Today I was talking with a guy who is getting out of the 1st Cavalry in the next couple of months. I asked him if he had any magazines he could hook me up with. He asked me what for, and after I told him that I have an AR, he commented that the only mag's he had were marked "Government Use Only". Is there such a thing, or is he full of it? He was telling me that someone caught with one of these mags can be fined up to $10K. So what gives

Duh - not since Sep 13, 2004




eta - I guess that might have been unclear.  The "government/leo only" distinction for magazines vanished when the AWB expired earlier this month.  There no longer is such a thing - so he might have been correct while the AWB was still in effect, but currently, there's no difference between any magazines any longer (and anything stamped on them has no meaning, other than as a historical curiosiity).

used to be.

not anymore.

tell him to cough up some mags......and brush up on federal law.


however, there might be a rule that says GI's cant give away gov property.

Quoted: Duh - not since Sep 13, 2004

Exactly what I said, but I wasn't sure about the markings, personally I've never seen mag's with that type marking.

Quoted: Quoted: Duh - not since Sep 13, 2004 Exactly what I said, but I wasn't sure about the markings, personally I've never seen mag's with that type marking.

they're really cool.


get some.

Quoted: Quoted: Duh - not since Sep 13, 2004 Exactly what I said, but I wasn't sure about the markings, personally I've never seen mag's with that type marking.

I've seen some LEO ones - and I would imagine that not ALL of the ones in our military inventory have the markings, but since the ban expired, they are nothing but irrelevant markings on the magazines, with no meaning.

My WW-2 1911 says that it is U.S. "property" as well

Quoted: Today I was talking with a guy who is getting out of the 1st Cavalry in the next couple of months. I asked him if he had any magazines he could hook me up with. He asked me what for, and after I told him that I have an AR, he commented that the only mag's he had were marked "Government Use Only". Is there such a thing, or is he full of it? He was telling me that someone caught with one of these mags can be fined up to $10K. So what gives

I don't think he's talking about AWB-marked mags as much as misappropriating govt equipment.  M-16 magazines are US property, and selling/giving federal property away is a crime.  Now, whether anyone cares or not is something else entirely.....

Damn those Military Only Mags. If it weren't for that you probably could have talked him into stealing government property for you.

Only if you live in the wrong  state

His mags are not his to give away... they belong to the US Military.   For him to "hook you up" would be stealing gov property.

But you can own mags so marked, you just need to buy them.  I just got some from DPMS.

be aware that in certain not free states you can still become some guys girfriend for owning a le only mag. i know, i live in ny

I got a few Government Use Only mags, the plastic parts are green, you arnt cool unless you have some

Most of the magazines I see in the Army now are stamped with the manufacture date (e.g. "09/00" IIRC) and "FOR GOVERNMENT / LAW ENFORCEMENT USE ONLY" or something to that effect.  Most of the mags with the newer green follower have this stamp, although I don't recall if the ban and the new follower coincided at all.  I'm sure someone can tell us when the new follower was introduced.  I still see some mags with the older black follower, but they seem to make up about 10% of the ones in the active inventory.

Newer M9 magazines also have this type of labeling.

Most of our guys were issued their M16 mags at some point when they arrived at the unit or when they were getting ready to go to PLDC (they have to bring mags with them), so they keep them with their field gear, but as others mentioned, the magazines still belong to the Army.

Dave