Loading a Glock magazine with ammunition

This blog entry discusses how to load a magazine with ammunition for a Glock firearm. This information can also apply to most handguns for sale on the market today (IE: Springfield Armory, Smith and Wesson, H&K, etc). Click on any of the photos to enlarge them.

Before we begin I want to review some terminology.


The magazine the the part of the firearm you load ammunition into. Every magazine has rims (also called lips) on the top. The Follower is below the rims, and lowers as you load ammunition into the magazine and rises to feed more ammunition into the firearm as each expended round of ammunition exits the firearm. Inside the magazine, below the follower, is a spring.

On to loading. Place the edge of the ammunition on the front of the follower and push down. Slide the ammunition rearward so that the ammunition goes below the rims/lips of the magazine.


The first round of ammunition should be seated in the magazine and be held in place by the follower pressing upward and the rims / lips framing the ammunition.


Use the second round of ammunition to press down on the first round of ammunition near the front of the follower. This will lower the first round of ammunition deeper into the magazine.


As you press down and the first round has moved down further into the magazine, slide the second round of ammunition along the top of the first round of ammunition and back into the rear of the magazine. Use the same procedure of pressing down and sliding rearward to have all the consecutive rounds of ammunition loaded into the magazine.


Some firearm companies provide a magazine loader assistant to help you load ammunition into the firearm.


If your firearm comes with a magazine loader assistant, you can use it by placing it over your magazine and pressing down on the ammunition already loaded into the firearm as in the photo below.


Using this magazine assistant loader to press down for you will save your fingers from getting pinched or ammunition sliding off as the magazine fills to capacity.


Just use the magazine assistant to press down on the ammunition in the magazine for you and slide a new round of ammunition along the top and rearward as before.

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