U.S.A. –-(Ammoland.com)- The Raven Concealment Freya magwell started out as the Sentinal Design magwell and was sold as such until January 19, 2016, when Raven Concealment took over production and distribution of what is now called the Freya magwell.
My buddy, Chuck, the man behind the Roland Special and head honcho of Presscheck Consulting was kind enough to send over some photos of an original Sentinal Designs magwell from before Raven Concealment took the design over. If you want one of these early “sterile” magwells, Raven Concealment has done a limited run of the Freya that is as close to the original Sentinal Designs unit as possible. Find that on the Raven Concealment website if that is your jam.
There is a problem that plagues just about every Glock on the market that many choose to ignore, the stupid lip on the back side of the magwell that for whatever reason is not contoured like the rest of the magwell. The fix is to either install a grip plug or rock something even more awesome like the Raven Concealment Freya magwell.
Breaking into the package like a kid at Christmas, the Raven Concealment Freya comes with everything you need to install the magwell on your gun. They were even kind enough to include a pair of hex wrenches to tighten the included screws when installing the magwell. The magwell is made from quality aluminum and has a type III hard coat anodization.
Installing the Raven Concealment Freya is crazy simple and doesn’t require a degree in rocket surgery or even underwater basket weaving. The first step is to install the butt plug (heh, butt) into the offending cavity in the rear of the frame. The part is perfectly machined to fit into the void and creates a seamless ramp on the back side of the magwell and takes a single screw with thread locker already applied to keep the butt plug inside the grip.
Step two is to lay the leading edge of the magwell on the front of the grip and lay the rear flush with the bottom of the grip then secure it with the screw. See, not underwater rocket weaving.
The magwell only adds a bit of size to the butt of the gun while retaining much of the benefit of larger race gun style of magwell. The small shelf that gets added to the bottom of the grip really helps force the shooter’s hand higher on the gun to increase their recoil mitigation abilities as well as give you a really nice reference point when establishing your grip during a draw.
Sliding a factory 15 round Glock 19 mag into the gun is a snap now with no possible edges inside the magwell to cause you to bobble a reload. The magwell also works well with most mag extensions like the factory plus two, Arrendondo +2 and +5, Magpul Speed plates, and Dawson Precision’s tool-less mag extensions as well as others.
The Freya does an excellent job of providing a smooth funnel that makes mag changes a snap, no longer is that hangup point in the back of the magwell an issue. As an added benefit, the bump on the bottom of the front strap gives you a nice reference point for establishing a nice, high grip to best mitigate recoil.
The real question is can the pistol still be concealed with the magwell installed? It sure as heck can. I am able to pack the Glock 19 with all the fancy bits that make up a Roland Special inside a purpose-built Roland Special holster from Raven Concealment.
MSRP on the Raven Concealment Freya is $94.99, well in line with other aluminum magwells on the market. Make sure to check out Raven Concealment for more information on the Freya.
About Patrick R.
Patrick is a firearms enthusiast that values the quest for not only the best possible gear setup, but also pragmatic ways to improve his shooting skills across a wide range of disciplines. He values truthful, honest information above all else and had committed to cutting through marketing fluff to deliver the truth. You can find the rest of his work on FirearmRack.com as well as on the YouTube channel Firearm Rack or Instagram at @thepatrickroberts.
Still running a Gen 1 17 and a 26 gen 3 that I’ve carried both on and off duty. This is a non issue. If you cant hit the magwell it doesn’t need a product it needs practice.
Interestingly enough, serious dudes that use guns in very dangerous places seem to disagree. If you can remove a failure point that might foul a reload, especially if you are being shot at, why not?