Stumbled upon this universal magazine speed loader online yesterday, bought one today. Man is this thing great. Just giving a heads up for anyone that hasn't heard about it.

Check out the video further down on their site:

http://maglula.tripod.com/uplula.htm

Is speed really necessary when it comes to reloading magazines?
Unless you live in a zombie FPS, where I could see the need...

It's less about speed, more about not being so hard on the fingers I guess.

The only time I find any need for speed is if you are on a range and are trying to fire another pile before the next "cold" time. If you've ever spent any time shooting you will know that half the range time is "cold" while you wait for other people to change targets, etc. So getting as efficient use of "hot" time is important. Having the proper amount of magazines really helps. You would be surprised at how many people only have one or two magazines. Quickly reloading then becomes more of a factor.

And RSCColonel is right about it saving you from getting your thumb sore.

But, I'm not one of the gadget people, I'll pass.

I just don't get it. Why would you have an unloaded magazine?

(For those of you who don't know, the springs in the magazine only weaken with repetitive compression/relaxation. So you really don't lose anything by keeping your mags loaded.)

There seems to be a lot of opinions about storing magazines loaded for long periods of time. I guess a lot of our opinions comes from our experience and who taught/advised us early on. I was told long compression affects the spring. Was also told if you were going to leave loaded for a long time load one less round so it isn't under maximum stress.

Here is the only attempt I saw at trying to verify the issue :

http://mcb-homis.com/magspring/

Seems to indicate that extended storage does affect the spring. To what degree is not addressed.

Here is a counter argument. Talks theory but has no testing in it.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BTT/is_163_27/ai_99130369

Seems that there is a lot of theory and speculation, but short on actual testing (other than that one link). Lots of opinion. So I guess I'll stick with what I was taught and has worked for me. I don't leave magazines loaded for too long. I short it one round if leaving them loaded.

Anybody else have any good info ?

Hehe, when you send about 300 rounds down range, let me know how your thumb holds up. Then again, you guys probably have 30 magazines, all loaded by the fairy magazine loader.

og, no I don't have good info, just what my doofy common sense tells me. Which is it's probably best to let a spring "relax" periodically rather than keep it compressed all the time.

I have a Ruger P89 for my in house gun. I had two 15 round mags for it and I used to just unload one and reload the other, swap them out, whenever I thought about it. Uh, then I lost the other mag. It's around somewhere, but I don't know where. So the one stays loaded, but only with 10 rounds.

I'd like more info on this myself though, it's something I've wondered about.

The magazine I find most painful to load is that for the Ruger MKII. Those .22s are just so small...

I've left USGI M-14 and M-16 mags stored for 3-5 years without any problems. The same is true for my Sig P229 mags.

It would be less fun to throw the loaded magazine downrange.

The Ruger 10/22 magazines are a little difficult as well. Something about those little 22's make them harder.

lol, it's always the last two or three rounds into the mag that cause the most pain!

I have a 40 round mag for my AK and it's just brutal to load. Heavy, heavy spring in there.

Interesting product.

I have a couple 'on the ready' magazines for my .38 that I leave full constantly. Nearly a decade of this I suppose, and if the spring has softened, I sure can't feel it when reloading it!

But it's worth looking into.

My father has a Browning .22 rifle, made in Belgium. I always liked the feed design. It has a big thumbhole in the right side of the stock, you just pull out the loading rod, drop the .22's into the hole. Put the rod back into place, you're ready. Takes ten seconds to load 10 rounds. No fuss, no muss, no bruised fingers.

Accurate little rascal too.

I have seen those, would be nice. My .22 rifle is a lever action breech loader, pretty slow, but works most every time.

I like my 10/22. Got a big freaking scope on it. It's accurate as you can hold it. I also have a 30 round aftermarket mag for it, but it takes a long time to fill and I always drop every other round.