Tip of the Week: Alternative Magazine Storage
In this article, we discuss a simple but elegant solution for storing and organizing a large amount of magazines for various guns.
PPT Editor. NRA & USCCA instructor. Hunter, former competitive shooter, collector (200+ firearms)
We review products independently. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn a commission to help support our testing. Learn more.
It is no surprise that since I have so many long guns, I have a ton of handguns, too. And with a great amount of firearms comes a great amount of magazines (way too ******* many).
Eons ago, in the year 2011 or so, I had started to accumulate enough guns and subsequent mags that my method of throwing them all in a bin was starting to cause issues.
Namely, that about half the pistol mags both look the same and will fit in other guns (but not function properly). I would sit there hunched over, rummaging through a bin, wondering, “Is that PT92 mag, a Beretta 92 mag, or a Sig P226 mag?”
Combine that with the universal law that no matter how deep you dig in the box, you will pull out everything you don’t need, and the thing you are looking for just keeps stealthily sloshing around while avoiding your grubby paws.
Well, I got tired of hurting my back while leaning over to sift through a box full of mags. I thought long and hard about how to go about it better, and then it hit me. I thought back to my Grandfather’s garage, where he had these cool tiny drawers for all the screws, bolts, and small tools.
Bingo! Except most of those were too small to store more than a single mag. Then I realized that I had a set of bigger, stackable drawers that I used for storing pens and pencils.
So, with that idea in mind, I went to the local Target and nabbed half a dozen or so plastic Sterilite 3-drawer units. I found some shelf space, then hit each drawer with a label from a label maker so that I could easily identify what was in each drawer, and the rest was history.
They make various-sized drawers, too. I use their small size 7.25-inch wide drawers for pistol mags. Their medium 14.5-inch wide ones are what I use for things like AR-15 and AK mags.
The smaller ones can fit 5-10 standard pistol magazines, depending on the size and shape. The medium ones can squeeze in about a dozen rifle mags.
If you have a bunch of different guns with different mags, this can be an absolute timesaver (and backsaver). Not to mention everyone always thinks it looks super cool when they see it for whatever reason.
Editor’s Note: This is part of a new series where we deliver a weekly “hack” or tip to make your life easier. Let us know if you want us to keep this series up in the comments below.
Do you have any tips or tricks for large-volume magazine storage? How do you currently store your mags? Let us know in the comments below! Need to organize your rifles? Check out last week's Tip of the Week.