by Pat Cascio, Survival Blog:

Tired of loading magazines by hand? Today, we’re checking out the Mag Pump 9mm magazine loader.

I’m Getting On In Years
I sincerely hate admitting that I’m getting on in years, but I am. We all knew we’d grow old, but we didn’t know how fast it would happen. And, what comes with growing older is we tend to grow weaker in many respects. Body parts don’t work like they used to. I suffer from severe osteo-arthritis in my hands, especially my right hand, which is my shooting hand, and my trigger finger. Osteo-arthritis is caused by wear and tear, for the most part. I had to have my right hip replaced a little over a year ago because of this and a small birth defect on the head of the femur bone that accelerated the wear and tear. It has literally taken a full year to recover from the hip replacement.

I used to get a jump start on my articles, always starting them very early in the mornings, so I could clear the way to have the rest of the day to myself or for testing other products. These days, my hands don’t “wake-up” until about 10:00am. The ol’ fingers and hands just don’t work like they used to. So, I don’t do any articles until after 10:00am, most days.

Real Chore Loading Magazines
When it comes to loading magazines, especially double-stack 9mm mags that hold a lot of rounds, my fingers and thumbs just don’t work as well as they used to. It is a chore to load some mags. On the top of my list is the Glock 33-rd 9mm magazine, followed by some of the other mags that hold 17-20 rounds. It’s a real chore getting those last few rounds stuffed into those mags. Add in a couple hours of shooting, over a couple of days, my fingers and thumbs take a beating. It’s always nice when I have some volunteer shooters on-hand who are more than happy to load mags in exchange for shooting some new gun models with free ammo.

Many “As Seen On TV” Products Cheaply Made
I’m sure most of us have seen those “As Seen On TV” products for sale in our local big box stores. I’m sad to say that many, not all, of those products are cheaply made or simply don’t live up to the TV hype we’ve seen. Recently, I bought one of those “never needs sharpening” kitchen knives for the wife. Well, truth be told, it didn’t come close to being sharp out of the package. Oh, it cuts “okay” at best, but it will need sharpening over time. No surprise there. It is the same with many firearm products. You see them hyped at the SHOT Show or the NRA Show, or you get your e-mail swamped with e-advertisements hyping this product or that one. I’m slow to jump on some of these products, because I honestly don’t have the time, patience, or money to waste on something that may or may not work as advertised.

PR Friend Alerted Me to New Product on Market
Long time PR guy and friend, Jonathan Harling, alerted me to a new product on the market several months back, and asked if I wanted to test it for our readers. “Sure,” I said. Well, for whatever reason, this product took forever to arrive. It was literally several months after I was contacted. The company said they were sending it for testing, several times, but for whatever reasons, it just took a long, long time to arrive in my hands. Harling stayed after the company. After all, he was representing them in his role as a PR guy.

Mag Pump Magazine Loader Made of Polymer
The Mag Pump magazine loader was a bit of a disappointment, when I first opened the box. It is made out of polymer– you know that dreaded stuff– “plastic” that so many handguns are made out of. It’s that stuff that the “experts” said would never stand up to a lot of shooting. Well, those experts were wrong, and so was I.

Pleasantly Surprised, Mag Pump Very Well Made
I was more than pleasantly surprised as to how very well made the Mag Pump 9mm loader was constructed. And, right on the outside of the box, it says, “No questions asked, Lifetime Transferable Warranty”. What? Wait! Huh? Did I read that right? A no-questions-asked warrant that you could transfer to someone else? Man, this company has a lot of faith in their products! That’s all I can say.

Putting It Together Was Easy
When I opened the box the Mag Pump came in, I thought, “Oh great. It’s something I have to put together and looks complicated.” Well, it wasn’t, not in the least. After a quick read through the instructions and inside of a minute, I had the two main pieces assembled and a magazine adapter in the machine ready to go. No, that can’t be right. It can’t be put together so easy. I remember too many Christmases assembling toys for my girls, and it took hours and hours to get that stuff put together. And those saying “with no tools” always meant you needed tools, a whole tool box full. Not so with the Mag Pump. The two pieces went right together, and the only other parts included are six magazine adapters, which hold the most popular handgun magazines. They include one for the Glock double stack 9mm mags, Ruger, CZ, Springfield Armory, Sig Sauer and S&W – once again, these are for loading double stack mags.

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