Glock handguns are quite possibly the most popular brand in the United States. Maybe around the world, too. And with that many handguns in circulation, there’s an obviously insatiable demand for spare magazines and replacement parts. Naturally, Glock offers an abundance of spare mags for sale in various sizes, but now there’s another option that’s only half the price. The question, though, is are you actually getting a working magazine, or just a pile of crap? . . .
PW Arms, a Korean manufacturer, makes replacement magazines for a number of firearms. I had previously purchased and used their 30 round magazines for the M1 carbine and never had a single problem, so I figured I’d give these magazines a spin, too.
Being a cheap bastard, I’m always looking for ways to cut costs. Sometimes you find a real bargain, but other times you find something that makes you curse the world and everyone in it. Unfortunately, these things fall in the latter category.
The first impressions were promising. The thing looked just like the genuine article, down to the font of the markings on the back of the magazine. In fact, side-by-side with a real Glock magazine, I couldn’t tell the two apart, except for the fact that the real mag was stamped with the GLOCK logo every three inches. The only difference I could feel right away was that the follower felt a little flimsy, but I thought nothing of it and proceeded to try and load the magazine.
It was at this point that I realized the error of my ways.
A standard Glock mag will easily let me load it to full capacity, not complaining one bit as the follower smoothly makes its way down the metal innards of the body. This magazine, on the other hand, complained vehemently as each new round was inserted and failed to budge after the fifth one. Yes, despite this being listed as a 17 round magazine I could only load five rounds. After that, the follower refused to budge any further.
Trust me, the failure to load wasn’t due to an inadequate application of force. I tried everything from using the Glock magazine loading assistant thingy to force the rounds down the mag’s throat to bashing at it with a punch. All to no avail. The only thing I accomplished was turning my hands into a rough and bloody mess.
And that’s when I noticed the…issues.
Quality apparently isn’t very high on the list of PW’s priorities. I could show you any number of areas on the magazine that highlight that, but this one probably does it best: on a true Glock magazine, the edges of the are relatively crisp. There’s no excess material to get in the way. PW Arms, on the other hand, seems to take a laissez-faire approach to excess material. In order to get more than one round in the magazine, I actually had to whip out my Benchmade and slice off a little sliver of plastic that was getting in the way on the feed lips.
Sometimes you can get away with buying cheap, off-label stuff. In this case, you’ll wind up throwing it out and buying a real Glock magazine anyway about five minutes after you open the packaging.
This thing DOES NOT work. Not even a little.
Specifications: PW Arms (Korean) Glock Magazine
MSRP: $11.79
Ratings (out of five)
Overall Rating
That’s right, zero stars. Save your money and run the other way.