Posted: 7/27/2007 4:28:10 PM EDT
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I looked through the Mag FAQ and I did not see a lot of info on mags with no markings at all. Over the last year or so I have been buying magazines dealers advertise as preban. I have been wondering just how one is able to tell that these are in fact prebans. They have no markings on them at all, no dates or manufactuers. 3 of them are aluminum with matte grey finish just like GI mags, the other are steel (i think) with a gloss black finish, I was told they are Tiawanese. I installed new springs and green followers in them. They all had black followers before. Also, what is the deal with the steel mags, good/bad? So what say you, in need of wisdom on this. |
In Court it's up to the prosecution to prove there legality. Without a date code and your keeping to the premis that they were purchased in good faith as "pre-ban" it's going to be tough to prove or dis-prove, besides if they include magazines in any charges that'll be the least of your worries. Several years ago there were a lot of 40 round "Sterling" mags that were made in England, they were both steel and aluminum in construction ( I've had one of each for 20 years) |
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Maybe Singapore? Weren't there steel SAR-80 mags imported at one point? Really there is nothing wrong with good steel mags. You'd have to use them a LOT to wear out a receiver. There were also English steel mags made and sold over here, I believe the steel mags were on of the improvements they(the British) tried to improve the sa-80s performance. The Singapore SAR-80 and Brit SA-80 steel mags aren't bad mags IMHO. SAR-80 world.guns.ru:80/assault/as55-e.htm The Taiwanese fielded the type 65 rifle from 1976 or so, there is a fair chance that the mags are pretty old if they are indeed Taiwanese Type 65 mags. Type 65 http://www.gungrabber.com/DSC00046.JPG With these foreign mags it would probably be hard to prove one way or the other without the benefit of more info from the original manufacturer. So I guess you pay your $ and take your chances. |
It should be pretty easy to tell the difference. Well the steel mags are heavier, stronger, magnetic and kind of feel cooler to the touch because of the way aluminum transfers heat faster than steel. If they are dark and look blued they probably are Type 65 mags. The English mags were grey, I think the Singapore ones were too- from a distance they look like the aluminum ones. Aluminum mags can easily be squeezed enough to distort them (temporarily), steel mags are much harder to squish the same amount. |
| I don't lose a bit of sleep over the "unmarked prebans". I know I bought prebans. Let a prosecuter prove otherwise. That's not to say I haven't been careful when actually buying them. All that I have purchased have been NIW GI prebans with datecode on the sealed wrapper. All of said dated wrappers are kept. While not ironclad exculpatory evidence, it couldn't hurt to be able to produce them in a pinch. |
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Those shiny steel mags look like Type-65 mags. Did yours come in oiled paper with a green rubber band around them? Type-65s were packed as such. I see these in gun shops in NY occasionally for $25 each! Those I have seen run flawlessly once the followers are replaced. I think they are around $10 each. There are also the Charter Industries mags (singapore) for very cheap. Rguns had them for 8 bucks each recently. |
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Mine did come in oiled paper although I do not recall the rubber band, but it could have been there. Mine also work great after changing the followers, although I don't use them often, usually just practice with 10 rounders, I find I use ammo more wisely that way, there also the added benefit of not attracting unwanted attention with the evil hicaps. I would be curious to know how they would hold up in a field environment as far as corrosion resistance goes. I have heard that they tend to rust once exposed to rain in the field, but it seems to me as long as the finish is in good shape this would not be a problem. Then again the finish is usually not 100 percent on mags used in the field often. |