Ram your AR-15 magazines with a Ram-It speed loader, your fingers will thank you.
A day at the range is fun. Well, there are some un-fun parts. You know … taping targets, picking up brass and loading magazines.
Fortunately, J&M Innovative Products (aka Fastloaders.com) has a solution to that last one: Their Ram-It patent-pending gizmo makes loading an AR-15 magazine easy.
The tool is bigger than a magazine, so it won’t fit into your pocket … but that also makes it easier to keep track of. (This has a good chance of being “lost” at the range, if you aren’t careful.) And it fits nicely in your range bag next to the magazines it will load.
The system is easy. Take the main housing and slide it onto a magazine. It locks in place, using the magazine latch slot. If you’re using loose ammo, slide the rear plate off, drop rounds into the slot and slide the plate back on. Then, use the rammer to shove them into the magazine.
If you have ammo in boxes, use the extra back plate. Slide its slot over the rims of the boxed rounds and lift them out of the box. Slide the back plate into the Ram-It, and—bingo—use the rammer.
You can even use rounds that are already on stripper clips. Slide the stripper clips into the Ram-It body without the back plate there and shove the rounds into the magazine.
This is cool, but why spend $40 to load magazines? Simple: It makes life easier.
Unlike the spoon found with a bandolier of ammo, the Ram-It locks onto the magazine. And unlike the GI method, you don’t use your hand to strip rounds—you’ve got the tool for that. I’ve seen more than one instance of someone at a Patrol Rifle class using USGI strippers who ended up bleeding from one sharp edge or another. The spoon is small and easily lost (and bends when stepped on), while the Ram-It isn’t.
You can get your Ram-It in colors—Desert Tan, gray and FDE. And for those who are shooting the big bores, they make one for the AR-10 platform as well.
When I load magazines, I do it in one of two settings. If I’m testing a rifle, I load five of this, then five of that, and so on. It’s a hassle, but it’s hard to justify a magazine loader for that. When I’m practicing, training or competing, however, I load up my magazines with only the one type of ammo I’m using. That’s where a speed loader like the Ram-It (and I have mine, so I’m set) makes life easier.
As I said, the Ram-It is too big to fit in a pocket, but that makes it easier to manipulate. And, because it’s molded plastic, its size makes it perfect for some stencils and spray paint … because you’re going to want to put your initials on yours to warn off otherwise-envious shooters.
I’m not saying the guys at your gun club can’t be trusted, just that they will be giving your Ram-It an “I want one of those” looks.
Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in the April 2025 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
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