Thank you to the gentleman that shared his mysterious origin ten round M1A magazine with me. He got it from a gun shop in San Marcos, CA earlier this year. I have six ten round magazines but have never paid too much attention to them. Well, after seeing this ten round magazine that would not function properly, I pulled out my modest collection of ten rounders. Sure enough, three of my six ten round magazines are mysterious origin as well. The other three are genuine CMI manufacture. Okay, how do you tell the difference?

Mystery ten round magazine - a) latch plate has two dimples and the horizontal line b) front side has five plus one lightly struck and smaller dimples c) no manufacturer marking d) latch plate corners are very square e) floor plate is more easily bent than a CMI floor plate and f) magazine is more difficult to insert into the rifle.

Genuine CMI ten round magazine - a) latch plate has six dimples and the horizontal line b) front side has six plus one deeply struck and wider dimples c) C.M.I. marking on rear side d) latch plate corners are rounded e) floor plate is not as easily bent as the mystery origin floor plate and f) magazine snaps into the rifle magazine well without undue force.

The easy way to check is to count the dimples on the latch plate. I've posted a couple photos in the Commercial M14 section of the Photo Gallery on my web site www.imageseek.com/m1a

You may ask, "Why would someone fake a ten rounder magazine since they are legal to use almost everywhere?" Here's my hypothesis. The retail price for a ten round magazine from Springfield Armory, Inc. from 1995 through 2004 was $39.00 (Reference: 1995, 1996, 2000 and 2004 SA, Inc. Dealer Price Lists on file). Beginning in 2000, M14/M1A fans in California were under a magazine capacity ban. So, if you wanted to supply the civilian market and undercut SA, Inc. pricing, you could produce a knockoff magazine and sell it through the Internet, gun shops and gun shows. I bought my three mysterious origin ten round magazines in 2001 not knowing any better because they were cheaper than what Springfield Armory, Inc. was asking..

With this revelation, I spent the last weekend expanding Pictorial M14 Magazine Identification Guide. It's now available in Version 1.5 (now 260 pages, 480 + color photographs). I added over forty photographs. I reshot the photographs for the 2005 Magazine Without A Catch Slot, added sections for CMI Ten Round Magazine and Mysterious Origin Ten Round Magazine and added photos for 2007 ProMag Industries Twenty Round Magazine. Note that the ProMag Industries twenty round magazine follower has no stop and has a race track coil spring. As before, the .pdf file (73 MB) can be downloaded for free. The hardcover print version is available at ZERO profit to me. Please keep the link cold: www.lulu.com/m14rhad if you want to download the .pdf file.

A long time ago, cheap-ass Mega-Mag magazines were the only thing I could find that worked in my Mini-14. IIRC, I paid $6 ea for 'em. Go ahead and try it out; sometimes the cheap shit'll surprise ya.

forgot to add: Excellent thread! As a new M1A owner, this is going to save me a lot of time, and probably money as well.

Review of KeepShooting.com Taiwan T57 PTFE coated twenty round M14 magazine

I purchased one Taiwan T57 PTFE coated twenty round M14 magazine from KeepShooting.com for testing and evaluation.

Evaluation

Price - $16.95 + shipping & handling from KeepShooting.com

Finish - All parts but the spring have a glossy black PTFE coating over blued steel.

Follower assembly - three dimples on the under side

Spring - There are eight coils. Each end is shaped like a USGI spring. The spring feels and looks like a USGI spring. There are no nicks or other visible defects on the spring surface.

Floor plate - The drain hole is slightly smaller than what is typical for a USGI floor plate.

Magazine tube - No manufacturer markings, no alignment holes in the tube behind the latch plate, five dimples on the latch plate, ten dimples up the center plus one dimple to the right of the catch slot on the front side. The feed lips are not bent downward enough. The magazine will hold twenty rounds but any slight jarring will cause the top round to pop out.

Testing

I loaded twenty rounds of 1990 Pakistani surplus. I fired it through a 1974 vintage Springfield Armory, Inc. M1A. There were no failures to feed, extract or eject. The bolt locked open after the last round. When I removed the magazine the bolt lock released allowing the bolt to close. I tested this same magazine in two other factory M1A rifles, one built in 1989 and the other in 2002. All three M1A rifles will allow a USGI magazine to be removed without the bolt closing. The PTFE coated magazine with the incorrectly formed feed lips tripped the bolt lock when it was removed from each rifle.

Where's a good place to pick up GI magazines today? Just bought my first M1A.

I recently picked up several Korean mags, because I didn't know any better, in 10 and 20 rounds. I shot with these last weekend and they worked fine. My only complaint is that they fit a bit too tight in the magazine well compared to the SA magazine that came with the M1A. I've since ordered several CMI mags from 44mag.

Does anyone know if CMI has changed/improved their magazines over the last few years?

I have 12 20 round CMI magazines purchased from both SAI and 44mag in early 2010. The followers do not engage the bolt stop on either of my M14 type rifles ('85 SEI and '11 LRB) after the last round.

When I use an OM or W marked GI magazine, function is flawless in both rifles. However these same CMI's also worked OK in my old SAI M1A, aside from occasional (1 in 75 rounds or so) failures to feed (round nose diving in magazine).

After exchanging the springs in my CMI magazines with springs from GI magazines, the CMI magazines worked properly in all my rifles.

It's a bit mysterious why I'm having these problems with CMI magazine. I just thought I'd add this to the magazine knowledge base.

If anyone has suggestions on possible spring replacements for my CMI magazines, I would appreciate it.

I ordered a twenty round Thermold M14 magazine from Thermold Magazines this week. The transaction was smooth as silk and I received the magazine within a week by USPS Mail. The date code on the magazine indicated manufacture in May 1990. A M14 fan from another board and I went out to the desert today. We gave it a function test. I used a 2002 vintage Springfield Armory, Inc. M1A that runs flawlessly with USGI, CMI, and mainland Chinese magazines. Ammunition was Magtech 150 grain FMJ cartridges. The Thermold magazine was easy to insert and remove with twenty rounds. However, it failed to feed three times during the course of fire. After the last round, the bolt failed to lock back.

Picked up a pair of 20 rounders off Diamondback for an M1A Scout I have on lay-away...







I was curious after reading this thread and decided to take them apart for inspection, using the pictorical as a loose guide.

They are parkerized steel with 11+3 weld spots, stasmped "W" on the back, no markings on the floorplates or followers; two weld spots on the follower and six circles on the latch plate in the back with two diswtinct pins on the inside of the magazine body. The bottom of the spring is bent into a square and a U shape on the top portion of the spring. The parkerizing is uniform and the magazines were all clean. I imagine these were owned by someone, because i could not see any grease in them, except for a very thin film on the springs.

I hope they are the real deal, they look pretty damn sturdy, so even if they are not, they will serve me well, I hope.

FYI on CMI twenty round M14 magazines made for U. S. military contracts. Apparently, the AW ban marking

ASSY 7790183

RESTRICTED-LAW ENFORCEMENT/

GOVERNMENT USE ONLY

M14 1996 CHECK-MATE IND INC

WYANDANCH,NY USA

was still being applied to CMI M14 magazines produced in November 2008. CMI magazines made in 2008 were for its 2005 contract. Check-Mate Industries was awarded subsequent M14 magazine contracts in 2009. I don't know if magazines made for the 2009 contracts have the same marking though. Thus, the 1996 marking on the magazine does not neccesarily indicate the actual year of manufacture.

A little chilly today here in Las Vegas but I got out to the desert to do a little testing. I tested a 2012 ProMag Industries ten round magazine and a September 2012 Cheaper Than Dirt marketed W marked twenty round magazine. See photos above from Black Tiger. The CTD marketed W marked twenty rounder I have looks exactly like that. Before testing, I took a bunch of photographs of these two magazines. As soon as I can, I will add these two to the Pictorial M14 Magazine Identification Guide and promulgate as Version 1.8. The rifle used for testing was a 1974 manufacture Springfield Armory, Inc. M1A.

ProMag Industries ten round magazine - It loaded easily but was just a little resistant to lock in with the bolt closed. If functioned flawlessly and held the bolt open after the tenth round. This magazine has a unique spring, fourteen racetrack shaped coils. The spring was lubricated with grease. The follower has no stop. The follower moved very easily inside the magazine tube. There are four plus four dimples on the front side and two alignment holes behind the latch plate.

CTD marketed W marked twenty round magazine - This magazine was tough to lock in the magazine well with the bolt closed. It functioned flawlessly and held the bolt open after the twentieth round. The magazine spring has nine coils. There was no lubrication on the spring. The phosphate coating was rough so the follower assembly did not move smoothly when pushed by hand. There are eleven plus three dimples on the front side and two alignment holes behind the latch plate.

CMI 2009 U. S. government contract marking on the rear side of its M14 magazines:

M14 CHECK-MATE IND. INC.
WYANDANCH, NY USA
MFG. CODE 1M291

Post deleted.