I came across a lot of Colt 30 round magazines in a Connecticut gun shop and I am trying to figure out whether they are preban or not since I live behind enemy lines in a ban state. These mags have light green followers and floor plates with the Pony logo and the written text:
CAL. 5.56 MM
COLT'S FIREARMS DIVISION
COLT INDUSTRIES
HARTFORD, CONN. USA
They are in a large box that was shipped directly from Colt in Hartford since that was on the return address. It appears to have been shipped recently. No date stamps are visible on the outside of the magazines.
Now I realize that Colt does not make magazines but relies on subcontractors such as NHMTG to supply them. However, any recently made NHMTG I have seen have external date stamps. What I don't know is whether Colt has continued to date stamp "its" magazines since the ban ended. Is it possible they have stopped doing that which means these mags could be post ban? Is it possible the magazines may be dated internally or something about the floor could imply a date of manufacture? Sure, I realize if there aren't any dates on them it could be difficult for anyone to prove the are not pre ban, thus, they are probably safe to own. But I would like to have a better sense about these mags, when they were likely made and whether it is reasonable to think that Colt may actually have held on to a large stash of pre bans for so many years. So if anyone has some expert knowledge or insights to share please let me know. Oh, and by the way they are priced at $24.95 which is certainly not cheap by any means especially with CProducts mags out there which I had only good experience with when shooting in one of the "free" states. But I'm just curious about the Colt's since there are so many lies, myths and misconceptions floating around out there about pre ban and post ban mags. Thanks!