Hello AGN,
I mostly use the original (older, pre-FX branded) aluminum Sideshot magazines with both my 0.25 (pellets) and 0.22 (slugs) Impacts. I was looking to pick up a couple of extras in each caliber but didn't feel like paying $100+ for each one - so when I saw that @ORION started selling his own version of the Impact magazines, I ordered two magazines in each caliber in various colors. As many of you know, ORION has a stellar reputation here on the forum and I'd long thought about buying his upgraded inserts to convert my FX branded plastic magazines . . . but now that he was selling whole magazines with the inserts already installed for about 1/2 to 1/3 the cost of the original Sideshot mag, it was a no-brainer to me.
ORION shipped my order within a couple of days of payment and I got them about a week after placing the order. Well, that was in late December 2021 and I FINALLY got the chance to play with them this weekend so I wanted to share my initial impressions for anyone thinking about buying some. Here's the summary:
PRO's:
POTENTIAL AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT:
SUMMARY: If you're in the market for some Impact magazines, you should definitely pick some up from ORION. You won't find a better value AND you can pick whatever colors you want! Trust me, you can thank me later! You can find Orion's site at: https://orioniguanahunter.com/
And here are a few photos showing the mags and how they fit in my 0.25 M3...
I mostly use the original (older, pre-FX branded) aluminum Sideshot magazines with both my 0.25 (pellets) and 0.22 (slugs) Impacts. I was looking to pick up a couple of extras in each caliber but didn't feel like paying $100+ for each one - so when I saw that @ORION started selling his own version of the Impact magazines, I ordered two magazines in each caliber in various colors. As many of you know, ORION has a stellar reputation here on the forum and I'd long thought about buying his upgraded inserts to convert my FX branded plastic magazines . . . but now that he was selling whole magazines with the inserts already installed for about 1/2 to 1/3 the cost of the original Sideshot mag, it was a no-brainer to me.
ORION shipped my order within a couple of days of payment and I got them about a week after placing the order. Well, that was in late December 2021 and I FINALLY got the chance to play with them this weekend so I wanted to share my initial impressions for anyone thinking about buying some. Here's the summary:
PRO's:
- They look GREAT! The ability to choose the color of the inserts means that there's a probably perfect color combo for everyone.
- The quality is excellent. Both the printing and materials used are very high quality and they don't feel like some cheap, low quality alternative. The slightly rough exterior texture provides a nice non-slip grip when handling the mags.
- The interior inserts fit both (JSB) pellets and (NSA) slugs perfectly, unlike the factory FX inserts that can be fairly sloppy when used with slugs.
- The magnetic closure is easier/faster to use than the rotating clip on the factory mags; the magnets a plenty strong so there's no worry of the cover coming off unintentionally.
- They function perfectly. I've tried each magazine and they all cycle smoothly. A couple of my plastic FX mags would occasionally have cycling issues but I've not had any cycling malfunctions with ORION's mags; the spring tension appears to be set perfectly.
- They're an incredible value for what you get - you can buy 2 or 3 of ORION's magazines for the cost of 1 FX/Sideshot mag . . . what's not to love about that???
POTENTIAL AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT:
- The lattice design of the magnetic cover can make it a little difficult to see how many pellets/slugs are left in the mag. Perhaps the openings where the pellets/slugs sit can be made a little bigger (without allowing them to fall out of course) to improve visibility a bit.
- The only other thing I can think of is that I hope ORION will make and sell speedloaders to go with his magazines. I've gotten used to using speedloaders with my various Impact mags and ORION's mags deserve to have them own matching speedloaders.
SUMMARY: If you're in the market for some Impact magazines, you should definitely pick some up from ORION. You won't find a better value AND you can pick whatever colors you want! Trust me, you can thank me later! You can find Orion's site at: https://orioniguanahunter.com/
And here are a few photos showing the mags and how they fit in my 0.25 M3...
