Not even close. Colt mags are made by Okay Ind, which is arguably the highest quality USGI mag manufacturer.

And a National Guard unit bangs them around, the unit armorer finds he tosses Colts more often than anything else, and ARFCOM says "Inconceivable!"  

My actual experience with Okay mags in the Army is the complete opposite.  Okay earned my trust.

My experiences take it for what its worth. We received a batch of     M-4's from Colt with loose barrels once too, bet thats inconceivable. Not in the guard by the way, lol. Not knocking them either.

all these mags are pretty close like i said, the colts just seem to have a higher failure rate with us, they might be older too, who knows, they all have green followers.

They dont issue them to us anymore they are all contract manufacturers, we have mostly brownells and parsens now, think all of this years batch was brownells besides the pmags that were funded locally.

I have some old ass G.I. issue mages from the early nineties, cracked feed lips, dents, crap followers. They still work and work good. For what thats worth.
I have a lot of pmags but I like the old G.I. mags.

Before you throw away your Elanders do an archive search. IIRC some date codes were reported in the threads at the time as good to go.FWIW a regular at the local range has had no problems with the ones he bought after the panic started. They are built like a tank.

I really appreciate your input.  I have several Colt mags with green followers and they have never failed, and they are heavily used.  But it makes sense why they have since updated the springs and followers. The new followers are tan from what I understand and have a different spring. I have Okay Surefeed mags with the magpul followers and they are fantastic.  Also have Palmetto with Magpul followers also fantastic.  Thanks for contributing it's helpful.  If you can look in your catalog and see if you have a issued steel mag option it migt answer the mystery.  I'm guessing it may be a Naval SOF item possibly for the SCAR but whi knows maybe you would have it in the system?  

The Unimags fit snug and are not drop free, at least in a Bushmaster and Ruger lower. Had to file my Anderson lower some to get the mags to even go into the magwell.

I have not read every page in this thread.....but, I'm wondering if the Colt USGI mags are worthy. Because those are what I used in the service and never had issues, those are what I have been buying.

The USGI mag with the green followers.....

Are these worthy? I want to get what will last because there may soon come a day we will NOT be able to buy them again.....and that day is approaching.....so I want to stock up.....USGI? I have NO plastic mags (outside of one troy which sits in the safe and has never been used).

USGI or no??????

I'm not throwing away my Elanders. But......They're the last one's I would use with all that I own.

USGI.  Green followers have been replaced by tan followers.  Which are about to be replaced again.  You'll be fine w/ GI mags.

I have many magazines of all kinds.  I tend to agree with this.  My go to mags are older Colt (10) that I replaced the spring and went with the Colt Red Spring and the Orange follower.  I have fired at least 100 rounds from each so I know they work.  I have 4 Magpuls loaded with Urban Hornady bullets. in a chest pack that I can use very quickly.  I want the Dedicated Urban bullets in a different looking and feeling magazine.  If I need anything after that I can choose from nearly anything.  .

Yeah, and the noticeable difference IMO is that although the CProducts Defense magazines  appear to be nicely made; i found them to be hit or miss so they need to be tested thoroughly before anyone counts on them for serious use.

I believe that the noticeable difference between them and GI mags is that they have been inferior  as to reliability.

I have a Red Jacket Firearms mag that works. Don't know who made them for RJF.

It appears the HK debacle was not from the steel but the heat treating. Apples and oranges.

LOL So I wonder if the new FNH mags are better?

Who do you think makes Colt magazines?

The PSA usgi mags are very nice.  I have some new teflons, with milspec springs and Magpul gray followers.  Very good deal at $7.99 shipped.  Their premium milspec BCG is a great deal at $69.99 also, with a MPI bolt..

The Okay Surefeed are even nicer than the older Colts I have, and sharper than the PSA floor plates. Otherwise indiscernible.  I'm giving Okay Surefeed black teflon, with milspec springs, and Magpul gray followers my #1 vote for quality aluminum usgi mags.  Great stuff!

I couldn't find any tan followers to even inspect.  Don't like the yellow followers. Prefer Magpul.  

Technically gray aluminum mags with milspec springs and the metal, black, green, yellow and tan are all milspec at various times.

I was thinking about the original yellow prototypes made for the Army, I don't know if they issued them or tested them?  They are now tan and probably improved versions of the original. I don't know the details. 

These look nice also.  I think PSA and DSG are both made by the same company?  PSA can be had for $7.99 shipped if you wait for a sale and order 20+ mags.

Everytime I try to reply to your post my mobile malfunctions.  It's close to hammer time..  You can feel good using usgi mags, they are really nearly unbeatable.  Weight, durability, reliability etc.  I prefer the aluminum usgi mag body with magpul followers and the milspec stainless springs.  But the milspec followers are not going to fail you.  Most usgi type mags come with Magpul followers.  

I also trust magpul pmags.  I prefer usgi for cold weather.  I also have to stipple my pmags for grip and I use ranger plates.  You can do the cheap old mod to your usgi mags with para cord and ducktape.  I want to get usgi ranger plates but I cant seem to find any on sale and I have three loadouts of usgi mags and at twelve mags each its pricy..  The critical bit is inspecting all your new mag bodies, springs, and followers before you use them. Check for tilt, snags, loaded seating in mag well.  Check for drop free while empty and loaded.  Load them and let them sit for a few days and take them out and run rounds through them.  They will eventually wear out if you have high volume of fire but if you take care of them they will last a very long time.  

Keep them in a nice chest rig to prevent the bodies from getting damaged.  Youll be good to go and theyll last for years.  Dont get chrome silicone springs for longevity, they rust really quickly when exposed to moisture.  They are better springs just not for storage or marine environments.

I started this topic not because usgi mags are inferior in any way, but rather to seek a military usgi steel 30rd mag similar to the usgi mag that may trade weight savings for longevity.  Testing has shown the additional weight of steel tends to make them prone to denting on impact which by inspection standards is a deal breaker. But most of this testing was done in years prior to the use of higher grade stainless mag bodies which may show promise, the manufacturers are suggesting stainless mags are more durable than aluminum.  Still looking for a 30rd steel mag the military has approved of. Maybe it doesnt exist?  But so far the FNH SCAR mags seem to be fielded, but I dont know for certain if they are approved?  And if they choose to use usgi aluminum mags versus the FNH steel mags?  

If you insist on a steel mag . The SA-80 mags that were for sale years back from what I remember worked well . That said I agree with most of the posters here . Steel offers no upside in a magazine .

I have lots of different mags. Among them 2 c products SS with the orange poly followers. I rotate out mags for training comps. I have never had any problems with them.

Ounces equals pounds...pounds equals pain.  

Get a couple of Lancers and just try them.  You will probably like them.

I've got a few Vietnam era 20 rd mags that still run fine.  I mostly use my Pmags.  Only steel mags I have are a couple ASC for my 6x45 because they allow longer OAL and some ASC 6.8SPC mags.  No problem with any of them.

Yes.  A few years ago I bought a couple of FN mags from a Military Surplus store.  The store manager said these are the best.  I like them a lot.  They are very solid, fit my AR nicely, and function reliably.  

I went back to buy more and the store had already sold out.

OP, best steel AR15 magazine:

I have two Colt mags closing in on 50 years old. Still working
ETA: 30 rounders.

Elanders

Well thanks for an answer.  I asked the person who mentioned the military not wanting steel mags why not but couldnt get a response.

Nice.  The OG Steel 30rd mag..

I think it's for more reasons than weight, but weight plays a critical role in the decision I'm sure.  Probably cheaper to produce, weight, and life cycle because they are disposable once the mag body is dented.  The higher grade stainless mags are not as heavy as the older steel mags, and they don't dent easily from what I have read. I believe the newer marine grade stainless mags are made in Israel and have been adopted by the IDF special units.  Not that Israel is always on the cutting edge of defense tech. but they seem to choose what works.  Like the A1 IDF carbine for example.