Gear Review: Pack & Load Range Ammo and Loader by The Right Tool Company

Loading AR magazines takes time. Sometimes we need that time to relax and get our minds right, and sometimes we just need to get shooting.

The Right Tool Company has developed a nifty little gadget for the latter. With very little effort, their Pack & Load Range Ammo puts 30 rounds into the full-sized AR magazine of your choice in seconds.

Essentially, the Pack & Load Range Ammo is a play on the age old clip. It’s an ammunition stack surrounded by a plastic form that holds the ammo in place. The stack goes on top of the magazine and the ammo is pushed down and in. It’s simple and effective.

Take a look at the back of the packaging and you’ll find very specific instructions. If you follow them to the letter, it works exactly as described.

Just take off the paper packaging, pull the retaining tab at the bottom, put the device on top of an empty AR magazine and pull down the plunger. Magazine loaded. That’s it.

I tried the Pack & Load with both standard metal GI Mags as well as Magpul PMags. It fits a little tighter and is more stable on the PMags, but it worked just fine on both.

After just a couple of magazines, you’ll have the hang of it. I timed myself and by the third magazine it was taking me 10 seconds or less to load 30 rounds, from the moment I picked up the ammunition until it was loaded into the magazine. Taking the wrapper off is the longest part of the process.

It also doesn’t take much strength to load the magazines. If you have limited strength or mobility in your hands or fingers, the Pack & Load would definitely help. There’s a real market here for folks with disabilities. Watch it done here.

There are a couple of potential issues.

First, see that little retaining tab at the bottom? It’s not locked in place. You just pull it out. That means if you leave a lot of loaded Pack & Loads, say, thrown randomly into a large cardboard box (as the ones I was given were), some of those tabs will likely fall out, spilling the rounds. Keep them stacked upright or packed tightly together and that won’t be a problem.

The other issue is that sometimes a single round gets stuck at the bottom and won’t push through with the rest of the stack. I had eight Pack & Load stacks and this happened in two of them. It’s not a big deal. You loaded 29 rounds really fast instead of 30 and you’ll need to load that one extra round individually.

This is a good product if you need to load a whole lot of ammunition, especially if you are providing ammunition for a course and you need to get yourself or your students loaded back up quickly.

In addition to pre-loaded Pack & Loads, the Right Tool Company also sells them as empty units. Loading each of them takes some time, but certainly less so than a loading magazine. And then they all load into the magazine in just a few seconds.

If you know you’re going to need them at the range and have a little time between magazine loadings, putting some of these in the range bag and being ready to load wouldn’t be a bad idea.

Of course, this whole idea only works if there’s not a big surcharge for the product. Like most ammunition, Fort Scott Munitions is currently out of stock on their website, but they list the pre-loaded Pack & Loads with 55gr FMJs with a price tag of $18.49 for 30 rounds. That’s not bad. You can buy five empty Pack & Loads for $15.99.

Specifications:  Pack & Load Range Ammo

30-round pack
55gr full metal jacket range ammunition
Price: $18.49

Overall * * *
The Pack & Load is a handy product if you need to load a lot of ammunition quickly, and it doesn’t take up much more space than a magazine. Be careful how you store the loaded clips or you may end up with rounds everywhere.