Colt AR-15 marked 20 round magazines w/ metal followers, questions.

[Roadblock]

Some guy just came into my shop with a bunch of M4/M16 mags, whole box full.

Said he had them from when he was in the service and found them while cleaning the garage. I went threw the box and found a bunch of worn to hell gold'ish colored mags with black followers in them (really old) then I found 6 still in the package 20 rounders at the bottom.

The floor plated are marked COLT AR-15 and the followers are silver'ish and metal.

Can anyone tell me anything about these? Would it be worth it to update the followers to say the green ones or maybe some Magpul's or are these A'OK the way they are?

I paid $20 bucks for all 6 of them. I figured they would be good for bench shooting because the 30 rounder's stick down too far for most bench rests at my local range.

[ST911]

With new springs, GTG.

They may be of greater benefit to someone in a ban state. Consider helping out a brother behind enemy lines.

[Roadblock]

OK!

I just found this on Google.

Army and late Air Force contract 20 round. Circa 1969 to 1971. Dull alloy
followers. Marked Colt Firearm Division" w/pony and "5.56 MM" on floorplate.
(These usually sell for $20 to $45 at gun shows.) I usually have these in stock.

Note: The general rule is that pre-1969 20 round Colt-made magazines are
marked ""CAL. .223" and that 1969 and later production 20s are marked "CAL.
5.56MM"

Army and late Air Force contract 20 round. Circa 1966 to 1971. Dull alloy
followers. Most marked Colt w/pony. A few are marked Simmonds or
Adventureline on floorplate. Usually $20 to $40 ea. (Actually these are more
scarce than Colt made 20s, but few collectors realize it, and oddly they
pay more for Colts!) I usually have these in stock.

I'll have to go look and see what they exactly say in a sec but it has to be one of those two. Looks like they might be a bit of a collectors item.

http://www.rawles.to/AR-15_M16_Magazine_FAQ.html


With new springs, GTG.

They may be of greater benefit to someone in a ban state. Consider helping out a brother behind enemy lines.

I have probably 200+ pre-1994 30 AR mags sitting here. I work in a tactical supply shop, we get them in on trade all the time from local military (we are by a base) and police. I always sort threw and toss the ones with cracked feed lips. Never thought to offer them to people in "ban" states.

[ForTehNguyen]

pre ban states residents are gonna be all over this. Anti tilts are worth it, reliability increases greatly and its a cheap mod. Does it still comply if you change to anti tilt followers? Just make sure the feed lips arent out of spec as well

[Roadblock]

Well please understand I wasn't trying to sell anything, I would have never thought to offer them outside of the state LOL. :p

[Roadblock]

Question...

I was just going threw a bunch of them and like I see some with black followers with dates like 7-91, 2-93 etc. I also have others with black followers with NO date markings. Can I assume those are pre-ban too?

A lot of them are marked COLT, Adventure Line or OKay Industries. Some have no dates and blank floor plates too.

[MassMark]

OK!

I just found this on Google.

Army and late Air Force contract 20 round. Circa 1969 to 1971. Dull alloy
followers. Marked Colt Firearm Division" w/pony and "5.56 MM" on floorplate.
(These usually sell for $20 to $45 at gun shows.) I usually have these in stock.

Note: The general rule is that pre-1969 20 round Colt-made magazines are
marked ""CAL. .223" and that 1969 and later production 20s are marked "CAL.
5.56MM"

Army and late Air Force contract 20 round. Circa 1966 to 1971. Dull alloy
followers. Most marked Colt w/pony. A few are marked Simmonds or
Adventureline on floorplate. Usually $20 to $40 ea. (Actually these are more
scarce than Colt made 20s, but few collectors realize it, and oddly they
pay more for Colts!) I usually have these in stock.

I'll have to go look and see what they exactly say in a sec but it has to be one of those two. Looks like they might be a bit of a collectors item.

http://www.rawles.to/AR-15_M16_Magazine_FAQ.html



I have probably 200+ pre-1994 30 AR mags sitting here. I work in a tactical supply shop, we get them in on trade all the time from local military (we are by a base) and police. I always sort threw and toss the ones with cracked feed lips. Never thought to offer them to people in "ban" states.

I've found good, caring, active homes for nearly 1,000 pre-ban magazines behind enemy lines, (here in Massachusetts and at zero profit to myself)....Folks right here on M4C have been very helpful. We can't be trusted with Pmags here, so we tend to gobble pre-94's up...if you or anyone wants to find homes for your pre-bans, let me know and I'll guide you to anxious parents... ;)

if you ever want to get

[Fullbird]

First, hold on to a few mags to use on the range. They are very reliable unless damaged.
Second, disassemble each one, clean out dust & dirt and reassemble.
Third, unless the follower is defective, reuse it because most of the non-tilt type followers will not work in these mags. Even if they did, the gain in reliability is marginal because non-tilt followers were designed primarily for curved 20 & 30rd mags.
Finally, I have a couple of dozen of these 20rd 1960 era mags that I have been using for over 40 years, including some that have seen extensive field use. I have yet to have a single FTF with these mags.

[jaygee]

In my experience, these are some of the best AR mags ever made. This assumes
that the lips and springs are still good. I have a bunch from twenty plus years ago
and they work flawlessly, just as is. Keep 'em clean...and I probably wouldn't keep
'em fully loaded for long periods at this point in their lives, at least not without new
springs. This is good old fashioned AR goodness! :)

[usmc6177]

As a Ban State guy I can state that anything that has a pre 94 stamp on it will get you good money in NY. I personally will not pay over 10 bucks for a preban but there are guys who will cough up for the premium.
Gun boards have been a boon for ban staters as normally if you wanted to get a preban in state at a gun show or shop you were going to get gored. The power of the interwebs has driven the price of preban gear down

[seb5]

I too have sent many to preban states over the years. I live by a base and used to get them for $3.00 to $5.00 each. Those days are long gone. I did put back 12 Colt 20's several years ago. I guess I should let them go or trade for P-mags to someone who has need of them. I think the last batch I paid $7.00 each.