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Posted: 7/6/2007 11:16:23 AM EDT
| I have a dozen or so USGI 30 rounders that I have been using regularly for over 20 years. They look like it too but the springs, followers, mag bodies, floor plates, welds and attachment prongs are all going strong. Am I to easy on these mags? I shoot about 3000 rounds per year. How long do your mags last? |
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I have a bunch of 1960's and 1970's 20 rounders (some of which are clearly high mileage) that function as perfectly as you'd expect a brand new mag to function. I also have some old GI 30 rounders made by Adventure Line that I believe were some of the first USGI 30 rounders made once the military moved in the direction of making 30's official. So that should be early to mid 70's. These are also fine. The funny thing is, those old Adventure Line 30's have a better finish remaining than most of my recent production USGI mags! I don't know what they did differently than other USGI mag manufacturers, but their finish just doesn't seem to wear off. The only thing I ever do to them is occasionally swap springs if need be. I will also watch out for the feed lips spreading apart on older mags. I've got a couple of Simmonds Precision USGI 20 rounders that have this issue and I only use them as range mags. But despite the feed lips having spread a bit, the mag still functions fine. It just doesn't drop free and is more difficult to insert than normal. But those are the only two mags out of my whole collection (which is sizable) that have any noticeable problems. |
| I have a Air Force contract 20 rounder that was made back in the 60s. This mag is so worn there is a deep grove in the body from hitting the bolt catch. The only place that still has finish left is in the ribs the rest is bare aluminum. It still runs 100% every time. |
I have posted this question before, and I got an answer from C products. I can't remember for sure, but it seems like they said there was a magazine around which had 20 or 30,000 rounds through it. I guess I should have been stockpiling ammo instead of mags  ETA: Yup, 30,000 |
| Makes you wonder why so many people need to re-invent the wheel with "new and improved" products. Someone once suggested replacing alloy followers in a 20 round mag if they are worn. How could a 20 round alloy follower wear out????? How can a floorplate wear out???? |
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Good points. It is probably much easier for the military to replace mags that are lost than to design a stronger mag which is not really needed since it is much more likely to be lost than smashed. Maybe they should design them so they are harder to lose. USGI aluminum mags will be issued for a long time to come. |
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I've got some 20's & 30's that don't have a spec of finish left on them . They were well worn when I got them and I wore off the rest . Then I picked up an FS-2000 and discovered that those shiny bare aluminum 30's are the easiest to insert and remove past the guns rubber dust seal in the mag well . So I broke down and rejuvenated them with new springs and followers . I have no doubt they will go another 10,000+ rounds each 
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I just bought (9) Vietnam-era 20-round mags from a friend for $40. (2) have Simmonds M16 baseplates. (4) have Colt ".223" baseplates (3) have Colt ".5.56" baseplates. (6) of them are UI stamped on the front wall. (3) have shiny alloy followers. (6) have dull alloy followers. I have no interest in collecting or value or whatever- I just needed some extra range magazines. It was pretty interesting, however, to do a little geneology research on the magazines. I was born in 1974. Some of these magazines may date back to 1963. They are all very well used but still function. Some have no finish except in the valleys on the sides. All of them had some measure of rust and/or oxidation, but it was nothing a little CLP and elbow grease couldn't take care of. No cracked welds, feed lips still in serviceable shape, and working springs. Three of them have what appears to be heat discoloring. The followers on a couple of them nosedived a little while I was cycling them with the CLP. I hosed them down with CLP and let them soak since Friday in a casserole dish. I just wiped them off and cycled them around a bunch and soaked them again. I didn't disassemble them (yet?) because I think they'll probably still work just fine for my purposes. All in all, an interesting, usable find. -p. |
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