Elite Tactical Systems (ETS) Group smoke clear magazines Glock 17 and AR-15 tested

[SA Friday]

So we regularly buy and test stuff at Bowers, especially things like AR and Glock mags. These are fairly new to the market, and we picked up one of each to play with and figure out if it's something we want to carry at the shop.

This is the AR mag we tested:
http://www.etsgroup.us/ETS-Group-AR1...-p/ar15-30.htm

This is the Glock mag we tested:
http://www.etsgroup.us/ETS-Group-Tra...g-p/glk-17.htm

The gist was they both held together better than we expected. The clear smoked polymer feels like it would fail upon initial review, but took quite a bit of intentional abuse without cracking. The AR top cover is jankey as hell with very fragile tabs n the back. The Glock mag floorplate liked to spread out over the locking tabs when reassembled and pop out of the tracks. The clear plastic is really the best and only selling point of the mags. Instant visual ID how many round are in it is nice, but not so nice to overcome it's biggest shortfall. The spring in both are awful. After fully loading the mags only one time, it was clearly obvious the springs were not as strong. Seeing a spring take a set almost instantly is concerning. For that reason and the simple fact there are just as cheap products already available on the market, we don't recommend these mags.

[SA Friday]

Oh, forgot. A small part of the side of the follower broke off in the Glock 17 mag after I stuck it in the freezer for 6 hours fully loaded and then dropped it 8 feet. The mag still worked after we took the piece out.

[ray1970]

While it's not quite as convenient as a translucent body, think I'll just use the little holes in the back of the factory Glock mags.

Thanks for the review. I was tempted to try a couple. You know, if I didn't live in a state where it's not legal to buy them.

[beast556]

Thank you for saving me some money. I was going to get some of the glock 19 ones, guess ill just get the magpull ones instead.