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Firearms

Extended Magazines and New Earplugs or, How to Accessorize for Range Day

January 17, 2024 by Fred Rowlands Leave a Comment

Never-ending magazines are just a thing from Hollywood but SGM has some extended magazines that allow you to shoot just a little longer whether you need to or not. These magazines are twenty-six-round magazines made for the Glock double stack .45 cal models. Imagine twenty-six .45 caliber bits of love all loaded into your Glock and ready for the zombie apocalypse, would you just look at that!

INITIAL IMPRESSIONS DURING the PREP

Loading these however requires some assistance and in this case, I was more than happy to rely on the Glock magazine helper supplied with my new Glock 41 to load the last five or six bullets.  One of the magazine’s did try to “bite” me while I was loading it, the tips on both magazines that grip the bullet appear to be a bit rough/unfinished.  No blood, no foul but it was something I haven’t encountered in a long time and usually only with very cheap knockoff magazines, not expected in this case though.

I finished loading the magazines with no further issues and loaded them into my bag for the next day’s range trip. https://youtu.be/skw7PBPJRAw

After testing out the Glock 41 and ensuring it functioned properly, I loaded up one of the SGM extended magazines and started throwing lead downrange. The result wasn’t as good as I hoped for and caused me to shut down the test and verify if it was the gun or the magazines due to misfeeds.

THE BAD

After we got all the rounds expended from both magazines, we encountered 6 misfeeds, two in the first magazine and four in the next one. All were simple misfeeds, no stove pipes, and no double feeds. We looked, poked, prodded, and finally saw that the magazines were gripping the ammo very tightly and not allowing ammo to feed properly. Also, we noticed that there is an abnormal amount of wear on the tips of both magazines after only one time being used. Whether the misfeeds are due to the tips being so rough, (as I found when loading the magazines), just to tight on the tolerances, or the magazine being too far up into the shooting well, we aren’t sure but we all agreed, it was the SGM Tactical Extended magazines and not the gun. https://youtu.be/-5Teb5424GY

Abnormal Wear At the Top

Note We compared the abnormal wear on the top of the SGM magazines to the Glock magazines, (both new and previous magazines from my Glock 21) and noticed NONE of the Glock magazines show that kind of wear.

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE IF YOU CAN HEAR IT

In the Box

All that bang requires good hearing protection and that’s where our next accessory enters, the Surefire EP7 Sonic Defenders Ultra protect foam-tipped earplugs, literally quite the earful. The EP7 is designed to protect your hearing without interfering with your ability to hear routine sounds or conversations. They have a foam-tipped stem design, featuring soft memory-foam Comply Canal Tips, which fits most people and provides a Noise Reduction Rating (NRR) of 28 dB so sounds, at safe levels, are allowed to pass through into the ear canal, while potentially harmful noises (above 85 dB) are reduced via a proprietary design that incorporates a special noise-reducing filter.

EP7s include attached filter caps, which can be inserted for additional protection and blocking out lower-level noise, like that heard on a plane, in situations where hearing ambient sounds or conversations isn’t critical. Right/left color-coded Sonic Defenders Ultra are made from a soft but durable, hypoallergenic polymer that provides all-day comfort and an extended product life (up to 6+ months, depending on usage and care). And their low-profile design means they can be worn while wearing a helmet or mask, or while using a phone or headset.

Surefire EP7’s, Carrying Case and Lanyard

I found them to be very comfortable and… THEY WORKED!! I was very pleasantly surprised by the way the extreme sound levels were reduced and how I could still hear people around me, as much as I could while on a very active range, I wore them for over 6 hours but could have worn them more if I needed to. Due to my time in the Military, I have Tinnitus in my right ear that can get very bad when I’m not properly protected but not that day, I was good to go after everything we did. You can see in the video these earplugs are very low profile and stayed in my ear on their own all day. While firing the Radical I didn’t notice any problems or ringing in my ears or when I was standing to the side watching someone else fire it. https://youtu.be/PxTcaPOPWmk

CONCLUSION

The magazines, not so much, they literally they didn’t fit for some reason.
The Surefire EP7 Sonic Defenders, yes good to go!! I’ve already put them in the bag so I have them at Industry Day, (AKA Range Day) at SHOT SHOW 2024!
Thanks,
Garfield out

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About the Author

Fred Rowlands Fred “Garfield” Rowlands is a 21+ year Navy veteran who spent his career in strange and diverse places like Diego Garcia, Wintering Over in Antarctica, the Southern Border, and Burbank CA. Has spent over 30 years working in Military Physical Security, Law Enforcement, and Private Security, and has “more luck than a cat has lives” supposedly. He now resides in NW Florida with his wife and a Great Dane named Layla.

See All Fred Rowlands Articles

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