An older gentleman I shoot with recently bought a shield. He also owns a glock 17. He suffers from arthritis in his hands, especially the joints of both thumbs.

He can't load either of the shield mags within 3 of their capacity. Same with the glock.

Can anyone say which mag loader would be easiest for him? He has a pretty firm handshake and doesn't have pain while shooting. It's the downward pressure on his thumb that cause pain in the joints.

We're considering the maglulu, Caldwell or the ETS cam mag loader.

Thanks for any help.

My wife has a couple of those, seem to work quite well!

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14 S&W Revs none with locks!

Caldwell Mag Charger would be the other alternative perhaps?
Karl

I love my Maglula uplula use it all the time .

Yep i too love my Uplula mag loader (universal model); works great for my Shield and my full size MP. Seems its design couldnwork well for those who can grip but maybe not use finger or thumb pressure.

Maglula Uplula I have the same problem with my thumbs...

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NRA Benefactor

Another vote for the Maglula UpLULA Universal Pistol Magazine Loader. I have several and love them. Please let the forum know what you decide and how it works.

I'm all in with Maglula.

I don't know how many Maglula loaders that i have sold for them over the years, but it is a bunch! Every time that i am on the range someone asks about it when I am using it.

I am still surprised by how many folks don't know about them!

Very highly recommended!!

Uplula for sure. I have the same problem and couldn't live without my Uplula.

+one for the uplula. They are sooooo easy!

Yep, RA here too and Maglula makes it bearable.

I have moderate arthritis in my right (dominant) hand, and only very light arthritis in my left hand. I use my good left hand to grip, squeeze and depress the Uplula, and my right hand to insert the cartridges. It is easy, painless, and fast. My Uplula is perfect for loading all seven of my semi-autos, which consist of a .357 SIG, a .380, two 9mms, a .40, and two .45s. I highly recommend it.

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What, me worry?

I like and use the Uplula, but as described with the strong grip but hinky joints in the fingers I'd lean toward the Caldwell. One hand operates the grip handle and the other puts in the cartridges.

The Uplula to me requires more work of having to squeeze, push down the loader and hold it upright, while feeding with the other hand.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

I vote uplula, and I too have arthritis in my hands.

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Fight socialism. Never stop.

A girlfriend works very well. Of course if they become your wife, loading rate/reliability goes down quite a bit.
Truth be told, neither is cheaper than an UpLula though.
I'm pretty well set with zero girlfriends, one wife, and three UpLulas. It's about all I can afford.

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Dave

Another vote for uplula.

I have one for my ar mags and one for pistols, best money spent.

Well I think you can see a trend. Another vote for the uplula.

Thanks for all the replies.

This is the one concern I have:

It looks to me like you have to have something solid to set the mag on while using the Uplulu. At the place we shoot, there is no table; it's an outdoor plinking range and your gear is on the ground. The Caldwell loader looks like you can operate it by pulling the lever and feeding rounds. I'm thinking because of this it might be a better fit.

Any thoughts on that?

Thanks again for the help.

Arthritic and use uplula.

At 68, with severely sore thumb joints, I will NEVER be without the Uplula.
No table needed, just set it on your knee. I've got several pistols( Shields included) that I'd never shoot if I didn't have the Uplula.

Skip

Given the geography you describe, the Caldwell is absolutely the better choice. You can work it while walking around (if that's what you really want to do) because all of the forces are within your hand. The "handle" of the loader sits in your palm, and your fingers squeeze the operating lever against it. This pushes a round up against the magazine and any ammo already loaded, and once the round is above the magazine lips it is pushed fully into the mag. (The mag sits upside down in the tool, so the directions are opposite of how most mag loaders work.) Release the lever and you can put the next round in the window in the side of the tool, and squeeze again.

You do need to lock the magazine into the loader by tightening a large knob, and you have to loosen it to take the mag out after it's loaded. That normally takes some thumb strength, so keep that aspect in mind in deciding what to get.

Be aware that there is an enormous amount of leverage available in the Caldwell loader. It is possible to force an extra round into some magazines if you're not paying attention, and removing that extra round can be difficult. (Don't ask me how I know this . . . .)

i have the uplula...makes loading very easy!!!

Jeez yepman, you walked yourself right into that one

I bought a table just to CLEAN guns much less shootem in the dirt...

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Mainstays...d=actual_color

MagLula....only way to go. Mamma doesnt have any problems with it with her arthritis.

This is the best one hands down!! Buy one!!

Maglula UpLULA Pistol Mag Loader Unloader Polymer Dark - MPN: UP60DG

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NRA Certified Pistol Inst.

The only drawback to the Uplula is the color, the black disappears in my range bag. There are now other colors.
Geoff
Who notes the small one I bought my wife was in pink.

Sometimes at a match there is no table to load magazines, I find that I can use the Uplula horizontally, pushing against my belly and dropping the rounds into the opening. (just another option)

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Minimize the variables

Same for my wife it makes it easy to see in her range bag. Her range bag is a moving version of Fibber McGee's closet!

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14 S&W Revs none with locks!

Uplula works. Mine was stolen. I like this one even better....and cheaper. 3d printing is THE hot deal!!
Smith & Wesson M&P Shield 9mm Magazine Loader by Hilljak, Red Hot | eBay
[IMG][/IMG]

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CERAKOTE Svcs.
Class 01 FFL

4 Shield mags in 45 seconds...life is good

I can relate to your friend. Rheumatoid arthritis has played havoc with my hands. Still have a firm grip and can shoot without pain, but loading mags without my uplula would make shooting my M&Ps not worth the pain of pushing rounds down a magazine with just my thumbs. Uplula gets a recommendation from me every time the topic comes up.

The act of squeezing, then holding it down on a surface, and not a slick surface or it will be easy for the bottom to slip, so you have to hold it captive, too.

I like the Uplula just fine, but the Caldwell is an alternative depending on your hands 'disability'.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

you're obviously not a young whipper snapper. hadn't thought of Fibber McGee in ages.

Why did the bloke in the vid put the first round in by hand and then use the loader?
Geoff
Who hasn't needed to do that on his magazines.

Put the first round in by hand because if the magazine has a plastic follower in some cases the loader could damage the follower...
I know that is true as it happened to several of my HK magazine followers...

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NRA Benefactor

1 word
UpLuLa.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yeppers. (Im that bloke btw )

Tha MagLula UpLula has a metal "tongue" that does all the work pressing down on the rounds etc and it is extremely stiff.. If your careful you would be ok but if you got in a hurry and made a mistake it might go bad. Not worth the risk to me. YMMV

I have arthritis in my hands and carpal tunnel syndrome from 30 years of pounding on computer keyboards. The Uplula is a God send for loading magazines. I have both the full size for the SD9 and LC9 mags and the small size for the .22 mags. Also take a look at the HKS mag loader. Use that for my Browning HP megs with the metal floor plates.

I bought a genuine Up-Lula off of ebay for $19 and change. I bought for those 500 round training days. Thumbs start to lock up around 400 rounds.

I recently acquired a gently used Glock Model 19 Gen 2, my black Uplula hangs slightly when removed from a filled magazine. I have a pair of Glock magazine loaders on order, for completeness sake of course. I also just received a mustard color Uplula to make it easier to find in the range bag. I haven't tested it on the Glock magazines, yet.
Geoff
Who has on advice above adopted the insert one, then Uplula the rest procedure, thank you Dad Roman.

Add my vote to the Uplula camp. I have both arthritis and carpal tunnel and the Uplula's been a real blessing. Also suggest getting the spacer/guide for single stack mags that snaps into the bottom for the Shield to keep the mag in position.

The Caldwell works very slick and fast. It would have replaced my Uplulas if I was not concerned about setback when the Caldwell presses on the nose of a bullet to push it back into the magazine.

Doesn't the Maglula (and others of its type) require pusing the new round all the way into the magazine after you get it started under the lips?

The UpLula, which works on staggered rifle magazines, allows the fresh round to "fall" all the way into the mag by pushing the top/offset round down far enough to let the fresh round move freely all the way. But the Maglula only pushes the top round down far enough to get the fresh round under the lips - then you have to get the "pusher" pin out of the way and seat the fresh round fully.

So don't you end up pushing on the bullet with any of the pistol mag loaders?

The UpLULA (at least the 9mm to .45ACP version) pushes the follower or previous round down far enough that the round being loaded "drops" into place without applying pressure to the round.

You're right. I had forgotten how they work - my shoulder won't tolerate the pressing-down effort these loaders require, so I quit using 'em years ago. Went to HKS (thumb operated loaders) for most of my mags, but tried the Caldwell when I got the Shield 9 and have stuck with it since I started using it.

I'm glad my Beretta PX4 came with a mag loader. I just looked up what that maglula was and it pretty much looks like my loader. Except mine is really only for 9mm I guess, but it works on other models and makes too.

Then one that came with my gun is just a piece of molded plastic. Surely it's inexpensive to source, so I don't know why all companies don't include one with their autos. I guess just another reason to like Beretta.

Even with the UpLULA my hands start to hurt but I've had arthritis problems from a young age but my loaders work great.

Son and 3 grandsons. Problem solved. LOL

Uplula is the way to go. Just remember to load the first round by hand. It is what they recommend.

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Mike
S&WCA #3065