Once upon a time magwells were only found on 1911’s or other highly tuned competition pistols. Those days are long past and now accessories once thought to only exist on race guns are making their way onto peoples favorite range toy or every day carry weapons. I haven’t been oblivious to the trends of the last few years but I resisted the urge to go out and try new gadgets like weapons lights and magwells. With my recent acquisition of my Glock 17 project I decided to pull out all the stops and research a magwell form new toy. After much research and deliberation I found and settled on our featured product the Glock generation III magwell by a company we have featured previously, SLR Rifleworks.
SLR Rifleworks is well known to both myself and our readers for making a wide array of rails to support almost any model of Kalashnikov or AR-15 rifle currently on the market. What many readers may not know is the Florida based company also makes a line of magwells to fit both the Generation III and Generation IV Glock pistols. Lets see specifications and what we found out after we took the plunge and ordered a magwell for my Generation III Glock 17.
SPECIFICATIONS
Manufacturer: SLR Rifleworks
Country of Origin: United States
Models Supported:
- Generation III Glock Model: 17, 19, 22, 23, 34
- Generation IV Glock Model: 17, 19, 22, 23, 34
Material: 7075 Billet Aluminum
Colors Available: Black
Weight: 0.6 oz.
Cost: $79.99
Impressions & Expectations
One of the major problems with getting any piece of gear is managing expectations and trying to accurately capture your initial impressions. It makes it harder the smaller the piece of gear is to be honest. I didn’t expect much from the SLR Rifleworks Glock magwell, but came away pleasantly surprised. There are some goods things I found out about the magwell immediately after opening the very small package that it arrived in. These positive attributes really became obvious when I compared it side by side with another magwell by a more well known manufacturer. In the interest of being brief I will list them in no particular order in the numbered list below.
- The SLR Rifleworks Magwell is Aluminum unlike some others that are plastic
- This magwell fit on with no modifications or trimming. Others did not fit well without trimming
- It only weights 0.6 oz, much less than I expected
- Adds some length to the grip but doesn’t make it overly long.
- Even black coloring of the aluminum makes it blend well with the Glock
- Smooth bevels edges allows the shooter to insert magazines faster in theory.
- Attaches with one single screw
- Made in the United States
Installing the SLR Rifleworks magwell is about as simple as it gets, all you need is one small allen wrench that you have to provide yourself, and your hand. The rest takes a few seconds of twisting and it’s that simple, a fully installed magazine well. The magwell slides over your pistol frame and the tab on the magwell slides into its spot, if you manage to mess the installation up you should never again be trusted to own or operate anything other that silly puddy or a slinky.
After installing the magazine well I went through the normal motions of magazine drops and changes to see if the magwell would either come loose or somehow cause a problem with inserting a fresh or empty magazine. When using a selection of Glock magazines and third party budget magazines I was unable to either cause the magwell to come loose or hang up in the reloading process. This to me was the biggest test, especially since I was using budget magazines that might not have the exact dimensional properties as Glock factory magazines.
VERDICT
At the end of the day for every type of product review it all boils down to the simple question: Is this product worth it ? In my opinion I would say if you are in the market for a Glock magwell and you want one that will last this would be a fantastic choice. The SLR Rifleworks magwell isn’t the cheapest or the most expensive on the market but it will last you through years of long hard range sessions or competitions. It’s simple, lightweight and is one of the easiest pieces of gear I have ever installed on a firearm. I know that for many years no one used lights, optics or accessories on there pistols, but times change and modern adaptations make things easier on shooters. We decided to embrace the changing times and give our Project Glockenstein a few more bells and whistles and I’m glad I decided to adapt with the times.
