Whenever I go to the range there is always one thing that has annoyed me about shooting…loading my magazines.  It’s not the monotony of loading the mags that annoys me, rather it’s what that process was doing to my freshly painted nails. It was chipping the sh*t out of them.

If you know me then you know that my nails are always painted. I would rather leave the house with no makeup on and hair undone than with unpainted nails. I like to do my own manicures and often times I change the color up to twice a week. So one visit to the range and I can almost guarantee I'm leaving with a chipped or worse, a broken nail. So yeah, I'm a little OCD about my nails. 

For a while, I would ask the husband to load them for me. I would also use the standard mag loaders that came with my pistols but they weren't cutting it. I was still getting chips and breakage. Additionally, the springs in the mags were still so stiff that after about five rounds being loaded, I felt like I needed to have some Popeye arm strength to get those suckers in. Then one day, while struggling to load my mags (aka carefully trying to load mine) in front of my instructor he looked at me and said I should use his loader.  

I honestly couldn't imagine why his would be any better but it was. He didn't have the usual pistol kit mag loader. His was a special magazine speedloader. He handed it to me and not only did it make loading the mags smoother and faster, it wasn't messing up my manicure. While it was being used for it’s main purpose of loading magazines quicker and with ease, all I saw was something that was going to save my manicure.  I mean, a girls gotta have priorities, right?!

But seriously though, the Maglula UpLULA Speed Loader is pretty awesome, whether you care about your nails or not. It saves your thumb and index finger as well from being blistered, callused, and raw from loading mags. I've been threw my fair share of band-aids. It's not fun. So I knew I had to get one for myself. It's definitely not your standard pistol kit mag loader. It's a bit bigger but can be compacted with a small lock at the top to lock the front part of the UpLULA in place. It makes it a little bit more compact if that's something you are looking for. It fits easily over the mags of my HKVP9 and Glock 43 and makes loading them a breeze. I can load all my mags for my HKVP9 with ease because let's face it those springs start to get a little tight as you add more ammo (at least for me). So instead of waisting time at the range loading mags, I can spend more time practicing. Because isn't that what is really important.

There haven't been that many accessories in this field that I feel like are game changers. For me, this is. When I first was researching accessories and what I needed to have at the range, I wish someone would have said, "Eye, ear protection and this magazine speedloader." While this upLULA isn't a universal loader, it does work with most of the major brands. Maglula has listed out their mag/pistol exceptions and they also have some additional mag loaders, so check out of their site for the specific deets. 

Personally, this a must-have in my range bag and I think this should be in your range bag too. A color tip for you non-OD green lovers, it also comes in a variety colors like pink, purple , and black. You can get one to match your manicure ;)

:: Items Featured In This Post ::

Mat: Hogue Grips Gunsmith Mat | Ammo: Hornady 9mm Critical Defense  | Pistol & Spare Mags: Heckler & Koch VP9 | Magazine Loader: Maglula UpLULA Pistol Speed Loader | Bandana: Urban Outfitters | Leather Rings: Rannka | Nail Polish: Chanel Black Pearl

Disclaimer: The information provided here is based on my opinions and for informational use only. I am not an expert in this field and any items/services/products/advice mentioned in these posts should be used at your own discretion, in accordance with your local & state laws, and you should follow applicable manufacturer’s instructions. You can read more about my privacy & disclosure policies here.