I remember it was the 2016 election that introduced me to Amend2 Glow-in-the-Dark mags. This was a period of unease and turmoil, and I remember what 2012 looked like for gun ownership. With the potential for a person with anti-gun tendencies to become president, finding mags, ammo, and guns was getting tricky. I made it a point to purchase one box of ammo and one mag every week, which led me to Amend2 AR-15 magazines and later Amend2 Glock magazines.
It was a GunMagWarehouse Black Friday sale that drew me to the fact that one of our exclusives was an Amend2 AR-15 magazine that glowed in the dark. The overall idea seemed a bit silly, but I’m a stickler for exclusives, and glow-in-the-dark magazines have never been done before, as far as I know, anyway. For the price, I couldn’t say no. At worst, I’d have a fun display for my office. I hit that buy button and have been running the magazines through the ringer since December.
Why Glow In the Dark Magazines?
For their low price, they are just a somewhat fun and silly idea. At heart, I’m still a little kid who loves things that glow in the dark. That was the idea behind my purchase of the Amend2 magazines, and the fact they were pretty cheap made it a no-brainer for me. Sometimes, I think we in the gun community take ourselves way too seriously. Having some fun is allowed as long as you aren’t violating the basic safety rules. These are fun, a neat conversation starter, and have proven to be pretty solid magazines.
The real “why not” would be for military users. These things probably glow under NODs like crazy, and even against enemies with non-night vision, glowing in the dark doesn’t seem to be a wise tactical decision. No one in a professional gun fighting field needs a glow-in-the-dark magazine.
For Home Defense?
However, after shooting them, using them, and seeing them glow in my office every night before I flip a light switch, I came to the realization they could be quite handy. The glow could be useful in some limited situations. If you hear something go bump in the night and wake up from a dead sleep, you can see the light glowing from your rifle and know exactly where it is.
You won’t stumble and potentially knock something over trying to find your rifle. It’s easy to see, grab, and go without the need for a light that could identify your position. Additionally, you can easily find your spare mag in the dark if you have more than one. It’s unlikely you’ll need more than one, but hey, two is one, and one is none, right? The magazines don’t glow so bright that they could draw the attention of a home invader unless they are already in self-defense range.
The ammunition that’s in the magazine is visible and blocks some of the glow. This has the effect of allowing you to see how much ammo is in your magazine in the dark. Is that super useful for most users? No, but I think it’s worth mentioning.
The Glow Up
How well do they glow? They aren’t a bright beacon of light in the middle of the night. They glow like most glow-in-the-dark things do. Easy enough to see but dim without any radiant light. If you’ve seen glow-in-the-dark Legos, you know what to expect. Out of the box, they didn’t glow super well, but like most things, they need to charge up a bit.
There are two ways to charge something that glows in the dark. The most effective way is to hit them with a UV light, which charges them almost instantly. The second way is sunlight. Leave them in the sun for ten minutes, and they’ll glow nicely. Hit them occasionally with sun or UV, and they’ll glow bright enough to be easily seen in the dark.
To The Range
Glow in the Dark makes a fun novelty, but at the end of the day, these are still supposed to be magazines. Do these magazines work as magazines? We have one way to find out, and that’s hitting the range. Beyond range work, a little dry fire action is a great way to tame these magazines.
The Amend2 mags fed reliably with brass and steel-cased ammo alike. I had no feeding issues with 200 rounds of assorted ammo, including open tip .223 designed for hunting. I also loaded the mags fully and dropped them at various angles, including on the polymer feed lips. A couple of rounds would eject at times, but that seemed to be the only downside.
Even after eating some dirt from reloads, the magazines still fed reliably and without issue. Popping off the base plate and cleaning the magazine wasn’t difficult, and cleaning it out wasn’t tough either. The Amend2 magazines have also been my dry-fire magazines for the last few months.
I practiced lots of reloads, and the mags struck concrete or dirt depending on where I was training. Outside of some scuffs, it never created an issue. The magazines functioned fine and continued to provide excellent overall performance.
My primary and only real problem with the magazines was the texture. It’s very light on texture, and maybe I’m just spoiled by the Gen 3 PMAG and Lancer designs, which are heavy on texture. The Amend2 magazines have front and rear textures and do not provide the same awesome grip as a PMAG. The lack of texture likely makes it easier to glow bright and provides a nice quasi-transparent design. The magazines also feel thin, which isn’t a great confidence booster, but it doesn’t seem to affect their durability.
Final Thoughts
The Amend2 magazines have always been solid range mags available at a great price point. I have no evidence saying they aren’t reliable enough for home defense use. My main concern is that they are nowhere near as proven as Gen 3 PMAGs, and I like well-proven and dependable options for a home defense gun. I wouldn’t personally change my home defense option from PMAGs, but if all I had was Amend2 mags, I’d feel fine throwing them into the fight.
Check them out if you would like to engage in something a little silly and a little fun with your AR-15. They are affordable, glow well, and work quite well as a magazine.
