If you’ve ever shot a .22LR pistol like a Ruger Mark IV or a Browning Buck Mark, you probably noticed how easy it is to load the magazines. Like a lot of semi-auto .22s these magazines have a tab on the side that allows you to pull follower down as you load. That makes it a snap to fully load the magazine.
Maybe you’ve wondered why magazines for some of your favorite guns that are chambered in larger calibers don’t have the same kind of handy follower tab. Well now a couple of them do.
A company called PulTac is making magazines for .45 ACP 1911 pistols that are designed to go easy on your thumbs and let you reload your magazines quickly for more time shooting without the use of a loader. They feature a built-in, removable tab or lever that slides into a slot on the follower and lets you quickly top off your magazine and get back to shooting.
The nylon base of each PulTac magazine houses the red lever when it’s not in use.
When your magazine is empty, simply pop it out of the base and insert it into the slot in the follower.
The lever lets you use one hand to lower the follower while easily dropping in fresh rounds.
Here’s PulTac’s video demo:
PulTac describes their stainless steel magazines as engineered for practice and range use.
And you can see why.
The PulTac base extends almost an inch below a 1911’s grip. Maybe you’d be OK carrying a pistol away from the range with a magazine extension that long, but most people won’t be.
I’ve shot the PulTac mag repeatedly in both commander and full-size 1911s and it’s been perfectly reliable. Reloads are easy and fast. And when you drop a PulTac magazine to reload another, the follower lever usually stays put. Usually. I’ve seen it pop out of the base when hitting the ground sometimes, but its bright red color makes it easy to locate. And you can buy replacement levers for $2.99 if you lose all of yours.
Is making magazine reloads easier really that important? That’s up to you. If you have a long range session planned and want to take it easy on your thumbs, PulTac mags would come in handy. Especially if you don’t own or want to use something like an UpLULA magazine loader.
Similarly, if you have reduced or impaired hand strength and struggle when loading magazines, the ProTac follower lever is a big plus and makes getting those last couple of rounds in much easier.
The ProTac .45 caliber 1911 magazines have an MSRP of $35.95. That’s not inexpensive, but it’s right in the ballpark with good Chip McCormick or Wilson Combat magazines.
PulTac also has a 17-round magazine for GLOCK 17/19/26 pistols in the works which they say will be available soon.
Nice idea. Kinda pricey but maybe someplace like Brownells or Midway could do deals on six packs.
My UpLula works with every center fire pistol magazine I’ve tried it with, for about the same price. I don’t see including the tool in the baseplate (where it apparently falls out easily) as much of an advantage.
Maybe this should be under the “Solutions in Search of a Problem: …” topic instead.
Boomers are getting too arthritic to load their magazines?
Just get a maglula like a normal person.
I’ve never had a problem loading 1911 .45acp magazines anyways.
The fat boy .45acp is plenty easy on the thumbs as is.
High cap 9mm ? – sure My FNX 9 or Steyr M9 magazines are near impossible to get to full capacity without a mag loader; especially when brand new, and the feed lips then tear the hell out of your thumbs. Maybe I just have small thumbs.
You have got to be kidding me. The easiest mag to load is a 1911 mag.
AR might be even easier
Jerms, you’re probably right, but it’s a weak system, as opposed to a strong one, so you can’t really draw a parallel.
Witness marks with a Grove cut in the side of the mag? Why the witness marks. ,. ,I don’t know about all that, but I was out and about today and it’s just really refreshing to see all the people packing gunms, almost like America was meant to be. Whether we have to use them( hope not) or not, it’s just a joy to me to see people armed.
I didn’t know 1911 magazines are hard to reload.
Did they really have to make the tab red when it is on the bottom of the magazine? Black would have been a better choice to blend in instead of stick out.
I see a red tab and I want to paint it black
Number one with a bullet, I’m a power pack.
If you can’t load a 1911 mag, why are you shooting a 1911?
Solution without a need.
33 round Glock mags might benefit from this. 7 round 45 mags not so much
GS650G, I spent a day on the range with a Glock 18 once. 33 rd mags. Don’t recall them being difficult to load.
Solution in search of a problem. I’ve never had problems loading 1911 magazines.
I find .22 magazines More annoying to load. You pull down on that tab too much and you tear up your thumb.I made my own Cover so to speak to make it easy run my fingers by cutting the corner off the hard plastic tray you find in a box of ammo. And the best part was it was technically free.
Could use one for the CZ-2075 RAMI I have, those mags can be a bitch to load, even when using tricks like ‘palm-slapping’ the mags to settle the ammo while loading it…
have you hammer and stickle? put bullet in, pound down. Knee yet your gunm has mag feed lips, not like good Tokarev mags. iZ bad for you
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