Engineering Student Invents Firearm Accessory to Speed Up Magazine Loading Process

A Liberty University sophomore is using his engineering and entrepreneurial skills to bring a firearm speed-loading invention to life that will offer users a faster, more efficient way to load a gun.

Innovation is often bred from necessity, and mechanical engineering student John Coggins saw a need as a firearm user.

“Loading a firearm magazine is the most time-consuming part of firearms training,” Coggins said. “It can also be strenuous after time or in colder temperatures.” 

The plastic speed loaders that often come with Glock purchases are made of cheap plastic, so they break easily and are often lost. 

According to Coggins, his “Quick-Clip” invention attaches to the bottom of a firearm magazine and allows the spring to be temporarily released from the bottom.

“[My speed loader] allows for ergonomic handling of a firearm and it attaches to the gun, making it impossible to lose,” Coggins said. “Commonly at the shooting range I found myself and others struggling to reload or use the speed loaders currently on the market – the problem may have had a solution, but it needed a newer, better solution.” 

Coggins explained how his invention will make shooting and reloading much quicker for firearm users.

“This release in spring tension makes it faster and easier to put the rounds in a magazine,” Coggins said. “Once the magazine is loaded, the attachment is simply locked back into place and the magazine is ready to use.” 

Coggins was only 17 when the process began. He was able to file a Utility Patent application as an LLC, bought a cheap 3-D printer and began making prototypes. 

When Coggins arrived at Liberty, his ideas began to come to life through connections he made in the engineering program and the LU Center for Entrepreneurship. 

“With the help of Alex Barker at the Center for Entrepreneurship, I learned everything I needed to get my product to market,” Coggins said. “I [also] got help from other Liberty engineering students and came up with a design I was happy with.”

Although he has experienced glitches with patent laws and financial troubles, Coggins expressed that things have always worked out to move forward with the business. He attained the funding he needed to get past the first phase of product development through a Shark Tank-style pitch competition and will now move forward in a deal with a company similar to Magpul, Glock or Sig Sauer.

“It has been about two or three years now, and I have gathered a full team of experts in business, marketing and engineering,” he said. “We plan to release my product and hopefully adapt [it] to various numbers of magazines in the market today.”

Coggins plans to take his company, Atlas Armory, and the Quick-Clip as far as he can in the future.

“I see great things for Atlas, but know it will not be my only focus in the future,” Coggins said. “I have other interests and goals as many engineers and entrepreneurs do, but I am excited to see where this leads.”

The official company website is theatlasarmory.com and can be found on Instagram
@atlasarmory.

Kayleigh Hamer is a Copy Editor. View her LinkedIn profile here.