A few months ago I posted information about a kydex magazine holster concept that could be used with a molle / pals rig. It seems to me the changes I have made since then, are working out better than I thought. I have two designs that I am playing around with. One for standard magazines and another that allows the use of MagPul Ranger Plates. The later seems to work the best in my opinion. As it is secured better, and is less likely to unlock while in prone or being bumped. The one for the standard magazine is dependent upon a twist lock action and can be unintentionally unlocked while in prone. However, the great majority of the time it remains secure.

I am currently testing to see how well paint will adhere to the kydex. At present time it is very difficult to obtain different colors or camo patterns in kydex without busting my have fun budget.

Comments or suggestions are welcome.

Tell us more!  This looks really neat!

Have you tried the same setup except with the magazines bases towards the top of the rig?

It seems like it would be pretty easy to get a Rangerplate caught on something that would rip the mag right out of the pouch.

The concept is to allow the operator the ability to perform a magazine change as quickly as possible by keeping the magazine in the same position that will be needed to insert it into the magazine well on the rifle. So to date I have only concentrated on this magazine position.

I estimate that it takes around 30+ pounds of force to remove the magazine from the MagPul compatible holster, and around 15+ for the standard holster after twisting the lock loose.

The retention is made by requiring that two separate movements have to be made before the magazine can be removed. Basically the same concept for any retention holster you will find for pistols. This prevents most possible unintentional removals, but its not 100%. If it were, then it wouldn’t come out at all.

Demo Movie

Previous discussion

Those are really interesting designs.  I would not have thought of inverting them so that you pull downward to retrieve the magazine.  It makes sense, though.

Will they be just for personal use, or commercially available as well?

It takes anywhere from 2 to 3 hours for me to make one by hand so commercially probably won't happen unless I win the loto and can invest in the tooling, dies, molds, ect.

It actually is removed by pulling down and to the left side.

Excellent stuff, it's nice to see that they can now take MagPul Ranger Plates!

Just wondering have you looked into possibly stacking two of them together?  I wonder if they would be two bulky but it would still be interesting to see if it would be functional.

I made some kydex 9mm and AR mag pouches a few years ago with nothing but a "dent" molded in to catch the slot for the mag release. Never lost one. People complained about them being loud in use. My typical response was something about how idiotic it was to worry about a loud mag pouch when you obviously just fired the contents of a mag

You can make perfectly functional molds out of wood and bondo, but cutting the parts still takes forever. Finding someone with a CNC punch, laser, or waterjet will handle that. Have you tested them in low temps? Try freezing one overnight and hit it with a hammer. I had some kydex that was made a bit wrong that basically exploded in that test. Too much acrylic, apparently.

Too loud?

I have thought about wood and bondo, but have not been able to get a clear picture yet as to how to form it so that everything is formed. I was thinking about something made from some casting resin. Cutting is the biggest pain in the rear I have ever seen. I use a white fabric pencil to mark the rough edges and then score it with a razor knife, but the edges always need to be sanded down.

I'll stick one in the freezer tonight, and see what happens in the morning.