I recently purchased a couple of packages of the Vickers Tactical/Tango Down Glock magazine base pads for my 9mm magazines that I use in IDPA and USPSA competition. As I quickly discovered, removal of the factory base pads from my dedicated 10 round restricted magazines was a less than enjoyable activity. Not only are the tabs on both sides of the magazines difficult to slide the factory base pad over, the magazine spring insert on a dedicated 10 round magazine will not compress more than say 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch due to it coming into contact with the indentations found inside that magazine body that are used to effectively limit magazine capacity. It became clear rather quickly that there must be some form of tool that would at the very least compress slightly the sides of the magazine body in the vicinity of the base pad retaining tabs to assist with base pad removal. An internet search revealed the GTUL magazine disassembly tool.

The GTUL is a plastic sleeve in which that magazine slides into with the base pad facing up. The GTUL tool has two compression points that line up with the base pad retaining tabs and when you squeeze the GTUL in the palm of your hand, the compression points provide enough pressure on the sides of the magazine to assist in removing the base pads from the magazine. Prior to your squeezing the GTUL in the palm of your hand…you will need to insert your Glock take-down tool and compress the retaining plate into the body of the magazine. This technique works perfectly for standard capacity magazines but you will need to add an extra step when disassembling the dedicated 10 round only magazines.

On a tip from my good friend and shooting partner Anthony Pluretti, who picked up this valuable tip while earning his Glock Armorers certification, on the dedicated 10 round magazines, once you insert your disassembly tool, position the tool so the tip of the tool is located between the forward body of the magazine and the retaining plate. When you do so, then compress the GTUL and apply forward pressure until the magazine base pad comes loose from the magazine body. This technique provides you the leverage necessary to remove the base pad and keeps the magazine insert plate out of the way during the removal process. After trying this technique, removing dedicated 10 round magazine base pads has become a much easier task to undertake.

Log on to http://www.mygtul.com for more information. The GTUL product is available for both small and large frame Glock magazines and is also available in kit form that includes a combination disassembly tool and magazine brush.

See the attached video for a visual demonstration….Thanks GTUL !