Were 30 round magazines issued during the Vietnam War?

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Posted: 12/25/2010 10:01:31 PM EDT

It seems like 20 round mags were the most common in the early days of the AR15/M16

Posted: 12/25/2010 10:07:32 PM EDT

[#1]

Quoted:
It seems like 20 round mags were the most common in the early days of the AR15/M16

They were, but I believe the 30 rounders were issued in late 70 or early 71.

LC

Posted: 12/25/2010 10:09:00 PM EDT

[#2]

My good buddy told me that choy hoy would take 2 20's and somehow fuse them together and they ran great.

Posted: 12/25/2010 10:11:28 PM EDT

[#3]

Quoted:
My good buddy told me that choy hoy would take 2 20's and somehow fuse them together and they ran great.

Amazing fussion technology!

Posted: 12/26/2010 10:53:14 AM EDT

[#4]

Quoted:

Quoted:

It seems like 20 round mags were the most common in the early days of the AR15/M16

They were, but I believe the 30 rounders were issued in late 70 or early 71.

LC

They came out with the 30's for the XM177, but 20's were still standard issue. The 30's had problems but the 20's were GTG.

Posted: 12/26/2010 11:12:57 AM EDT

[#5]

I had 30's for my CAR-15 in 1972. Worked like a champ!!!

Posted: 12/26/2010 11:19:50 AM EDT

[#6]

My dad only mentioned having 20 rnd mags. He was there '66-'67, and had transitioned from the M14 in late '66, USMC.

Posted: 12/26/2010 11:21:42 AM EDT

[#7]

A former co-worker was USMC in Vietnam, he gave me some old beat up 30 rounders that he found in his seabag in the attic back in 1996.

Posted: 12/26/2010 11:43:53 AM EDT

[#8]

20's all that I know of, the 30's were in development, 20's standard issue.

Posted: 12/26/2010 11:50:06 AM EDT

[#9]

Units like Marine Recon and the SEALs may have had them very early on. They weren't issued widely until after 1970.

Posted: 12/26/2010 12:28:53 PM EDT

[#10]

Soldier Guiding Helicopter to Safe Landing

Original caption: 11/9/1971-Da Nang, South Vietnam: GI guides helicopter
into landing zone during operation in the area five miles west of Da
Nang. Troops of "A" Company, First Battalion, 327th Infantry of the
101st Airborne Division, are protecting Da Nang from Communist rocket
attacks.

Soldiers Wading in Water

Original caption: American division
GIs ford a river about 11 miles west of Da Nang on patrol for Communist
troops in this photo. The GIs, members of Bravo Company, 4th Battalion,
31st Infantry, are among the last U. S. combat troops still operating
in the field. U. S. B-52 bombers blasted suspected Communist troop
concentrations near the demilitarized zone, on August 15th, following
more shelling and ground assaults earlier on August 15th. More than 750
rounds of mortar and artillery fire have been directed at South
Vietnamese outposts along the demilitarized zone August 14-15th, 1971.

Soldier Patroling Rocket Belt Area

Original caption: LEECH VALLEY, S.
VIETNAM: First Lt. Ed Holland, of West Islip, N.Y., in charge of a
21-man unit patroling rocket belt area five miles from Da Nang, checks
with headquarters by radio 11/9/1971 to confirm that all friendly soldiers in
the area are accounted for in order to avoid shooting at possible U.S.
or South Vietnamese troops. He had just sighted three suspected
VietCong stalking a nearby hill.

Posted: 12/26/2010 12:34:42 PM EDT

[#11]

The only service that routinely issued them was the USAF, particularly to the Air Police gate guards. Everyone else tried to beg borrow and steal from them. The Army was continuously "testing" them but they never quite made it thru the bureaucratic machine until the war ended.

Posted: 12/26/2010 3:18:38 PM EDT

[#12]

Plaster and a few other SOG guys mail-ordered them for their CAR-15s. Not sure what year that was though. He had nothing but praise for the rifle and mags, they must not have been Pro-mags...

Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile

Posted: 12/26/2010 3:28:04 PM EDT

[#13]

Is that an M203 on the rifle of the soldier in the second picture wading through water? I thought they only had the M79 at the time for that.

Posted: 12/26/2010 3:41:04 PM EDT

[#14]

Quoted:
Plaster and a few other SOG guys mail-ordered them for their CAR-15s. Not sure what year that was though. He had nothing but praise for the rifle and mags, they must not have been Pro-mags...

Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile

Funny. I've owned Pro-Mags for four different guns, and they all worked 100% and were very good quality.

Might want to rethink regurgitating what you heard on the interwebs one time from some guy that knew some other guy that said he saw a guy at the range that had problems with a ProMag magazine.

Posted: 12/26/2010 3:42:31 PM EDT

[#15]

I was there in 1968 &1969, saw a few but never wanted any because they keep you to far off the ground. I carried 4 bandoliers full of magazines plus one in the gun.

Posted: 12/26/2010 3:46:33 PM EDT

[#16]

Quoted:
Is that an M203 on the rifle of the soldier in the second picture wading through water? I thought they only had the M79 at the time for that.

Looks that way. I recall reading in multiple places about the M203 - often referred to as the 'XM203' - being used in Vietnam.

Posted: 12/26/2010 3:51:05 PM EDT

[#17]

We had both 30 round magazines and M203s in 1971.

Posted: 12/26/2010 3:55:54 PM EDT

[#18]

Quoted:

Is that an M203 on the rifle of the soldier in the second picture wading through water? I thought they only had the M79 at the time for that.

sure as shit is. Hmm, I thought that didn't come out til the 80s.

Learn something new.

Posted: 12/26/2010 3:59:58 PM EDT

[#19]

Quoted:

Quoted:

Is that an M203 on the rifle of the soldier in the second picture wading through water? I thought they only had the M79 at the time for that.

sure as shit is. Hmm, I thought that didn't come out til the 80s.

Learn something new.

Wiki says it was developed in 67-68 and in service in 69.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M203_grenade_launcher

Posted: 12/26/2010 4:01:56 PM EDT

[#20]

yep....

WileE....

2/5

Posted: 12/26/2010 4:17:07 PM EDT

[#21]

Quoted:

Quoted:

Is that an M203 on the rifle of the soldier in the second picture wading through water? I thought they only had the M79 at the time for that.

sure as shit is. Hmm, I thought that didn't come out til the 80s.

Learn something new.

We had M203's in BCT/AIT in '73 but also trained with the M79 cause the AR and NG still had them.

Posted: 12/26/2010 4:28:33 PM EDT

[#22]

IIRC, 30's began being issued in limited numbers beginning in '69, but my memory is a bit hazy. I'll go check my copy of "the Bible" later tonight and see what Exell says...

Posted: 12/26/2010 4:50:43 PM EDT

[#23]

Yes, the M203 was in Vietnam by 1969-1970:

GIs Returning From Vietnam, June 20,1971

Original caption: Phu Bai, Vietnam:
6/20/1971 A happy GI give "V" sign as he and members of the 196th
Infantry Brigade prepare to board troop carrier plane at Phu Bai
Airport, near Hue, June 16, for flight back to the US. The 196th,
officially stood down and completed withdrawal June 19.

Rangers in Vietnam in 1971.

Posted: 12/26/2010 4:57:35 PM EDT

[#24]

Great pics in here. Nothing else to add that hasn't been said already.

Posted: 12/26/2010 5:27:27 PM EDT

[#25]

Got a question?

Lumpy196.

He will be there... calm, kewl and collected.

IN YOUR FACE WITH PICS.

Posted: 12/26/2010 7:19:47 PM EDT

[#26]

Quoted:

Quoted:
Plaster and a few other SOG guys mail-ordered them for their CAR-15s. Not sure what year that was though. He had nothing but praise for the rifle and mags, they must not have been Pro-mags...

Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile

Funny. I've owned Pro-Mags for four different guns, and they all worked 100% and were very good quality.

Might want to rethink regurgitating what you heard on the interwebs one time from some guy that knew some other guy that said he saw a guy at the range that had problems with a ProMag magazine.

That was actually sarcasm on my part... You know, Tier 1 guys ordering magazines out of the back of a catalog without being able to ask arfcom if it was an accepted brand. I'm sorry if you have insecurities about your Promags.

Posted: 12/26/2010 7:23:59 PM EDT

[#27]

Lumpy posting pics again, i got all teary eyed.

Posted: 12/26/2010 7:28:14 PM EDT

[#28]

Quoted:
Lumpy posting pics again, i got all teary eyed.

+1

With all of the shit going on in the world now, I can only imagine how awesome a News Photos for Gun Nuts thread would be.

Posted: 12/26/2010 7:36:03 PM EDT

[#29]

Back when I was big into the SEAL/UDT gear, I used to have two of the China Lake 45rd experimental mags. One was 3 20s welded together. The other was scratch-built fully curved 45rder made from cut sheet metal with a constant force clockwork-style spring inside.

Posted: 12/26/2010 7:52:19 PM EDT

[#30]

Quoted:
Back when I was big into the SEAL/UDT gear, I used to have two of the China Lake 45rd experimental mags. One was 3 20s welded together. The other was scratch-built fully curved 45rder made from cut sheet metal with a constant force clockwork-style spring inside.

This sounds interesting, is there a diagram available anywhere?

Posted: 12/27/2010 7:20:56 AM EDT

[#31]

Quoted:

Quoted:

Lumpy posting pics again, i got all teary eyed.

+1

With all of the shit going on in the world now, I can only imagine how awesome a News Photos for Gun Nuts thread would be.

It'd be awesome to do them again if organizations with corporate attorneys weren't so excitable about intellectual property rights these days...

Posted: 12/27/2010 7:26:00 AM EDT

[#32]

My dad was issued an M1 Carbine in '67. Yeah low speed high drag.

Posted: 12/27/2010 7:29:09 AM EDT

[#33]

Posted: 12/27/2010 7:39:59 AM EDT

[#34]

Quoted:

Quoted:

Plaster and a few other SOG guys mail-ordered them for their CAR-15s. Not sure what year that was though. He had nothing but praise for the rifle and mags, they must not have been Pro-mags...

Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile

Funny. I've owned Pro-Mags for four different guns, and they all worked 100% and were very good quality.

Might want to rethink regurgitating what you heard on the interwebs one time from some guy that knew some other guy that said he saw a guy at the range that had problems with a ProMag magazine.

Every ProMag I ever owned was junk and were thrown in the garbage. I bought 4 for a Mini 14 and about 6 30 rounders for a AR. I bought them back in the early '90's and haven't bought any since. You might want to rethink your idea that they are GTG.

Posted: 12/27/2010 7:47:06 AM EDT

[#35]

Quoted:

Quoted:
Plaster and a few other SOG guys mail-ordered them for their CAR-15s. Not sure what year that was though. He had nothing but praise for the rifle and mags, they must not have been Pro-mags...

Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile

Funny. I've owned Pro-Mags for four different guns, and they all worked 100% and were very good quality.

Might want to rethink regurgitating what you heard on the interwebs one time from some guy that knew some other guy that said he saw a guy at the range that had problems with a ProMag magazine.

Every ProMag I ever owned was junk and were thrown in the garbage. I bought 4 for a Mini 14 and about 6 30 rounders for a AR. I bought them back in the early '90's and haven't bought any since. You might want to rethink your idea that they are GTG.

Yep, I chucked all my Promag and Mecgar jam-o-matics over a decade ago. I had them for rifles and pistols and without exception they were crap.

Posted: 12/27/2010 7:56:31 AM EDT

[#36]

Quoted:

Quoted:
Lumpy posting pics again, i got all teary eyed.

+1

With all of the shit going on in the world now, I can only imagine how awesome a News Photos for Gun Nuts thread would be.

It'd be awesome to do them again if organizations with corporate attorneys weren't so excitable about intellectual property rights these days...

I wondered why you stopped posting those.

"News Photos for Gun Nuts" was always my favorite reason for visiting GD.

Thanks,

EMSflyer

Posted: 12/27/2010 8:02:02 AM EDT

[#37]

Go figure; i've got a 30 round 9mm mag made by mecgar and it's flawless.
A lot of 'brand name' mags are made by those companies. Mec gar makes a 17rnd flush fit mag for the 5906 that i've used without any issues too.

Posted: 12/27/2010 8:18:07 AM EDT

[#38]

Mec gar makes many of the mags that come with guns from the factory. They make high quality stuff. Maybe that wasn't always the case, but it has been for a long time.

Promag. They made some real crap. Some of their new stuff might be ok. But I'm not going to be the one to find out.

What was this thread about?

Posted: 12/27/2010 8:24:46 AM EDT

[#39]

When were 25 or 30 round mags created for the M1 carbine (Like Malcom X used )

Posted: 12/27/2010 9:02:24 AM EDT

[#40]

Quoted:

When were 25 or 30 round mags created for the M1 carbine (Like Malcom X used )

Those larger capacity magazines were made for the M2 carbine, the full auto version of the M1 carbine.

Posted: 12/27/2010 9:09:45 AM EDT

[#41]

30 round magazines for the M1 carbine were intended for the "Full Auto" M2 version. Not sure if they were available in WWII but they were definitely used in Korea.

Posted: 12/27/2010 1:24:49 PM EDT

[#42]

I read somewhere the 30rd mag was orginally made for the early AR15/M16s, but that MacNamara chose to standardize on the 20rd mag.

There were larger and longer versions of the 30rd mag that held 40rds and 50rds. Also there was a 75rd drum.

As for grenade launchers there was the M79, XM148, XM203, a three shot pump action for the SEALs, and a 3 shot mag fed semi auto.