Department and the Pennsylvania State Police.

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Tactical gear for yourself or send your spouse for a gift certicate

Philadelphia Police SuppliesIn this industry, it is so technical that it’s very rare for someone  in the Law Enforcement community to send someone in to shop for them.  We get a lot of last minute buyers when someone finds out they got moved to a SWAT Team or recently got hired to be a  Police officer in the Delaware County, Chester County or Philadelphia Police Department.  Usually customers come in in waves, after Graduations at the Philadelphia Police Academy or the Delaware County Police Academy.   Recently we started getting customers from the Montgomery County Police Academy Training Center.   Each week we’ve been setting up 1 or 2 Police Departments for their Clothing Allowances and logistically speaking, the customers are glad we are here in Delaware County so they can walk in and walk out.  Shopping for tactical pants, shirts and body armor is something that people want to do in-store and not online.

Our 1500 sq ft Broomall, Police Depot and tactical store is in the heart of Delaware County in the Broomall Industrial Park.   We are a stocking dealer for many in the region and we are a good source for Philadelphia Police Supplies from tactical boots from the Original Swat Footwear company, Tru-Spec, 5.11 tactical, ATS Tactical,  Streamlight Flashlights like the Stinger and Strion, which are rechargeable flashlights that the vast majority of Upper Darby, Marple Township and even the State Police are using.  We stock many of the handcuff and Safariland products that new Police Officers will need for their duty gear.  CR123 batters are something we need to keep in store at all times because most local places that sell them are 50% more than what we charge.

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Glock magazine availability, what is going on?

glock magazinesWe’ve been trying to find out what all of the issues are with the availability of Glock Magazines.  We still find several local police departments are having issues getting ammunition and gun parts because so much of it has still been dried up.   Whav a few of the 45 GAP magazines in stock but frankly, that’s just because hardly anyone uses the Glock 38 and it’s really the 9mm and 40 cal and 45acp  that everyone uses.   Glocks are still the most popular gun for Police in our County although the Sig 229 has a strong presence.  The Glock 21 45acp magazines are probable the most sought after gun magazine in our area and I have yet to see a single magazine available through any of our distributors.    I find the Glock 21 to be too heavy of a gun let alone putting a light on it and having a giant bulky gun holster.   Many of the Upper Darby Police Officers in our county are putting lights on their guns but that is for duty, not for CCW.

I find the Glock 30 to be a good in between size gun but the Glock 36  seems to not be very well balanced.   If I knew I could get a hold of Glock magazines for a good price without all of the price gouging that went on after the Sandy Hook incident.   Now that this Country is being awakened to the fact there are serious social issues going on and people are joining the NRA or getting firearms for the first time but paying attention to the availability of parts is something you will want to think about.  Several People I know have found out the hard way when an extractor or firing pin failed on them and they couldn’t even acquire them for months.

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Glocks a Generation still going strong

Glock magazinesThere were some credible issues with the Glock Gen 4’s but it seems that the spring issues are over and people have for the most part accepted them.   We deal with various technical products that you gotta be 100% sure you know what you have and the  production and modifications before you buy a holster.  We see that most gun makers are putting out handguns with rails, and if you don’t pay attention to your holster selections you’re going to have returns, exchanges, or possible accidents if you are too lazy to do the research.  Safariland has a very good holster fit guide that walks you through the steps of chosing  your sidearm, we walk our customers through that to find out what the availability is for such an item like a Glock 21 or a Glock 38.    Glock conversion kits are the most wanted Glock item right now more so than just the pistol magazines.

I personally have only been a “Glock guy” until recently but I completely understand why so many Police Departments want them.   Once you deviate away from 9mm, 40 S&W and 45acp, you might find it difficult to find Glock magazines when  you need them because there is still somewhat of a shortage on getting them.   Next are the TLR-1 Flashlights that so many people are getting trained to use on which is something you really do need to train for.  Flashlights are an asset and a liability.   The Glock 21 is probable the most popular gun in  our area right now but we are still having issues acquiring gun magazines.  Glock magazines for sale are mostly the 9mm ones at the moment.  Keep an eye on our website for inventory availability.

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Availability of Glock Factory magazines

glock factory magazinesOne of the things that I find shocking about this recent surge on firearms and accessories is the number of complaints about knock off products.  There are fake Trijicon optics out there that look like ACOGS but they aren’t and there are also Eotech imitators.   We get a lot of phone calls from customers that are asking us all the time if the Glock firearm magazines we sell are “Factory” magazines.   We are old enough to remember the 1994 assault weapons ban and the flood of after market magazines, but in this day and age, I don’t know why anyone would not stick with factory magazines for their Glocks.   Right now there is still a very big shortage on Glock magazines and we have yet to see very many of them.

At the moment the Glock 26 and Glock 27 magazines are readily available but there are still alot of backorders that need to be filled for other Glocks.   The Glock Factory Magazines for sale are the real thing and we do have an email me when “back-in-stock” option on our website that will notify you when they come in.   We have many local Police Departments that are looking for magazines for their Glock 21 and Glock 30 guns and if it’s been affecting them then  things really are tight.   There may be some of the Glock 22 magazine coming in soon so make sure you get on with the program.

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