How do people become wealthy, and maintain that wealth? Well, one aspect is by being stingy. Not spending money when you don't need to, using coupons, and buying in bulk all help to keep track of funds. Stinginess can be good with your finances, but not so good with your magazine capacity. HK is notorious for being stingy with magazine round counts. Luckily, XTech Tactical is making extensions for these HK mags, to help out our stingy, rich friend.
Previously we reviewed the 15-round capacity magazines from X-Tech Tactical, make sure to read that review HERE.
Budgeting For More Bullets
The standard capacity of a VP9 or P30 magazine is 15 rounds, but we're always wanting more. XTech's offering in magazine extensions is more cost effective than the competition, and is a simpler design. At just a hair under 30 bucks, this seems like a steal. Installation of the extension is also quite simple.
First step is to disassemble the 15 round magazine, and remove the follower from the spring. We place the follower on the extended magazine spring, and feed the spring into the magazine body. From here, we push the locking tab into the inner housing for the extension, and press the housing against the bottom of the mag. It's under spring tension now, but we're at the last step. Here, we take the outer housing of the extension, and slide it over the rails on the bottom of the mag, and over the inner housing. We'll need to depress the locking tab's button to fully seat everything in place. The extension is now installed.
HK OEM mag, sporting the +5 XTech Extension.
The installation is easy. Compared to some of the other extensions I've used, this is a breeze. No tools are required, and you can readily disassemble the mag to clean out gunk and debris (which I did during my testing process). What other features does the extension pack besides more rounds into the gun?
Where To See XTech Tactical’s VP9/P30 Magazine Extension
All prices are current at the time of publication. Please click the link to see the most up to date pricing.
Features of the XTech Tactical +5 Extension
Opening the packaging to the extension will reveal a custom engineered spring, the locking plate and the two part extension housing. The spring is well, a spring. It came coated with something akin to a dry film, which did not seem to have any binding problems during the testing period.
The two parts of the extension body disassembled...
To me, the most interesting component is the two part extension body. Both housing parts are plastic, which is helps to keep the weight down. I hate to sound like a broken record, but its simplicity is something to appreciate. It's like peanut butter and jelly; simple, but gets the job done.
... and partially reassembled to show fit.
The bottom of the extension has the locking tab's button present, just like any standard 15 round magazine would. The locking tab always remained under spring tension, and I never ran into issues of the extension coming apart due to this.
Looking at the bottom of the XTech Extension. It met the ground many times during the testing process.
The extension has an over-insertion tab at the front, to prevent damage to the ejector of the gun. It mimics the contour of both the OEM and XTech 15 rounders, and did not cause any wear on the ejector, or on the frame.
A look at the front of the XTech Extension.
Rounding out the features, XTech's logo, name, and a Patent Pending notice are sitting proud on the back of the extension.
Gotta represent that brand, baby!
The extension is simple, and elegant, but does it work? None of this matters if the extension leads to malfunctions, or breaks the second it hits the deck.
How Does The XTech Tactical +5 Extension Work?
The +5 extension was mounted to the same OEM HK 9mm mag during most of the testing process, only removed for cleaning silt and dirt out of the magazine. Even after numerous falls to the ground, the extension is not loose, or broken.
The magazine wearing the extension came with me on 4 range trips, and had about 650 rounds of 9mm fed through it. During the entire testing period, the magazine locked open each time it ran dry, and was allowed to drop free and hit the sandy, gravely ground of my shooting range. Not a single malfunction occurred during the testing process. Two different VP9s, and a P30L were used, and all guns ran like clockwork with this magazine and extension. This is very, very good.
It looks a little weird, but it works.
I got curious, and wanted to try something out. I purchased a VP40 magazine, and put the extension on that. On range trip number 5, 200 rounds went through my USP Compact .40, and again, not a single malfunction occurred. Same deal as with the 9mm magazine, the mag and extension were dropped, and hit the deck during each reload. Nothing broke, or impeded function.
Is The XTech Tactical +5 Extension Good?
This magazine extension is economical, simple, and reliable. It feeds well, for the two calibers I stock, which adds even more value. I don't know what more I can really ask for out of magazine extension. If you're in the market for something to allow you to cram more bullets in your VP9 or P30, this just may be your ticket.
The XTech Tactical VP9/P30 +5 Magazine Extension was provided for Test & Evaluation by the manufacturer.
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