Best Glock Magazines in 2024 [Aftermarket, Extended, & Clear Mags]
Looking for the best Glock magazines? We've got you covered!
Included are cheap, yet reliable options for those of you just looking to stock up, as well as options that bring advantages in performance, capacity, and ascetics.
If you have any questions about Glock mags related to compatibility, we'll cover this at the end of our guide or you can jump to that section now by clicking here.
Let's get started.
Preview
Magpul PMAG for Glocks - Affordable and Reliable
Elite Systems Tactical Clear Glock Magazines
Best Glock Magazines
Here's our list of the best Glock magazines:
Glock OEM Magazines (Honorable Mention)
Before diving into our aftermarket Glock magazine recommendations, I just want to quickly touch on the selection available directly from Glock. If you’re just looking for extra magazines, you can’t go wrong with the tried and true OEM (original equipment manufacturer) Glock mags.
They tend to be more expensive than some of our upcoming recommendations, but Glock mags are as reliable as they get and you don’t need to worry about what you’re getting from your investment. They also have easy-to-reference witness holes, which isn’t universal among aftermarket alternatives.
Glock also offers plenty of high capacity magazine options. Extended-capacity is often one of the primary reasons why you would want to buy a new mag, and Glock certainly has it covered with magazines ranging in capacity all the way up to 33 rounds. These can be great for not only Glock pistols but for any of the compatible 9mm carbines you might own.
My point in including these is that if you're simply looking to stock up on ultra-reliable magazines for your pistols and able to afford OEM mags, then they're quite possibly the best Glock magazines for you.
While they are sometimes relatively expensive, you can compare prices from various retailers below to find deals. You can also generally save when buying multi-packs or in bulk.
From $19.99 at Brownells
Magpul PMAG
If you’ve spent any time shopping around for aftermarket magazines for your AK or AR, you’ve no doubt already heard of the Magpul PMAG series. In fact, they're on our list of the best AR-15 magazines.
What you may not know is that in recent years, Magpul has come out with a set of PMAGs specifically made for 9mm Glock pistols. These new PMAGs are made with the same heavy-duty proprietary polymer as their rifle counterparts, making them some of the most durable magazines on the market. They also feature similarly designed controlled-tilt high-visibility followers, stainless steel springs, and easy to disassemble floorplates. There’s also the familiar dot matrix panel for magazine markings.
The selection for Glock PMAGs is decent; there are 21, 17, 15, 12, 10 (Cali Compliant for G19), and high capacity extended 27-round magazines all available. Unfortunately, the selection is strictly limited to 9mm though. Depending on the size, some of the magazines will come with multiple witness holes to help with getting a rough count on the bullets left in the mag.
The final upside of the Glock PMAGs is their cheap price point, despite being high quality. Unless you’re getting an extended mag, you won’t wind up needing to spend more than around $13, which makes the PMAG a no-brainer alternative to the Glock OEM magazines. It's our choice for the best Glock magazine that will go easy on your wallet.
Other Features:
- Reinforced feed lips
- Push-button floorplate disassembly
- Drop-free design (loaded and unloaded)
From $12.30 at Brownells
Elite Tactical Systems Group Clear Glock Magazines
When it comes to aftermarket Glock magazines, one of my hands-down favorites are the translucent mags from Elite Tactical Systems. The upsides to these mags should be obvious. They’re constructed from heavy-duty translucent polymer, which allows you to get a clear ammo count without needing to squint through witness holes. This is particularly useful when using them with 9mm carbines, including AR-9s.
ETS’ magazines are also well-known for their durability, plus, these clear magazines just look cool as hell.
ETS’ selection of different calibers and capacities is also pretty impressive. They're offered in 9mm, 380 ACP, and 40 S&W. They have both single-stack and double-stack mags, plus high capacity magazines like the 31-round extended 9mm mags for the G17,18,19, 26, 34, and 45.
All in all, I can’t say enough good things about ETS’ clear mags. They look great, perform on par with the best mags on the market, and hit an affordable price point. Check them out.
Other Features:
- Tested to withstand extreme conditions (no breaks from being dropped loaded over 8 feet, -60 F to 180 F temperatures, extensive UV exposure, chemical and fuel resistant)
- Drop-free design (loaded and unloaded)
From $14.99 at GunMag Warehouse
KCI 50 Round Glock Drum Magazine
When 30 rounds aren't enough, it's time for a drum.
KCI offers this 50 round drum magazine that fits Glock double stack pistols and any carbine or AR-9 that uses Glock magazines. I have to admit, I haven't used one of these myself, but felt the need to include it because it's the most extreme option I've found with decent reviews online.
The company behind this monstrosity is a Korean manufacturer of magazines for a wide variety of firearm platforms. While they make very affordable products, they have mixed reviews online. Add in the fact that drum magazines are notoriously finicky and I'd only recommend buying this as a novelty for some fun at the range.
From $59.99 at Brownells
For those new to the world of Glocks, this section will help you to be sure you get a magazine that will fit your pistol and hopefully answer any questions that have been confusing you.
Single Stack and Double Stack Glock Pistols
Glock offers both pistols with single stack and double stack magazines. As we've covered in our single stack vs double stack guide, double stacks offers higher capacity with the trade-off of them being wider.
You can't use single stack magazines in a double stack pistol. Likewise, you can't use double stacks in single stack pistols.
Glock 9mm Double Stack Pistols - G17, G19, G26, G34, G45
Glock 9mm Single Stack Pistols - G43, G43X, G48
We've covered these pistols in both our best 9mm pistol and best 9mm pocket pistol guides.
Frame Sizes
With Glock double stack pistols, you can use any double stack Glock magazine, so long as the frame isn't too large for it. For example, Glocks shortest framed pistol, the G26, can use any double stack magazine available including those made for the G17 or even extended high capacity mags.
You can't, however, use a G26 mag in a Glock 17. This is simply because the magazine is too short.
This fact gives small pistols an advantage in flexibility, as we explained in our Glock 17 vs 19 comparison.
Standard and Optional Round Capacity by Glock Model and OEM Mags
- Glock 26 - 10 (standard), 12, 15, 17, 19, 24, 31, 33
- Glock 19 - 15 (standard), 17, 19, 24, 31, 33
- Glock 45 - 17 (standard), 19, 24, 31, 33
- Glock 17 - 17 (standard), 19, 24, 31, 33
- Glock 34 - 17 (standard), 19, 24, 31, 33
Any aftermarket magazine with a capacity greater than a given Glocks standard capacity should also work fine.
Different Generations
At the time of writing this, we're on the 5th Generation of Glock pistols. Over this time, they've also had multiple generations of Glock magazines.
Generally, mags from one generation will work in another, though not always. If running into issues, they can often be fixed with minor modifications to your magazine or pistol.
With that being said, it's best to buy the appropriate generation of magazine for your generation of pistol.
Conclusion
Hopefully we've answered all of your questions in this guide to the best Glock magazines.
Glock OEM mags are a great choice but tend to be expensive. If you're trying to save money, we'd recommend going with PMAGs, though they only make them for 9mm pistols. If you want to get fancy, then Elite Systems Tactical makes pretty great translucent/clear mags.
Product Name: Magpul PMAG Aftermarket Glock Magazines
Product Description: Magpul's PMAGs are a great way to save money without sacrificing reliability if you're in the market for Glock magazines. Unfortunately, they currently only make them for 9mm Glock double stack pistols like the G17, G19, G26, G34, and G45. They offer mags with 10, 12, 15, 17, 21, or 27 rounds capacities.
-
Reliability
-
Quality
-
Value