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Thread: Product Improvements to GI-style magazines

  1. #1
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    Product Improvements to GI-style magazines

    I've read that M-16/M-4 magazines were initially intended to be disposable, but of course now that's not the case, with troops being issued a certain number and being accountable for their return.

    Now that the military considers magazines to be non-disposable, what changes over time have been made to the original GI design? Are materials different? Tolerances? What makes today's GI magazines substantially different from the old throw-away designs originally fielded?
    This isn't an illegal gun, it's an "undocumented protection device". Don't be so insensitive.

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    As far as I'm aware, the original 20 round straight mag was designed properly from the start and had no revisions.

    Features include a heat treated aluminum body, dry film finish and stainless steel spring.

    They are reported to be very reliable.

    The 30 round mag was a later adaptation, but suffers from the partially straight/ partially curved geometry that complicates feeding.

    Magpul followers provide a significant improvement in 30 rounders.


    GI mags work well, provided the feed lips are in good shape.

    Feedlips can get worn out from use or damaged from being dropped.

    If the feedlips are worn out, spreading or damaged, the mag should be used for training only.
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  3. #3
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    So there haven't been significant revisions to the original magazine designs, besides followers? That's interesting. Obviously, properly built GI magazines are very reliable, but I find it strange that something designed to be disposable proved to accidentally be sufficiently strong to last many years.
    This isn't an illegal gun, it's an "undocumented protection device". Don't be so insensitive.

  4. #4
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    They still are intended to be disposable.

    I highly doubt that the military will be asking for a mag count and discipline if your short a few mags after a fire fight.

  5. #5
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    As far as I'm aware, the original 20 round straight mag was designed properly from the start and had no revisions.
    Does anyone know what the going price was for this magazine before the ban talk? Was it about $10 new?

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    Quote Originally Posted by tb-av View Post
    Does anyone know what the going price was for this magazine before the ban talk? Was it about $10 new?
    Online sellers had 20-round GI style mags for $13-18.
    This isn't an illegal gun, it's an "undocumented protection device". Don't be so insensitive.

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    Really in a way they are still "disposable" as in, use them until they wear out and then replace them. They are classified as an expendable item (less than 100$ in value and not consumed in use) as opposed to a durable or consumable. They also (from what I've seen) aren't tracked that closely. Usually the only grief a CDR may have from a property standpoint is that 1 magazine is listed as BII for the M16 FOW and thus is responsible for 1 mag per M4 on his property book. An infantry company will always have enough to cover this and excess magazines are not added to the property books (again from what I've seen other units may, depends on the units PBO). So how accountability was supposed to work was when a soldier was issued mags, usually the armorer issued it to him on a 2062 hand receipt, and when it came time to clear the unit he would turn in however many mags he had signed for on the 2062. In reality that hand receipt would usually get lost in the shuffle of deployments, personnel change over etc and really didn't matter. Not to mention that no one wants to go through the hassle of doing a statement of charges on a few m4 mags if it wasnt lost. Kind of a long winded response, I know, but trying to clear up some misconceptions about how property works in the army and to highlight that they really are disposable in a way.
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    Thanks LtNovakUSA, that's very enlightening.
    This isn't an illegal gun, it's an "undocumented protection device". Don't be so insensitive.

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    What civilians call disposable may not be the same thing in the military. Many items are not tracked individually, such as pens and pencils. When they are used up, they get thrown away and replaced. This does not mean they are thrown away after each use or even frequently.

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    They're not disposable. They just wear out. I highly doubt they were designed to be disposable.

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