During Technical Handgun – Tests & Standards in 2023, I shot my Glock 48 for the class. During those two days, I had some serious pinky-pinching, caused by the floorplates on my magazines. With my large hands, the floorplates were flexing a little, which was slapping the underside of my pinky under recoil. Well, I wanted a fix, and that came in the form of the Shield Arms Carry Magwell. While magwells are made to make reloads easier and faster, this one fixed one of my only gripes with the Slimline Glocks.
I’ve been using the Carry Magwell for nearly two years now, so what are my complete thoughts on it?
What is the Shield Arms Carry Magwell?
Well, the Carry Magwell is what it says on the tin. It’s a magwell made for concealed carry, and is low-profile to do that job. The construction is aluminum, with a polymer piece to lock it onto the frame. Shield Arms sells these for $75 on their website, and you can get it in a range of colors. I took the Henry Ford approach, and got mine in black.
Mounting the magwell is pretty simple, and only requires a small Allen key.
Mounting the Carry Magwell
Putting the magwell on a 43x or 48 is a pretty simple affair. All it takes is a single screw, and Shield provides the driver for that. Shield Arms has a pretty good video on how to attach the magwell.
Short of losing the attachment screw, I don’t think you can botch the assembly process here. It’ll only take you a matter of minutes to mount it, and once on the gun, it’s quite secure.
Now that we’ve got the magwell on our Glock, how is the fitment and construction?
The Construction
The build quality on the Carry Magwell is pretty good. My example is machined fairly cleanly (only a few minor machining marks), and doesn’t have any rough sections. It also sports a clean, even anodization finish. Any dings or dents on my magwell were done by me, and boy, I’ve certainly put a lot of them into it.
Fitment to my two Glock frames is quite good. It’s snug on there, and provides a good bevel to get magazines into the gun quickly and consistently. I’ve found that I don’t need a massive bevel on a one-and-a-half or doublestack gun. That being said, a little more never hurt with getting fresh mags into the gun.
My primary reason for the magwell was to get my pinky away from the magazine. How did the magwell do with changing that?
Finger No Smashy
It fixed my issue. Simple as that. My grip is unchanged, aside from my pinky now resting on the front lip of the magwell. If the magwell only changed where my pinky was, I’d be content. That being said, it is a magwell, and does do the magwell thing. How much of a difference did it make on performing reloads?
Shooting Performance
Truth be told, I did not notice a massive decrease in my reload time with the Carry Magwell. It certainly feels a little faster, and is a little more consistent. If I had to put a number to it, I’d say it probably made my reloads 5-10% faster. However, that’s like icing on the cake for me. I got the magwell to make gripping the gun better, and got a slightly faster reload as an extra!
While having a speedier reload is nice, the consistency that the magwell provides is even more appreciated. In the drill above, the first half of the reload was sloppy, but the magwell made sure that the magazine actually found its way into the gun.
An additional upside to the magwell was when drawing the pistol. I’ve found that it acts like a wedge, forcing me to grip higher on the gun when forming my grip as part of the drawstroke. This is the kind of grip that I want to do, so having a “guide” of sorts to make that more natural is great. Again, this benefit ranks higher than the reloading benefits, but I’m happy to take them all.
Now, the magwell did fix my primary issue, has made my grip on the draw better, and made my reloads a little better. However, it is called the Carry Magwell. How well does it work with every day carry on my primary carry gun?
EDC
My Glock 48 has been my primary carry gun for about two years now. For most of that time (20 months), the Carry Magwell has been on the gun.
Overall, I’ve found it to not negatively impact concealment. The biggest points that would cause printing are the right side of the magwell, and the back of it. Both sit a little proud of the frame, but only slightly. Going by measurements, we’ve only added about 2mm of material in any given direction, which basically adds no thickness.
I recorded a lengthy video on my EDC system back over the Fall, and it still stands for now.
Speaking to durability, I’ve not had any issues this far. The magwell isn’t a moving part and isn’t being exposed to any crazy friction, so we’d expect this. However, it does have a screw, which has not backed out or loosened at all. There’s no threadlocker on it either, but it’s also not getting exposed to a ton of heat or g-force. There are plenty of dings and dents from use over the years, but none that are causing issue. Hey, they add character!
The Verdict
The Carry Magwell is something that has not only solved one problem for me, but made two parts of shooting a little easier. For me, the sign of a good piece of gear is something that does not impede your ability, and aids your performance.
I like the Carry Magwell enough that I actually bought a second one for my 43x. It may not be a part for every slimline Glock, but it’s one that I certainly want on mine.
Shield Arms makes a lot of things that I’ve had great successes with, and their magwell can certainly be added to that list. Speaking of Shield’s products, I’ll be doing a deep-dive into the generations of their S15 magazines before too long, so be on the lookout for that.
Video Work
While writing is my primary way to provide you with information, I’m also making videos over on YouTube. You can find that work over at my channel, linked here.
I’ve made a video review of the Carry Magwell, and give a sneak peek into something that I’m testing.
Additional Reading & Patreon Link
Got a Glock and want to make it better? Check out some of our articles on Glock modifications and parts:
If you’d like to support me on Patreon, I’ve got the link for that here. Nearly everything that I do on Primer Peak is paid for out of my own pocket, and my content is not shilled or driven by manufacturers or companies. If you decide to donate, I’d really appreciate it, as it would allow for me to continue to bring you quality work.
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