View Full Version : British Steel Surplus Magazines
Hey All,
This thread is more for those of us that live in ban states, so if you could avoid the 'buy pmags' comments that would be great...;)
I recently had a British steel surplus magazine bite the dust in a very interesting way, and I am curious if any of you have experience with these magazines?
These mags are plentiful in NY state as there seems to be a ton of them in surplus. Their priced sky high, but are actually one of the few pre-ban items that are out there. I am curious what peoples results have been with them? Please post your thoughts, and then i will update in the afternoon tomorrow with what happened to mine.
Failure2Stop
06-02-10, 06:14
I worked in the UK for nearly three years, all the while dealing with the HK SA80 mags.
They are decent mags if you are paying USGI prices for them.
They are susceptible to all common aliments of steel mags- bent feed-lips, dented bodies, occasional rust.
The springs weren't all that great, but not really bad.
They work with 30 rounds.
They work as well as USGI mags in M16 pattern weapons.
I wouldn't turn up my nose at them if they were my only option.
I worked in the UK for nearly three years, all the while dealing with the HK SA80 mags.
They are decent mags if you are paying USGI prices for them.
They are susceptible to all common aliments of steel mags- bent feed-lips, dented bodies, occasional rust.
The springs weren't all that great, but not really bad.
They work with 30 rounds.
They work as well as USGI mags in M16 pattern weapons.
I wouldn't turn up my nose at them if they were my only option.
All of the above. As a ban-stater myself, (thanks Mitt) - the Steel SA80's are good to go, but I'm curious what "sky-high" is in New York State. I bought 5 at $17.00 a piece new in the wrapper. I wouldn't pay much more than that. The problem is buying them from FFL's, (at least some). A dealer out this way had a giant box of pre-ban thrashed USGI mags going for $39.99 - $49.99 per. It's a free-market, but I was buying NIW LaBelle's for $15.00 a piece and selling them for $15.00 a piece. Good luck out there - NY is getting to the point where MA gun laws look good...
New, in the package, they are going for $30 each here in MA.
New, in the package, they are going for $30 each here in MA.
At a dealer? If folks look around on the classifieds, they can be had for half - perhaps a little more than that. The upside of the Pmag revolution is people are getting rid of their pre-ban USGI's, Israeli and SA80's. If you're paying $30.00 per - even here in MA, you're paying too much. We did a lower receiver group buy over on NES, (my regional forum) and I went on a mission to find pre-bans. The most expensive mags I found were NIW LaBelle's at $20.00 per. SA-80's were between $15 and $17.00...YMMV.
m1a_scoutguy
06-02-10, 10:30
They are decent mags if you are paying USGI prices for them.
They are susceptible to all common aliments of steel mags- bent feed-lips, dented bodies, occasional rust.
The springs weren't all that great, but not really bad.
They work with 30 rounds.
They work as well as USGI mags in M16 pattern weapons.
I wouldn't turn up my nose at them if they were my only option.
I agree,,I have a bunch of these Mags and they work great. Any mag I buy I always change out the Spring & install a Magpul follower and all is well !! If you can find them reasonable buy a bunch of them !!! I have bought a bunch of them off the Web (TOS) & never paid more than $12 with shipping,,ya just gotta watch and wait !!! And yes I agree that with everyone going to Pmags,,it is a Bounus for us guys behind enemy lines !!! :D Thanks Magpul,,,:D
I picked up a handful awhile back. The first thing I did was degrease, and coat them with Norrells. I pulled the stock followers and dropped in Magpul followers. They are stout mags, and while they don't get much use, I've never had a problem with them.
Well guys thank for the feedback. Much appreciated.
So the mag in question for me had an interesting way of kicking the bucket. We were shooting on Monday and my friend loaded in the steel mag, locked it in place, took one shot, and the mag fell out into his hand. (he uses the mag well as a hold). Re-seats the mag, takes another shot, falls out again. This happened until there were about 25 rounds in the magazine.
Out of pure curiosity, we try it again, same results.
Once I examined the magazine we noticed that the rectangular notch cut out for the hold/release was wallowed out something fierce. It was bent in such a way as to create two nice little ramps for the magazine to slip down and out of the gun.
I later checked all of my pre-ban USGI and saw none of this, as well as his personal magazines that he had in Iraq, and not a single one of them shows wear like this.
Is this a common way for metal magazines to kick the bucket???
I too have some. I rattle canned them with some tan camo and put magpul followers in them. One or two of them have bent feedlips, but not enough to cause malfs. These mags are always in my range tote, and I've never had any problems with them.
Failure2Stop
06-02-10, 13:51
Is this a common way for metal magazines to kick the bucket???
It happens.
Magazines are an expendible item.
Once they fail to perform, dump 'em.
There are rare instances where a bad mag can be revived. Don't get married to 'em.
So the mag in question for me had an interesting way of kicking the bucket. We were shooting on Monday and my friend loaded in the steel mag, locked it in place, took one shot, and the mag fell out into his hand. (he uses the mag well as a hold). Re-seats the mag, takes another shot, falls out again. This happened until there were about 25 rounds in the magazine.
Ah YES!!! I've had mine so long that I forgot about this. I had to file open the top of the mag catch hole on these mags to get this problem corrected. Take a small flat file and relieve the top of the hole until it locks into the gun right. Damn! That was a long time ago.
This was a fairly common issue if I remember correctly. Make this mod, and the mags will be fine.
Yea, I work with a guy that spends way to much time learning about guns, and no time shooting them (you know the type). He mentioned to me that this was a common problem at one point.
I realize that mags are a throw away item, but when you live in a ban state, and a new pre ban mag, with the bad follower costs minimum $20 at a gun show, or up to $50 at a shop, throwing them away becomes a painful ordeal. I will try filling the wallowed edges, and see if I can run it. It runs fine with 20 or less rounds in it, maybe I will just keep it as a mag I load ten rounds in when I'm shooting with friends.
Failure2Stop
06-02-10, 15:18
Sorry, forgot about the whole ban-state thing.
I just trash bad mags.
Sounds like markm's recommendation may rectify your situation.
Well it's better then throwing it out, so we will see!!!
Well it's better then throwing it out, so we will see!!!
I really should work. It fixed my 3 mags.
At a dealer? If folks look around on the classifieds, they can be had for half - perhaps a little more than that. The upside of the Pmag revolution is people are getting rid of their pre-ban USGI's, Israeli and SA80's. If you're paying $30.00 per - even here in MA, you're paying too much. We did a lower receiver group buy over on NES, (my regional forum) and I went on a mission to find pre-bans. The most expensive mags I found were NIW LaBelle's at $20.00 per. SA-80's were between $15 and $17.00...YMMV.
Yep, at a dealer (not gonna mention any names). New in the package Imperials are $30. I'm on NES, too. I was at a place in Quincy a few months ago, and he had beat-to-crap used ones for $69 each! :eek:
Yep, at a dealer (not gonna mention any names). New in the package Imperials are $30. I'm on NES, too. I was at a place in Quincy a few months ago, and he had beat-to-crap used ones for $69 each! :eek:
Wow man - that's crazy. Like I said - free market, but that's just out there. If you run short, drop me a PM, or check the classifieds here at M4C - there's tons of USGI's out there at decent prices. There's a gun show in West Springfield this weekend and I can already feel people getting ripped off.
For the SA-80/USGI owners behind enemy lines: Check your state laws. In MA for example, mags are regulated to pre-ban, but there's nothing in state law that regulates magazine components. So rebuild em if you can and keep the mags in the state...For free-staters, clean out your closets and ammo cans for pre-94 USGI's - we need them out here....
For free-staters, clean out your closets and ammo cans for pre-94 USGI's - we need them out here....
Seriously, that would be awesome!!! We could call it the "M4Carbine Update Your Mags, and Help Out A Brother In Need" program.
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