TFBTV: Magpul PMAG17 GL9 Review

    In this episode of TFBTV, James gets his hands on the brand new Magpul Glock magazine and goes over the basics before testing it.  After shooting a case of ammo through it to determine its reliability, James then deals some damage to the GL9, even shooting it (twice!) with 5.56mm to see how tough this plastic magazine really is. How does it stack up?

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    The full English transcript of this video ….

    – Hey guys, James again for TFBTV.

    So, I think Tuesday, this past Tuesday, I get a couple of these GL9s, the new Magpul magazines for the nine millimeter glocks.

    Then I think Wednesday or Thursday, I get an email about a recall.

    Fortunately, I was using mine in a Glock 17, and the recall had to do with the body geometry and the GL9 not being functional in the 19 and the 26.

    So I decided to take a couple of these out and give ’em a test run, see how they performed.

    We shot about a case of ammo through ’em, and we had no failures, so they seemed adequately reliable.

    But, after we did that, you know, spur of the moment, just decided to mess up one of the Glock mags, just to see if it worked.

    Stomped on it, hit it a couple of times with a hatchet, even shot it twice with 5.56, and recorded the result.

    One of the first things you notice whenever you compare the Magpul Glock magazine to the Glock brand Glock magazine, at least when you’re picking ’em up, you notice the Magpul feels to be a little bit lighter.

    I think that’s because the Magpul is an all polymer body, while the Glock is a metal-lined polymer body.

    You also notice from the rear that the Glock’s got a full set of witness holes, whereas the Magpul has a single witness hole on either side to indicate a 17th round.

    Other than that, they’re relatively similar, it looks like Magpul might have thought ahead and put in, these look like A and B magazine release notches, which the Glock doesn’t have.

    But perhaps one of the major differences, to me, is if you guys have ever tried to remove a factory Glock magazine base plate, you know it’s a bit of a pain in the ass, to be perfectly honest.

    Magpul on the other hand, had the bright idea of making this so simple that you can really do it with a ballpoint pen.

    Just put a little pressure on the floor plate button, and then everything slides off and out, and it’s a pretty straightforward process.

    Whereas the Glock magazine, not only do you have to go through that step of applying pressure to a button in the floor plate, but then there are also these little notches that you can see on either side, these little wings that, I think people have taken like butter knives and pried ’em off.

    All things being equal, the Magpul magazine being able to remove that easily is a huge advantage.

    So to test reliability, we took it out and shot about a case through it, and we had no problems, 100 percent reliable.

    So we decided to beat the mag up a little bit.

    I thought it being a polymer body, the magazine could be cracked by stomping it against concrete and it turns out, I was completely wrong.

    We had a camping hatchet with us, and we took a few hacks at it, and then we shot it twice with 5.56.

    So as you can see, after getting shot a couple of times with 5.56, hit a few times with a hatchet, and stomped on, this mags a little bit mangled, but let’s see if it’s, if the GL9 still works.

    It was a little bit difficult to get that last round in the Mag, but let’s see how we can get ’em out.

    (gunshots) Well, there you have it, 17 rounds through it, and perfect function, not so pretty, but working perfectly.

    And in case anybody wanted to see what the Magpul magazine looked like the morning after, you can see it took a shot of 5.56 right around the base plate area.

    Kinda cracked the lip on the base plate, made it hard to get back on, and then took a shot right through the body.

    A few scars from the hatchet, but I was actually surprised at how durable the Magpul magazine ended up being.

    I thought, that it being an all plastic body, I really thought I was gonna be able to stomp it against the concrete and make it shatter, but that didn’t happen, so good for Magpul.

    They’ve got a good product here, and they’ve got a good price on it.

    I think it’s gonna do pretty well.

    Thanks again for watching, don’t forget to subscribe and I’ll see you next time.

    James Reeves

    • Owner, Neutral Ground Gun Co.
    • NRA/Louisiana State Police certified concealed weapons instructor, 2012-present
    Maxim Magazine’s MAXIMum Warrior, 2011
    • TFBTV Executive Producer
    • Champion, Key West Cinco De Mayo Taco Eating Competition
    • Lawyer
    ► Instagram: gunshorts
    ► Twitter: @jjreeves


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