UPLula Pistol Magazine Loader

Owning and shooting a handgun can be a lot of fun. Learning to control recoil and muzzle climb while trying to be accurate requires focus. You need to line up the sights while concentrating on the proper grip and a smooth trigger pull to achieve accuracy. Once you are comfortable and confident enough with your pistol manipulation then you can move onto transitioning to other targets as well as reloading the gun with a fresh magazine. During this practice, a shooter can get into a rhythm where they are in the zone. However, the one thing that causes this to come to a screeching halt is having to reload the magazines with more ammo.

THE PROBLEM WITH RELOADING PISTOL MAGAZINES

For many shooters, typically beginners and elderly shooters, reloading a pistol magazine can be difficult. The magazine has a spring that pushes a follower which is what pushes the bullets up so that the slide can pick up the round and load it into the chamber. Well, pushing the bullets back into the magazine gets tedious and sometimes difficult depending on the magazine and bullets being used. In most cases when loading the magazine, as you get close to full capacity, pushing the last couple rounds is almost impossible. This is called stacking. As a spring compresses more and more, the force required to continue compressing it increases. Traditionally shooters use their thumbs to load the bullets into the magazine. However, your thumbs will start to hurt the more you load bullets into the magazines. Some shooters might lack the strength to even load the first bullet into the magazine. Of course, like any repetitive exercise, your thumbs could get used to it. But there is an easier way to put the rounds in the magazine.

Some manufacturers include a basic pistol magazine loader with their guns. Glock, Ruger, and Springfield are just some examples that include a magazine loader when you buy their handguns new. These magazine loaders are better than using your bare hands but they are not that great. These style of magazine loaders have some form of protrusion that helps push the follower or the top bullet down allowing you to insert a new bullet into the magazine. The problem with this is that the protrusion is often just barely long enough to push the follower or bullet down. The gap created by the follower is often tight which means you still have to push the bullet in and under the magazine feed lips. Once you inserted the new bullet into the magazine it will hit the protrusion before being fully inserted into the magazine. So you need to lift the loader up and continue pushing the new bullet further into the magazine. All the loader did was help you push the bullets down. It did not help you load the bullet. Also these loaders are generally specific to the magazine they came with. You can not really use the Glock loader to load a 1911 magazine. Or vice versa. Now take a look at the Maglula Uplula.

A RELOADING SOLUTION

The Universal Pistol Loader was designed and made in Israel. It can accept single stack and double stack magazines. The UPLula can load 9mm up to .45 ACP magazines and in some cases, it can load .380 ACP magazines. The wide range of compatibility is great but the loading of the bullets is where this pistol magazine loader shines. To operate the UpLula, you grasp the loader in your hand like you are grabbing a soda can. Then put your index finger on the top.

The UPLula is hinged so you will squeeze the loader and push it down over the pistol magazine. There is a metal beak that pushes the follower/bullets down allowing you to insert a new bullet. Due to the UPLula design, it creates a large opening so you can just drop the bullet into the magazine. No need to push it into the magazine. Next, you just release the tension on the UPLula and repeat the loading process.

Proper UPLula pistol magazine loader grip.

UPLala pistol magazine loader with bullet inserted.

The UPLula also works as an unloader. There is a protrusion on the spine of the loader. You can use that to strip the rounds out of the magazine when you want to unload the magazine without shooting the bullets.

UPLala pistol magazine loader also used as unloader.

Here is a list of incompatible magazines from Maglula’s website:

  • S&W 7rd 9mm SS for models 908,3913,3913,3953 & 3954 (Beak too wide, does not enter between lips). It will load the S&W Shield magazine!
  • Glock G36 6rd .45 SS (Single Stack) (Beak will not come out of mag.)
  • Kel Tec PMR-30 mags.
  • Rounds longer than 33mm, like: 9×23 Win, .38 Special, .357 Magnum, .357 Max., .41/.44 Rem. Mag., .44 S&W Special, .45 Colt, .45 Win Mag., .50AE.
  • May not load the last round in few types of mags.
  • Mags with less than 8.0mm between their lips.

Maglula also makes a baby UPLula for loading .22LR – .380 single stack magazines. It works just like the regular UPLula.

Nicholas Chen is a firearm aficionado. Growing up in California, He learned about firearms and hunted with his father growing up in Southern California. Once he moved out to Pennsylvania and then spent a few years in New York State, he learned to truly appreciate firearms and the second amendment. It was in New York State where he became a USPSA competitive shooter and learned about 3Gun. He is an avid fan of running and gunning. Nicholas is a fan of pretty much anything that shoots although the slicked-up race guns are what interests him the most. Having spent time with FFLs and other friends with NFA items he has begun his collection of NFA items and has learned that everything should be suppressed and full auto where possible and legal.

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