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MO, USA
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Posted: 12/15/2020 1:08:01 AM EST
I have been sorting through a bunch of magazines that belong to my father. All of the magazines that I have previously been finding are preban Colt 30rd magazines without any external markings. They just have the typical "K2 and 02" month codes on the insides. They are all well used and were supposedly southeast Asian military surplus. Today, I found about a dozen magazines completely devoid of any markings. The bodies have no markings, inside or out and the floorplates are also totally blank. I know some of you will think that these were probably just put together, but I don't think that is the case. These magazines haven't been touched in decades and all of the magazines have some very unique features. They all have the same silver color, diagonal-horizontal lines from the stamping process, a well defined and narrow magazine catch protrusion, a blank floorplate and you can also see two circular markings on the side. One is visible about an inch below the magazine catch and the other is about 3 inches directly below that.
The horizontal-diagonal lines remind me very much of a well used Adventure line magazine. The magazine catch shape is also very similar. Does anyone have any suggestions or ideas?    
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Posted: 12/15/2020 8:02:03 AM EST
HAMID
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MO, USA
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Posted: 12/16/2020 9:01:38 PM EST
Nobody has any thoughts?
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Posted: 12/16/2020 9:06:15 PM EST
That’s strange. I’ve not seen any like that before.
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Posted: 12/16/2020 9:24:48 PM EST
Interesting.
I was going to guess Charter Industries... but then remembered those were steel mag bodies. ( ? ) They appear to have a very well welded seam. I'd bet the floor plate was at one point changed, given the amount of wear on everything else... and the lack of equal wear on the floor plate. |
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Posted: 12/16/2020 9:54:04 PM EST
My adventure line base plate looks different than what is pictured. Looks more similar to la belle
 Attached File |
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MO, USA
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Posted: 12/16/2020 11:05:46 PM EST
I have seen Adventure Line floorplates with different shape/size indents at the back. I really don't think they were changed. If the floorplates were changed, it happened very long ago. Their features and condition is just so consistent.
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Posted: 12/18/2020 11:16:51 AM EST
[Last Edit: 1/20/2021 10:06:22 PM EST by j3_]
Getting ready to change into someone more comfortable. Name changes coming.
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Posted: 12/18/2020 12:24:07 PM EST
Those are interesting. I'm no expert on pre-ban magazine, but I've never seen a brand other than Center Industries that had completely blank floorplates. The round markings below the magazine catch hole (some mags show a second one farther down that same rib) are also something I've never seen (or maybe just never noticed).
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Posted: 12/18/2020 5:27:19 PM EST
I am going to go with LaBelle....Ihad some back when and no markings....were purchased brand new from a good dealer, with good feedback....he is not longer in business, was in either in OK or CO
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Posted: 12/19/2020 2:58:53 PM EST
.gov contract from some country that didn't want to have them traced back.
Anyone know if norinco marked their baseplates? They have been making the CQ for public consumption since the 80's and we're probably making some in the 60's-70's as the colts were picked up in vietnam. |
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Posted: 12/20/2020 12:54:30 AM EST
The little marking is suspiciously close to where a rivet would be for a 10 round limiter. Have you attempted to load any of these mags? Could be ban era 10/30 mags??
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MO, USA
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Posted: 12/20/2020 11:32:40 PM EST
They are definitely not riveted.
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MO, USA
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Posted: 12/21/2020 2:09:14 AM EST
I took a second look at the inside of the magazine this evening. There are no markings inside either. I looked at what the circular area looks like inside the magazine and there is a very faint circular impression and that is it.
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Posted: 1/1/2021 2:13:29 AM EST
Those are a great find to refurbish. All you need is some new followers, springs, and some Perma Slik and you are in business. A couple of years ago I rebuilt a bunch of old magazines just like those and they came out like they came out of the factory
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Posted: 1/1/2021 3:08:32 AM EST
My suggestion would be to get those into the hands of Patriots in Massachusetts. Pre-bans are the only ones they can possess in the presence of quislings.
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OR, USA
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Posted: 1/2/2021 5:01:34 PM EST
Quote History Originally Posted By backbencher: My suggestion would be to get those into the hands of Patriots in Massachusetts. Pre-bans are the only ones they can possess in the presence of quislings. Why do you think they are pre-ban? |
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Posted: 1/2/2021 5:23:19 PM EST
[Last Edit: 1/2/2021 5:24:29 PM EST by backbencher]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Nehi: Why do you think they are pre-ban? Black followers is generally the 1st clue. ETA: 2nd clue is lack of 1994 or later date codes. |
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MO, USA
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Posted: 1/2/2021 10:17:22 PM EST
So it is fair to assume that these are CIA contract magazines for clandestine use, right?
Just kidding, I also assume that they are preban given the lack of date or military, law enforcement, export markings; however, it is possible that they could have been manufactured overseas at any point in time. The 1994 AWB wouldn't have affected anything outside of the US. |
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Posted: 1/2/2021 10:41:49 PM EST
Blank floorplates make me think Center Industries.
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MO, USA
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Posted: 1/3/2021 2:20:05 AM EST
I also thought Center Industries when I saw they were blank. Adventure Line was purchased by Parsons Precision Products which was purchased by Center Industries. Maybe there is a connection there.
I also went through my Preban magazine collection and specifically looked at the followers. The followers in these unknown magazines were almost identical to Adventure Line magazines. The mold mark was in the exact same location. I also looked at Colt, DPMS, FN Cooper, General Stampings and Okay. Each of these had unique mold mark locations on the bottom of the follower. Interestingly, all the Unknown magazines had the mold marks 1, 2, 6 and 7. I assumed I would find 1-7 in a somewhat even distribution but I didn’t. I’ve also attached a comparative picture of excellent condition Adventure Line magazines to the unknown magazines. The horizontal stamping imperfections are extremely similar. I have reasonable confidence these magazines were made by Adventure Line, Parsons Precision Products or Center Industries. Since Center Industries is still around, do you think anyone might have documents related to the company history and old contracts?      
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Posted: 1/3/2021 11:36:35 AM EST
Nice. Thank You
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MO, USA
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Posted: 1/25/2021 12:15:22 PM EST
So far, I've inspected about 1,500 magazines from the lot that these magazines came from. All were purchased from the same distributor a while back. Almost all were Colt with the except of about 40-50 of these unknown magazines that I believe were made by Adventure Line. To make matters more interesting, I found the first and only Adventure Line magazine this weekend. The finish is very poor, just like the unknown magazines. It also had a broken spring that had been repaired. I've never seen this before and I thought it would be very interesting for everyone to see.
 
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Posted: 1/25/2021 12:53:33 PM EST
Hamid is an Arabic name, but the user wrote it in European script, not squiggles.
Make a chart of countries with significant Muslim population where the Western alphabet is in standard use and the M16 was commonly issued decades ago. Then you still won't know, but you can make wild-ass guesses for fun. I vote Phillipines. |
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Posted: 1/25/2021 1:10:17 PM EST
Definitely not Center, they have two spot welds at the top and bottom.
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Posted: 1/25/2021 5:56:21 PM EST
Quote History Originally Posted By big_johnson_92: So far, I've inspected about 1,500 magazines from the lot that these magazines came from. All were purchased from the same distributor a while back. Almost all were Colt with the except of about 40-50 of these unknown magazines that I believe were made by Adventure Line. To make matters more interesting, I found the first and only Adventure Line magazine this weekend. The finish is very poor, just like the unknown magazines. It also had a broken spring that had been repaired. I've never seen this before and I thought it would be very interesting for everyone to see. https://i.imgur.com/abJXEYu.jpeg https://i.imgur.com/KMcFhmQ.jpeg That is truly wild... and very resourceful. I can't say my "Merica" mind would have thought of that.... Thank You for sharing. |
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MO, USA
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Posted: 1/25/2021 11:04:22 PM EST
My vote was for Jordan, Malaysia or the Philippines. Wherever they came from, they were generally very well used. I'll continue to work on my mystery as I sort through more magazines. Everything had normal English/Latin alphabet markings and western (arabic) numerals ex: 1, 2, 3, 4, etc.
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FL, USA
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Posted: 1/26/2021 10:42:08 AM EST
Those magazines look just like the ones brought in by a local importer a year or 2 ago. Mostare Colt; from what I saw they were all USGI contract & were well used.
Came in along with AUG & M16A1 kits plus some H&K stuff. Imported from Malaysia. |
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Posted: 1/28/2021 12:19:13 AM EST
Center Industries maybe?
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