{"id":401039,"date":"2023-06-12T11:00:09","date_gmt":"2023-06-12T16:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/?p=401039"},"modified":"2024-09-25T21:52:20","modified_gmt":"2024-09-26T02:52:20","slug":"the-ets-scorpion-evo-40-round-magazine-a-clear-winner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/the-ets-scorpion-evo-40-round-magazine-a-clear-winner\/","title":{"rendered":"The ETS Scorpion EVO 40-Round Magazine: A Clear Winner"},"content":{"rendered":"

It is safe to say that those of you reading this review are looking at ETS mags. Some of you may be here because you own a Scorpion and are looking for another option to feed the beast. Or maybe you are thinking about a Scorpion and want to know what\u2019s available for increased capacity mags.<\/p>\n

At the risk of this being a short review, I\u2019ll answer each in turn. I\u2019ve run ETS mags<\/a> in a variety of platforms for almost a decade now, and they work incredibly well. I recommend you pick some up with no hesitation and without any of the preconceived notions that they\u2019re only range toys.<\/p>\n

\"The
The clear plastic of the ETS mags will let you know how much ammo you have ready to go, and the state of the mag itself. Any needed maintenance will be obvious and easily seen.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you already have a Scorpion, these ETS 40-round mags<\/a> offer both visibility and increased capacity. Yes, they\u2019re made of plastic, but so are the standard mags.<\/p>\n

If you haven\u2019t pulled the trigger, so to speak, on a Scorpion, what are you waiting for? If I were in the process of building out an SBR right now, and looking for one in 9mm, this would be my choice. The compact design still allows for a ton of ergonomic surface area, and they\u2019re insanely fun to run fast.<\/p>\n

Advantages of the ETS Builds<\/h2>\n

Elite Tactical Systems makes solid plastic mags. Anyone who has spent much time on the GunMag Warehouse site knows the candy-colored mags. They are hard to keep in stock.<\/p>\n

The translucent colors are fun. Maybe someone actually uses them to color code mags for different platforms, but I doubt it. These colors, though, are part of the reason why some only consider these worthy of range use.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve never had issues with them. I\u2019ve been working with them now for years and have ETS GLOCK mags that have seen regular use and abuse. Clear plastics will often get brittle as they age, especially if they\u2019re exposed to a lot of direct sunlight, but apart from a few scuffs, I\u2019ve never had any structural issues with the plastics.<\/p>\n

\"The
The factory CZ mags<\/a> are solid and hold more than 30 rounds. While the texture on these is more tactile, I miss the clear insight of the ETS magazine.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The translucent design, especially in longer stick mags like these, helps you know where you stand with capacity. These hold 40, which is better than average for a PCC build.<\/p>\n

One last element that keeps people like me singing the praises of ETS is the value. GunMag Warehouse is regularly running various ETS mags at deep discounts and they blow through them as fast as I typically empty a 40-round mag.<\/p>\n

The Painful Reality of the 40-Round Mag<\/h2>\n

I sound like I\u2019m schilling for ETS, but I\u2019m not. I\u2019m a convert. Back when I got my first clear plastic mags, I was a huge skeptic. Glock, for example, makes stainless steel-lined nylon magazines. They\u2019re damn-near indestructible. Nylon is so much more forgiving than \u201cpolymer\u201d like this, which changes every time you change its color.<\/p>\n

\"glock
Even the factory rounds are relying on nylon feed control. The rigidity of the narrow stick mag allows these and the ETS mags to hold their shape and maintain that solidity needed for reliable feeding.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I expected these to crack with the impact of recoil, or to develop those hairline fissures that compromise strength. They didn\u2019t. I\u2019ve run them on dirt ranges and dropped them on concrete floors of indoor ranges, and they bounce. I\u2019m not one to baby magazines and I\u2019ve shied away from platforms that have more delicate magazine designs (like the 1911, which doesn\u2019t much like getting stepped on).<\/p>\n

But ETS keeps building designs that cost almost as much to run dry as they do to actually buy. I just penned a piece recently on the Blazer 115 grain 9mm<\/a>, which is selling for around $.26 a pop. That\u2019s a sawbuck per mag, for bulk ammo.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll need some discipline, perhaps. Practice mag changes with down-loaded mags. Put in three, four, or five rounds, engage multiple targets, then when the Scorpion clicks, change them out. It will help build muscle memory without getting ludicrously expensive.<\/p>\n

Bring a Spare Thumb<\/h2>\n

Loading the Scorpion magazines has never been easy. Those first few rounds are cake, but the spring tension starts to stack around 20. I can\u2019t count to 40 anyhow \u2014 so when I\u2019m on the range, I simply load the mag until I can\u2019t force another round in and call it good.<\/p>\n

Even with the increase in capacity and stout spring tension, these ETS mags are easier to load than the factory 15-round Hellcat mags<\/a>. Those are beasts.<\/p>\n

\"How
How many mags do you need? Popular question. There’s no right answer, but I hedge on the side of “more.”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I’ll end where I began. The Scorpion is damn-near perfect. If we weren’t still enmeshed in the argument about pistol braces, the Scorpion would be that much better. As is, in its naked pistol form, it maybe looses some of its appeal. As an SBR, though, or set up as a carbine, this would be a very dynamic PCC.<\/p>\n

And the ETS mags are a great way to build up a supply of mags \u2014 no matter what platform you’re running.<\/p>\n

The 40-round EVO 3 versions are available in clear<\/a> and smoke<\/a>. The clear is a bit more than the smoke. There are other capacities available, too, like the 30-round varieties<\/a> (and those have the deep-red option, too).<\/p>\n

All joking aside \u2014 how many do you need? This is up to personal preference. For my go-to rifle platforms (both AR and AK) I typically keep some 20 or more working mags in the rotation. For the handguns I work out regularly, I tend to go a bit overboard. I’d guess I’ve got 30 or more Glock mags.<\/p>\n

I’ve had this Scorpion for a while now \u2014 almost a year \u2014 and I’m still not where I want to be. Ten seems to me to be a solid starting point, for any gun. There’s too much risk in not buying mags. These guns don’t work very well without them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The ETS advantage is clear and easy to see. If you’re looking for a way to stock up on mags, see your round count, and get more capacity, the ETS 40-Round Scorpion mags are ideal. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":401046,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2332],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-401039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-magazine-reviews"],"small_media_thumbnail":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Scorpion_Magazines_ETS_5-300x225.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401039","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=401039"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401039\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":439676,"href":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401039\/revisions\/439676"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/401046"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=401039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=401039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=401039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}