ETS C.A.M. Universal Loader for Rifles Review

Last year I picked up an MP5k clone made by PTR Industries.  I have really been enjoying the gun, I even registered it as a Short Barreled Rifle and put a stock on it a few months after owning it.  One day I was walking through a local Murdoch's and noticed an ETS Universal Loader for rifles.  I noticed that they said it could be used for pistol caliber magazines in addition to rifle calibers.  They claimed it would work with 9mm, .223, 300 blk, 5.45x39, 7.62x39 and 308.  I figured that loading my MP5 magazines and potentially Colt SMG magazines easier would be worth the price, so I bought it to try out.

MSRP for the C.A.M loader is $30, which is pretty close to the price of a MagLULA loader, which is around $25.  I already had a MagLULA for the Colt SMG magazines and another for pistol magazines.  It works great, but you load one bullet at a time and for the Colt SMG or MP5 magazines you need a specific loader for each magazine type.  The C.A.M. loader doesn't lock onto the magazine, but it does give you the option to use one loader for most double stack rifle magazines.

First off, I typically throw all of my reloaded pistol ammo in bulk boxes, so I had to find some factory ammo sitting around to be able to strip the rounds properly.  You can single feed the rounds from a bulk box onto the loader, but you lose some of the speed of using a speed loader.  With a factory 9mm box you can run the loader length-wise and pick up 10 rounds at a time.  Once the rounds are on the loader, you use the handle to push them down into the magazine.  If you hold the magazine into the speed loader as you pick up rounds and have the handle ready to use, you can load a 30 round magazine in a matter of seconds.  

First Impressions

When I first tried this with the MP5 magazines I was expecting it to work OK, but potentially have some issues with getting the last few rounds in.  With MP5 magazines from HK and ETS I found all 30 rounds went smoothly and quickly into the magazine without an issue.  After one range session I was sold on the speed loader and picked up some plastic 9mm boxes to be able to store my reloads.

Since this was a "universal loader" I wanted to try as many other options as possible to see what worked and what didn't.  Sticking with the 9mm theme, I also loaded some Colt SMG magazines and tried out some borrowed CZ Scorpion magazines.  I then tried loading 223 into Magpul and USGI style magazines and finally loaded some 6.5 Creedmoor ammo into 308 pattern Magpul magazines.  Overall, the loader worked well with everything I tried.  I'll mention a couple quirks with the Scorpion down below and unfortunately I didn't have any 7.62x39 or 5.45x39 options to test out.

It's been over a year since I bought the loader and I am very happy with it.  It primarily gets used for the MP5 magazines and the occasional Colt SMG magazine.  With a handful of magazines, several boxes of ammo set out and just a couple minutes I can have hundreds of rounds loaded.  

Complaints

I have had a couple issues.  The narrow MP5 magazines work really well, but the fatter Scorpion magazines, primarily those from Magpul can be a pain.  You have to have the Magpul Scorpion magazine lined up just right for the rounds to feed smoothly.  This isn't a major issues, especially after you try it a few times and get used to where to line up the magazine.  

The second issue I have had is with 308 sized ammo.  There are two grooves that pick up ammo, a small and a large.  The small grove works for 9mm, 223, etc and is deeper in the loader.  The larger groove is towards the outside edge and is for 308 and large case heads.  When I first bought the loader I could run 308 or 6.5 Creedmoor rounds into a Magpul AR-10 magazine with ease.  Since I don't normally use those magazines, I didn't try it again until making the YouTube video above.  When I tried it for the video, I noticed that the larger channel barely allowed the rounds to move and I couldn't get them all the way down to the magazine.  I'm not sure what caused the issue, but it looks like the bottom portion that holds the magazine in place is bent in, creating a gap too narrow to feed larger rounds.  

Conclusion

Overall, I've have been very happy with this loader for what I bought it for.  It has worked great for 9mm and 223 magazines.  If you are wanting to load 308 case sized ammo, I'm not sure if this will work as well for you.

Have you used this loader, or do you prefer a different one?  Let me know in the comments below.

90 Day Form 4 E-File

Tired of waiting a year to get your suppressor?  In December of 2021 the ATF opened up the e-file system for Form 4 transfers by individuals and trusts.  Claiming 90 day transfers, what does the system really look like?  Take a look at this review and the video below to hear my experience with the e-file Form 4 and my 99 day approval.

Over the past several years I have purchased several suppressors and had to wait anywhere from 4 months to just over 13 months to get the paper Form 4 approved by the ATF.  As a comparison, you have been able to build a suppressor with the Form 1 e-file process for a few years.  In fact, I have created 2 SBRs with the Form 1 process and both were within a couple days of a 30 day approval.  That's a huge difference compared to the current wait of nearly a year for paper Form 4s.  See an older video towards the bottom of this post that talks about the Form 1 process.

Around the Black Friday shopping season last year (2021) I decided to take advantage of the SilencerCO buy one get one sale to buy a second Omega 300 suppressor.  Not only would this allow me to avoid swapping a hot suppressor at the range, but I would get a free SilencerCO Octane.  I bought the suppressor through Silencer Shop and was contacted about e-file.  The ATF was claiming that the e-file system for Form 4s would be available in December of 2021.  

Silencer Shop asked if I was interested in waiting for the e-file system to come online to submit my Form 4, or if I would rather just submit the paper form and get it started.  I looked up the trends on paper Form 4 and noticed that they were running about a year from submission to approval.  The ATF was expecting and Silencer Shop was pushing a 90 day approval time frame.  I figured there may be some difficulties and a mass submission as they started, but decided that I would probably still come out ahead compared to the year long wait.

As expected there were some issues with the ATF getting the site up and then being able to keep it up and running as thousands of people submitted tax stamps.  Added on to that, there was some learning curve for Silencer Shop and my local dealer to figure out the proper way to submit the form online and have me as the customer certify it from my end.  Ultimately, it wasn't until January 27th that the dealer completed the Form 4 and it was officially in the hands of the ATF.  

As I've been through the Form 4 process a few times before, the next item of business was to sit back and wait.  Finally, on May 6th I received an e-mail from the ATF that my Form 4 was approved and a PDF of the tax stamp was attached.  About an hour later I received an e-mail from the dealer that they received confirmation that it was approved and I could come pick up my suppressor.  

All together it took 99 days for the stamp itself to be approved, or about 5 months total if you count the wait before the actual submission of the paperwork.  When I checked the trends for paper Form 4 approvals at the beginning of May, it looked like they were taking around 10+ months for approval.  So even with the two month wait, I still received approval in about half the time as I would have with a paper submission.

Overall, I was pleased with how much faster the approval took.  A couple weeks after I picked up my Omega 300 I was notified that the BOGO Octane from SilencerCO was at my dealer.  We submitted that second e-file about a week ago and I am curious how long it will take for this second suppressor to be approved.

Have you used the e-file process yet?  Are you more interested in purchasing a suppressor with the reduced wait time?  Let me know in the comment section below.