I’ve never heard of Rattlesnake Tactical, but I have heard of Ammunition Depot. Ammunition Depot tends to sell ammo, but now they’ve partnered with Rattlesnake Tactical to sell magazines. Specifically, Glock magazines. As a company known for selling ammo, they put their own spin on selling magazines and are selling them pre-loaded.
Rattlesnake Tactical Glock Magazines
Admittedly, that’s optional, and you can purchase them empty, but that’s hardly any fun. Rattlesnake Tactical jumped into the Glock magazine market with 35-round, Made-In-America magazines. Interestingly enough, the company sent me the magazines with a booklet that went over the independent testing Rattlesnake Tactical put the magazines through.
They compared their magazines with competitors in the Glock aftermarket magazine world. The test was a 510-round stress test with a variety of impact trials that showed the Rattlesnake magazines outperformed the competition in reliability and durability.
Rattlesnake Tactical – Loaded Up
I got two of the Rattlesnake Tactical 34-round magazines, and I went with the loaded option. The magazines come loaded with 34 rounds of CCI Blazer 115-grain ammunition. Pre-loaded magazines are just downright convenient when it comes to range time. I happened to be testing the BC-9 from Bear Creek Arsenal, so a bit of synergy occurred. I was able to test the magazines and gun together, which was a nice way to double-dip for reviews.
I grabbed the magazines and noticed how slick the top half of the magazines were. The material is extremely smooth, and that could be a good thing. Polymer magazines don’t always drop free from polymer guns. Sometimes you have to do a little shake to get them to slide out freely. Maybe they’ve fixed that with these magazines?
Don’t worry, the whole thing isn’t slick. The bottom half has a snakeskin-like texture combined with a wide baseplate. The combination would make them easy to grab from a pouch and shove into the guts of your gun.
You might ask, why 34 rounds? Glock’s OEM extendo goes to 33 rounds, so maybe they are trying to take it to 11? If I had to really guess, it’s just designed to be double the capacity of a Glock 17-round magazine. You can monitor your ammo consumption via witness holes placed every five rounds except the last, which is placed at the 34-round mark.
To The Range With Rattlesnake Tactical
With a pair of magazines, a new gun, and a pile of ammo, I went to the range and started lighting it off. The Rattlesnake Tactical magazines slid in and out of the BC-9’s magwell with ease. Press the release button, and it drops out with ease. Magazine swaps weren’t a problem, and the texture of the magazines makes it easy to grip, grab, and put them in place.
When drawing from a magazine pouch, the stiff snakeskin texture grips your hand well. It’s Florida in the summer, so it’s 98 degrees and 80% humidity. My hands sweat a lot at the range. I’m pouring sweat and dying in the heat, but I can grab my magazines and get them where they need to be.
I practiced reload drills with the BC-9 quite a bit, and I let the magazine dive into the sand. Sand is a world-killer when it comes to gun parts and pieces. Even after taking plenty of dives into fine white sands, the Rattlesnake Tactical magazines kept feeding the BC-9 without a problem. I could shoot fast, I could shoot slow. I could hold the magazines like it was a TEC-9 and I was a bad guy in Miami Vice, and they worked without a problem.
The Many Platforms
Most of my shooting was done with the BC-9, but Glock magazines are used in a wide variety of guns, so I wanted to test the Rattlesnake Tactical magazines in a wide variety of guns. This includes a stock Glock, a KelTec Sub 2000, a KP-9 AR-9, and a CMMG Resolute carbine. The only platform that choked was the KelTec Sub 2000.
I got several failures to eject, which led to double feeds. I’m not sure if that’s gun or magazine-based, but I haven’t had this problem with magazines before. I’m not exactly sure what the problem is, because these mags also work in every other gun I put them through. Is it a combination of gun, magazine, and ammo? I’m not totally sure.
Rattlesnake Tactical also says they don’t work well with the Ruger PC Charger, so keep that in mind as well.
Overall, I think Rattlesnake Tactical can be a serious competitor in the Glock magazine market. Their affordable nature will make them a great go-to for PCC enthusiasts not looking to spend 30 bucks on a Glock OEM option. Competition is king, and I hope Rattlesnake Tactical dives wholeheartedly into the magazine game with options for 10mm, .45 ACP, and beyond.
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