Mag loader for arthritic hands

[Dad_Roman]

The one I bought my wife was in pink.

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

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYxSjZqi7W0[/ame]

 

[Just another 22 shooter]

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.

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.

 

[rwsmith]

That's part of what I was getting at.....

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.

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'.

 

[oldiegoldie]

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!

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

 

[Skeptic 9c]

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.

 

[Spokes]

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...

 

[Texas40]

1 word
UpLuLa.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Dad_Roman]

Why did the bloke in the vid put the first round in by hand and then use the loader?

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...

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

 

[LDM]

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.

 

[5150ds]

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.

 

[Skeptic 9c]

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.

 

[LDM]

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.

 

[gc70]

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.

 

[wrangler5]

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?

 

[gc70]

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.

 

[wrangler5]

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.

 

[iPac]

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.

 

[ThrowinRocks]

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

 

[Targets Guy]

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