Shield Arms Glock 48 Magazine

The Glock 43L Rob had been carrying is a Glock 48 slide with a Glock 43 grip — the configuration of a very short grip with a four-inch slide. Rob made a video on this topic: Short Grip, Longer Slide for Concealed Carry.

It’s hard to conceal a full-length grip, even with a good holster, under an untucked shirt, and going from 7 rounds to 10 isn’t really worth it. But going from 6 or 7 rounds to 15 or 16 with the Shield Arms 15-round magazine is a significant difference — and it’s in a single-stack configuration.

IS IT RELIABLE?

This is the next big question. Rob has used three different Shield Arms 15-round magazines over several months and found them to be very reliable. He’s used them in classes and for his own personal training and practice. He’s also observed students and colleagues in the industry using this Shield Arms 15-round magazine and having no problems with it.

METAL MAGAZINE CATCH

The Glock was originally designed with a plastic magazine and plastic magazine catch. The Shield Arms 15-round magazine is metal, so if you just switch to that, it may cause problems with the Glock’s plastic magazine catch. But it’s not a problem because Shield ships the magazine with a metal magazine catch and you can switch out the plastic one.

The thinner walls of the metal magazine are also preferable to the heavier ones of the plastic magazine. This metal magazine and its 15+1 capacity are the reasons Rob has switched to a Glock 48 for concealed carry for defensive use.