The Nordic Components Magazine Release is an aftermarket part designed, in part, to fill the tactical 10/22 niche. Created especially for pistol gripped stocks, it allows the user to eject magazines with the firing hand, as opposed to the traditional method of taking your weak hand off of the gun and manipulating the release, ala AK or G3/MP5, etc… This product makes magazine changes much quicker, simpler, and makes tactically modded 10/22s much more ergonomically pleasing.

A Nordic Components representative posting on www.rimfirecentral.com made me aware of this product. The representative displayed pictures of the product “in the white”, straight off the mills, and mentioned five free samples for whoever emailed him their info. I naturally jumped on this offer, and promptly received a response telling me I had made the cutoff. The product shipped quickly, and was packaged professionally. Simple, easy to understand illustrations were included.

Installation of the Nordic Components release is a breeze. Simply take your barreled action out of the stock and lay it on its back, “belly up”. Depress the magazine plunger with your finger, and tap out the pin. Remove the stock release, and then reverse the process, putting in the new release and reinserting the pin. Make sure to keep the plunger depressed throughout the process so the holes align correctly. Place your action back in the stock and tighten any screws/barrel bands. Function test once or twice and you are ready to go!

First impressions are everything, and the Nordic release does not disappoint. CNC cut aluminum with a bead blasted, anodized black finish, this is a stout product. It mounts up firmly, with only a negligible amount of room to wiggle. The color matches that of the stock receiver and trigger group almost perfectly.

I must admit I was initially critical of how well the release would function. Coming from the OEM product, I am accustomed to taking my non-firing hand off of the fore stock, moving it to the mag, and manipulating the release. With the Nordic, you must keep both hands on the carbine, as if you were still firing. If you take your non-firing hand off of the stock while using the Nordic release, then there is a good chance the magazine will not drop, as the release is not engaging fully. Using this revised method, the Nordic release cuts my mag change times in half, eliminating a few complete motions, and generally simplifying the process.

The product works equally well during practice and on the range or in the field. I have put roughly 200 rounds through the weapon with the Nordic release, and though a meager amount, it has shown me no troubles so far. The one snag I have run into is the bolt catch. The Nordic has a cut in the left side of the release to allow for proper engagement of the catch. Regardless of this cut however, if you have stubby fingers, like me, the added bulk of the Nordic release makes engagement of the bolt catch more difficult. This is the only negative aspect of the product I have run into thus far, and in all honesty, does not really affect function of the carbine. The only time I personally use the bolt catch, is when I lay down my carbine to retrieve or score targets, if however you use your bolt catch more often, than you might need to consider a work around, or, possibly, another style of release.

In summary, this product is well worth the roughly $30 price tag. It may not be fully appreciated by shooters of traditionally stocked carbines, but for the tactical 10/22 fanatic, then this is the only aftermarket release you should consider. It is one of the few products on the market I am aware of allowing the magazine to be released with your firing hand, further closing the functional gap that exists between a tactical 10/22 and an AR15 or similar weapon. I recommend this product to other shooters with no qualms.

Thanks to Nordic Components for allowing me to review this product. I greatly appreciate it.