Is there any significance to red paint on these mags? I've seen it somewhat frequently and have one myself, but I haven't been able to figure out what it signifies, if anything. They load, function, and look normal; I'm just curious.

Any ideas?

loaded with tracer rounds

We used Red tape  to signify they were loaded with live ammo (as opposed to blanks).

On every mag? Because only some have the red paint. Wouldn't it be assumed that a magazine for a real gun has live ammo in it?

It's safer to assume that any mag has live ammo regardless of what color it's painted, as opposed to relying on colors to indicate what's inside.

But that's beside the point, getting off track, and doesn't answer my question unless they actually painted random mags back then for this purpose.

If red means live ammo, then what does no paint mean? The vast majority have no paint at all...was this just like one or two units back then that decided to paint their mags?

Airforce MPs? I think I read that one...not many topics about red paint on GI mags

You have to remember, from 1973 to 2001, the U.S. military did more training than combat operations. During those times, it wasn't often we were actually issued live ammo. And, when we were, it was very tightly controlled. You went to the range, got ammo at the ammo control point, did what needed to be done, and then turn in any remaining ammo. We carried blanks more often than live ammo.

One of the biggest exceptions for carrying live ammo would have been while guarding something like an ammo point. When I was stationed in Germany (90-91), we routinely had to pull guard duty out at the Brigade Ammo Supply Point (ASP). the guard force consisted of a couple NCO's, a Humvee driver, and six guards. Each of us was issued 2 30-round magazines, each containing 10 rounds, for a total of 20 rounds per man. (Pity the fool caught with 11 in one and 9 in the other, or all in one mag. There better be 10 in each, or you got reamed.)

I would suspect those mags were painted by the unit to be issued to Joes on guard duty, so that the Sergeant of the Guard, OOD, SDNCO, or whomever, could tell at a glance if a guard had a loaded mag in their weapon. The mags were likely swapped at each shift change, and, at each new Guard Mount, the outgoing and incoming SOG's would count rounds and sign for them.

Interesting...thanks for the info!

Red paint used to signify tracer rounds for the point man. He would hose the target with 20 rounds of tracer in low light conditions and everyone would shoot where the tracer fire was landing. Before infantry night vision and optics was standard equipment. Old school but effective!!!

Mags are also frequently painted in training for various reasons. I like to find them cheap then do a little work and get this:



Paint is Brownell's 'Teflon/Moly' oven cure, 'Dark Parkerizing'.

Where did you get these mags?  These are my mags.... I sold these on line years back.  I painted the bottom of a bunch of mags to signify range mags.  I'll be darn, but this looks like my work.

77

They came from an old Air Force military storage cache that was about to be thrown away up in Jersey.

A lot of units paint their mags, in my time in the Army, I saw every color in the rainbow to designate different things at different times.

Amazing, I painted about 20 mags years back, Colt, OKay and Universal. Used Krylon red to identify range use and also identify my mags.  Mine looked identical to these.  I mean identical.  I sold them on line 5 to 7 years back...I thought maybe they have been dispersed in the magazine surplus world.

77

Likely would have been mags for blanks. I had to sort mags as an Airman in Minot. I had 2 crates with red and orange painted 20's.

The Air Force does ammunition issue a little differently than the Army and because so few people actually carry live ammo in the AF, any non painted mag is assumed to be ball ammunition.