Here's an attempt to summarize what's going on today with M14 magazines, as far as I can tell anyway. Treat each of these categories unto itself as a separate issue to keep it easy. This discussion is strictly regarding twenty round M14 type magazines.

A) Magazine wrapping that has been doctored or altered. The fake wrapping can still be identified but it's improving. IMO, stay on top of this issue because it's going to increase. There's some reproduction M14E2 slings out there with fake "GI" labeling already.

B) Commercial aftermarket magazines that have fake markings (Atwood, OM, BRW S-l and W). These rarely work and often will not hold twenty rounds. These are often sold by a gentleman out in California. Sometimes these are sold in fake "GI" wrapping and sometimes not.

C) Check-Mate Industries magazines with BRW S-1 markings (not factory original). These have been sold by Brownell's and Elite K9. There are some differences between CMI and real deal BRW S-l magazines. Look for the horizontal line on the latch plate. If it's there, it's CMI. There are some other differences but I don't want to discuss it openly on the Internet.

D) Blued / matte finish magazines with unusual symbols or alphanumeric characters (small circle, H, A, a number inside a large circle, incomplete "C"). These have been available through Midway USA. I'm doing further research into this subtopic.

E) Mainland Chinese magazines. They work great. CDNN recently advertised these for sale but I've not seen any firsthand.

F) Taiwanese T57 magazines. Reviews are mixed. Sometimes they work great, sometimes not. They often have rust and need some clean up. Ammoman and others have sold these in the last couple years.

G) Check-Mate Industries magazines. I'm up to speed on these now. CMI has been consistent since 1990 on how they manufacture their magazines. CMI magazines have some features which make them easy to differentiate from the 1960s and 1970s production USGI magazines. There are other clues but one is the horizontal line on the latch plate. Look for that if you want to know if it's CMI made. These have been sold, unmarked, through Springfield Armory, Inc. from the early 1990s onward. Because of the M9 magazines, some folks don't trust the CMI M14 magazines. IMHO, CMI magazines are the sleeper deal right now for M14 magazines. I give the buy signal on CMI magazines.

H) ProMag Industries magazines. The May 2005 review by Spartacus2002 was very good. He reported malfunctions and a blued finish that quickly wears off. The ProMag unit is difficult to insert into the rifle with twenty rounds while the bolt is closed.

I) Real deal USGI contract 1960s and 1970s production magazines. These were readily available until the last year or two from many suppliers. AFAIK, Cole Distributing and R A Parts are the only vendors still with these in inventory.

Guard your wallet.

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First, big THANK YOU to sailor45 for taking my chicken scratch sketches and turning them into works of art.

You have permission to save, copy and print these images for PERSONAL USE only. These are not for resale.

I could have made these more complicated but I don't want to give away all the anti-counterfeiting measures. These diagrams should weed out all the fakes out in the market. The twenty round function test is the do-or-die acid test at the end of the day.

www.imageseek.com/m1a/gallery/albums/closeup/M14_Magazine_ID_Diagram_Page_1.sized.jpg

www.imageseek.com/m1a/gallery/albums/closeup/M14_Magazine_ID_Diagram_Page_2.sized.jpg

www.imageseek.com/m1a/gallery/albums/closeup/M14_Magazine_ID_Diagram_Page_3.sized.jpg

edited by Hoplite to add spotting a counterfeit information

There are also the Pro-Mag magazines; my range report here. EXECSUM: it was an OK mag, but maybe only 85% as good as USGI...

spartacus2002, thanks for the review on ProMag Industries. I summarized your review and added it to my initial post in this thread. If it's not written well, let me know and I can adjust it to reflect your thoughts on ProMag Industries M14 magazines.

peasant, the Elite K9 magazines marked BRW S-1 (numeral one with a serif) work great. If you're looking for solid, reliable magazines that work fine and last a long time, buy them.

If you're a collector looking for 1960s Borg-Warner contract M14 magazines, this is not what you want. This is not the "long lost stash we just found hidden in a warehouse." Why? Because the magazines being sold now in 2006 by Elite K9 (and Brownell's) are Check-Mate Industries magazines (which work great) but have the "aftermarket" BRW S-1 stamping put on them. The magazines sold presently by Elite K9 and Brownell's are without a doubt Check-Mate Industries production.

Until I know otherwise, I'll give Elite K9 and Brownell's the benefit of the doubt and believe they are buying them in that condition (with the "aftermarket" marking already in place).

Great thread, thank you!

<runs of to the EE to find more USGI mags>

I would be up for that as well.

Thanks for the heads up. Is there a reason for the 10rounder group buy over 20rds?

Originally Posted By Different: Yes, there's a lot of M14 type rifle owners in California.

gotcha

Check-Mate Industries makes the ones in the blue bags. CMI does not put the LEO marking on the ones they make for the commercial market. So, the one he had was sold to some government agency somewhere. Reference: Joe DeBello, Project Manager, Check-Mate Industries.

Cole Distributing sells 1960s production USGI magazines. The problem is that some of the fake "GI" magazines are wrapped in surplus USGI paper. Unless you know what to look for to detect the fakes, I would not buy magazines at a gun show anymore.

I recommend the following for Check-Mate Industries magazines: Impact Guns, Springfield Armory, Inc., Armalite (best price for small quantity) and Check-Mate Industries (minimum order of twenty-five).

You can get used USGI magazines from R A Parts and LRB Arms. Those are the companies I trust for M14 magazines. There are a lot of fakes out there, some easily detected but some are not so easy to spot. Guard your wallet.

Originally Posted By Napoleon_Tanerite: i got 2 fakes in my order of 11 from RA parts. They made it right as fast as they possibly could, and I would still strongly reccomend them.

can I ask how much the mags were? I need to order some.

thx

bump and tack

FYI, Brownells and Elite K9 no longer sell the twenty round M14 magazines with the serif font numeral one BRW S-1 marking.

There are some CMI with the serif font BRW S-1 magazines out there wrapped in brown paper with a self-adhesive white label dated February 1963. I received one of these yesterday from a M14 fan in Florida to examine. It will go back to him shortly after I've had my printer look at the label. I'm learning how to spot the fake labeling. CMI (Check-Mate Industries) was not making M14 magazines in the 1960s.