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Posted: 1/29/2026 11:15:44 PM EDT
[Last Edit: Joe1969][Edited]
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Is this accurate? A CAGE code on a magazine cannot be used to establish a manufacture date. A CAGE code only corresponds to the date the code was issued and re-issued (maintenance). a CAGE code could correspond to a date when a magazine first went into production, based on when it was assigned to a manufacturer. For example, if manufacturer X started using a CAGE in 1985, it could be reasoned that any mags with that CAGE manufactured by X were produced starting in 1985. A 4-character code next to or just below a CAGE code is not a date if it is in this form (example): 01-19. This is a lot/pallet/ batch code. Lot/pallet/batch codes do not correspond to a date. Not all magazines manufactured by Okay and Center have internal markings, dates, and K numbers engraved in them; even if manufactured for Colt or other brands/OEMs. If a date is engraved in a magazine, for a gov/mil/civilian contract, it will clearly use a 4-number year with a /, as in XX/XXXX; dial engravings on poly mags will indicate day/month/year. Absence of internal markings, dates, or K codes does not indicate a year when a magazine was manufactured or the year when a magazine first went into production. |
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I could easily be wrong and my limited knowledge is this: You are, in a way, misusing the CAGE usage. Yes a company is assigned a cage code when it gets a contract with the US military. But you have no guarantee that said company immediately made the magazines in question. They could've made some other widget first or last or who knows. They could've had other magazine contracts as well. IIRC, and could easily be wrong, but didnt Checkmate make both M9 and M14 magazines for example? Or they could have had several different dates of or follow on contracts. What I mean is X company received several different contracts for an item over several years, obviously then the DOM would be different. And better indication of date of manufacture is if the item is in its packaging and look at the Contract date. |
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| CAGE Code doesn’t even guarantee that they manufactured the product, several CAGE Codes have been issued to companies that the Government never purchased Thier products. |
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I think we are actually in agreement, that a CAGE cannot be used to establish when a magazine was manufactured, only when manufacturer X might have first started producing magazines under that code. As an example: CAGE code 6P199 is currently assigned to Center Industries, but was also used by Okay. This code was established in 1978 and updated in 2025. The code can not establish when a magazine was manufactured, only that it was manufactured no sooner than 1978. This presumes there are no other engravings on the magazine (internal/external) or on the base plate (not all bases have dates). |
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Originally Posted By PursuitSS: CAGE Code doesn’t even guarantee that they manufactured the product, several CAGE Codes have been issued to companies that the Government never purchased Thier products. It may not guarantee, but it does provide evidence for authenticity. For example: Center Industries was awarded its first government contract to produce 30 round magazines for the US military in 1990. If you have a magazine with the CAGE and a Colt or Center base, chances are it was manufactured by them as early as 1990 and up until now. |
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